The television series based on the events of the first film, DreamWorks Dragons, began airing on Cartoon Network in September 2012. The first and second seasons were titled Dragon: Riders of Berk and Dragons: Defenders of Berk respectively. After the two seasons on Cartoon Network, the series was given the new title Dragons: Race to the Edge. The characters are older and it served as a prequel to the second film, running from June 2015 to February 2018.[2] A second series, titled Dragons: Rescue Riders, began airing on Netflix in 2019 and features a completely different cast and locale than the original series of films and TV shows, but is set in the same universe. while being more child friendly, A third series, Dragons: The Nine Realms, began streaming on Hulu and Peacock in December 2021, with Rescue Riders transferring to Peacock beginning with the third season under the Heroes of the Sky subtitle. Unlike past entries in the franchise, The Nine Realms is set in the 21st century, specifically around 1,300 years after the events of The Hidden World.
The franchise primarily follows the adventures of a young Viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (voiced by Jay Baruchel in the animated films, and portrayed by Mason Thames in the live-action films), son of Stoick the Vast, leader of the Viking island of Berk. Although initially dismissed as a clumsy and underweight misfit, he soon becomes renowned as a courageous dragons expert, alongside Toothless, a member of the rare Night Fury breed as his flying mount and closest companion. Together with his friends, he manages the village's allied dragon population in defense of his home as leader of a flying corps of dragon riders. Upon becoming leaders of their kind, Hiccup and Toothless are forced to make choices that will truly ensure peace between people and dragons. Dean DeBlois, the director of the film trilogy, described its story as "Hiccup's coming of age", taking place across a span of five years between the first and second film, and a year between the second and third film.[3]
How to Train Your Dragon, the first film in the series, was released on March 26, 2010. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, and is inspired by the 2003 book of the same name by Cressida Cowell. The story takes place in a mythical Fantasy Viking world where a young Viking teenager named Hiccup aspires to follow his tribe's tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. After finally capturing his first dragon the infamous and elusive Night Fury, and with his chance of finally gaining the tribe's acceptance and father's recognition, he finds that he no longer has the desire to kill the dragon and instead befriends it. He soon realizes that to protect the Night Fury (Toothless) he must show the Vikings the truth of dragons. The film grossed nearly $500million worldwide and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
A sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, was confirmed on April 27, 2010.[4] The film was written and directed by DeBlois, the co-director of the first film. Bonnie Arnold, the producer of the first film, also returned, with Sanders, who co-directed the first film, serves as an executive producer for the second instead due to his work on the film The Croods and its sequel.[5] The film was released on June 13, 2014.[6] All of the cast from the first film– Baruchel, Butler, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Miller and Wiig–returned for the sequel.[7] New additions include Kit Harington as Eret, Cate Blanchett as Valka, and Djimon Hounsou as Drago Bludvist.[8]
Set five years after the events of the first film, Hiccup and Toothless have successfully united dragons and Vikings on the island of Berk. Now 20 years old, Hiccup is pressed to succeed his father as chieftain. When he discovers a group of dragon trappers led by Drago Bludvist, he goes on a quest to find Drago and stop him, while also coming across his long-lost mother Valka.
In December 2010, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg confirmed that there would also be a third film in the series: "How To Train Your Dragon is at least three: maybe more, but we know there are at least three chapters to that story."[9] DeBlois, the writer, and director of the second and the third film, said that How to Train Your Dragon 2 is being intentionally designed as the second act of the trilogy: "There are certain characters and situations that come into play in the second film that will have to become much more crucial to the story by the third."[10]
The film's release date was changed several times. In September 2012, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation announced an initial release date of June 18, 2016,[11] which was later changed to June 16, 2016.[12][13] It was then moved to June 9, 2017,[14] and later to May 18, 2018, taking over the release date of Warner Animation Group's The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.[15] On December 5, 2016, the release date was pushed back again to March 1, 2019.[16] This was the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by Universal Pictures, after NBCUniversal's acquisition of the company in 2016,[17] and followed DreamWorks' departure from 20th Century Fox after 2017's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. The film was produced by Arnold, and exec-produced by DeBlois and Sanders.[11] Baruchel, Butler, Blanchett, Ferguson, Ferrera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse, Harington and Wiig reprised their roles from previous films.[11]F. Murray Abraham joined the cast as the film's main villain, Grimmel.[18]
Set a year after the events of the second film, Hiccup had become the new chieftain of Berk for dragons and Vikings. His late father had told a younger Hiccup to seek out the haven of dragons, known as "the Hidden World". Upon discovering the Light Fury, a female sub-species of the Night Fury, Toothless initiates a bond with her. The Night Fury killer, Grimmel the Grisly, sets out to find and kill Toothless, prompting Hiccup to choose between keeping the dragons or setting them free.
In February 2023, a live-action remake of the first animated film was announced to be in development, to be produced by Marc Platt Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures, and would mark DreamWorks' first live-action film. Dean DeBlois returned to write and direct, with John Powell returning to write the score. It was originally scheduled for release on March 14, 2025, but due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, it was delayed to June 13 of that year.[19][20][21][22]
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2027)
In April 2025, a live-action remake of the second animated film was officially announced at CinemaCon. It is set to be released on June 11, 2027.[23]
Television series
Three television series make up the DreamWorks Dragons television franchise: DreamWorks Dragons, Rescue Riders, and The Nine Realms. All series in total amount to 223 episodes across 22 seasons of television.
On October 12, 2010, it was announced that Cartoon Network had acquired worldwide broadcast rights to a weekly animated series based on the movie, which was scheduled to begin sometime in 2012.[24] In January 2011, producer Tim Johnson confirmed that work had begun on the series and that, unlike the TV series spin-offs of the films Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs. Aliens, How To Train Your Dragon's series is much darker and deeper, like the movie. The show is the first DreamWorks Animation series that airs on Cartoon Network instead of Nickelodeon, unlike previous series such as The Penguins of Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Monsters vs. Aliens.[25]
Although it was announced that the series would be called Dragons: The Series,[26] TV promos shown in June 2012 revealed a new title – Dragons: Riders of Berk.[27] The series began airing in the third quarter of 2012.[26] John Sanford, the director of seven episodes in the first season, confirmed that there would also be a second season.[28] Jay Baruchel, who voiced Hiccup, also stars in the series, as well as America Ferrera (Astrid), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fishlegs), and T. J. Miller (Tuffnut).[26] The second season is accompanied with the new subtitle, Defenders of Berk, replacing the previous Riders of Berk subtitle.[2] Starting with the third season, the series moved to Netflix and is accompanied by the subtitle Race to the Edge.[29]
A preschool-oriented spin-off, DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders was released on Netflix on September 27, 2019.[30] It also features talking dragons unlike other media in the franchise.
On October 13, 2021, DreamWorks announced DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms, set 1,300 years after The Hidden World. The first season was released on Peacock and Hulu on December 23, 2021. The Nine Realms stars Jeremy Shada, and is executive produced by showrunner John Tellegen, Chuck Austen and Henry Gilroy.[31]
Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon follows Hiccup and his young fellows accompanying their mentor, Gobber, on a quest to kill the legendary Boneknapper Dragon. About half the short film is done in traditional animation, showing Gobber's history and his encounters with the Boneknapper, and how he comes to look like he does now.
The short film shows Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Toothless and Gobber telling the legend behind the Book of Dragons and revealing insider training secrets about new, never before seen dragons. Book of Dragons shows a total of 14 different dragons, each separated into 7 classes: Stoker (Terrible Terror and Monstrous Nightmare), Boulder (Gronckle and Whispering Death), Fear (Hideous Zippleback and Snaptrapper), Sharp (Deadly Nadder and Timberjack), Tidal (Scauldron and Thunderdrum), Mystery (Changewing and Boneknapper) and Strike (Skrill and Night Fury).[34]
Gift of the Night Fury is a 22-minute Christmas special directed by Tom Owens, written by Adam F. Goldberg and starring the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig and Christopher Mintz-Plasse who all reprise their roles from the first How to Train Your Dragon film.[34]The special takes place in the middle of preparing for the Viking winter holiday of Snoggletog, when all the dragons inexplicably fly away on a mass migration, except for Toothless, so Hiccup gives him something to help.
Gift of the Night Fury was released by DreamWorks Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray on November 15, 2011, and was re-released on DVD on October 1, 2013, along with Shrek the Halls (2007) and Merry Madagascar (2009) as part of the DreamWorks Holiday Classics. Gift of the Night Fury was released again on DVD and Blu-ray on October 15, 2019 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, as part of the DreamWorks Ultimate Holiday Collection set.
Dawn of the Dragon Racers is a 26-minute short film which was released on November 11, 2014 as a special feature on the home media releases of How to Train Your Dragon 2,[35] although it was released on DVD separately on March 3, 2015, with the previously released Gift of the Night Fury, Book of Dragons, and Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon included as well under How to Train Your Dragon: The Complete Shorts Collection.[36] Directed by John Sanford and Elaine Bogan and written by Art Brown and Douglas Sloan, the short film features the voices of Jay Baruchel and America Ferrera[37] along with the cast from the Dragons television series.
Dawn of the Dragon Racers takes place three years before the events of How to Train Your Dragon 2, in between the events of Dragons: Defenders of Berk and Dragons: Race to the Edge. In this short film, a hunt for a lost sheep turns into a competition between Hiccup and his friends for the first title of Dragon Racing Champion of Berk.[35]
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming is a 22-minute holiday special which was both released on DVD and aired on NBC on December 3, 2019.[38] Directed by Tim Johnson and written by Jonathan Groff and Jon Pollack, the short film stars a majority of the cast reprising their roles from How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. It won for Best Animated Special Production at the 47th Annie Awards.
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming is set ten years after the dragons left the Vikings in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, but within that film's epilogue. In this short film, Hiccup and Astrid's two children Zephyr and Nuffink believe that dragons are dangerous monsters after finding Stoick's old journals, leading Hiccup and Astrid to bring back the Snoggletog Pageant in order to convince them otherwise. Meanwhile, Toothless and the Light Fury's three Night Light children come to New Berk looking for Hiccup, prompting their parents to go after them.
How to Train Your Dragon: Snoggletog Log (2019)
How to Train Your Dragon: Snoggletog Log is a 28-minute slow television short film inspired by The Yule Log. It is a single continuous 28-minute shot of a Christmas fireplace with various gags involving the franchise's main characters, Viking and dragon alike, happening every so often. The short film, which was directed by Tim Johnson and written by Jonathan Groff and Jon Pollack, was released on Hulu on December 5, 2019.[39]
Dragons: Wild Skies, a 3D virtual world game based on the television series DreamWorks Dragons has been launched on August 27, 2012, on CartoonNetwork.com.[44] The game allows players to find, train and ride wild dragons, including new ones as they are introduced in the series.[45]
School of Dragons, a 3D educational massively multiplayer online role-playing game produced by JumpStart, game concept was co-created by Producer David Jaloza and Lead Designer Justin Prate was released online in July 2013,[46] after a month-long beta testing.[47] A Facebook version was released in October 2013, followed by an iPad app in December 2013, a version for Android-powered tablets in March 2014,[46] and a version for the PC in 2014.[48] In the game, each player is able to adopt, raise and train a dragon, while learning how they function.[47] The game was shut down on June 30, 2023.
Dragons: Rise of Berk is a free game which allows players to build their own Berk village, send Hiccup and Toothless out on exploration, hatch and collect up to 760 dragons as of November 2024 and train their own dragon at the academy. Developed by Ludia, it was released in May 2014 for iOS,[50] and on June 20, 2014, for Android and Facebook.[51]
How to Train Your Dragon 2, an action adventure game, was released in June 2014 for Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Wii U and PlayStation 3.[52] The game was published by Little Orbit.
Dragons: Titan Uprising was announced by Canadian developer Ludia in November 2018, and released in early 2019.[53]
Dragons: Dawn of New Riders, an action adventure game, developed by Climax Studios and released in 2019 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC. The game involves the playable characters Scribbler and Patch on their quest to defeat Eir, by exploring the world and its puzzle and battle elements.[54]
Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms, an action adventure game, developed by Aheartfulofgames and released in 2022 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.[55]
A series of comic books, titled Dragons: Riders of Berk, were released by Titan Comics from Titan Publishing Group, starting with the first volume, Dragon Down, on April 30, 2014.[57] The comics were written by Simon Furman and drawn by Iwan Nazif.[58] Other volumes are Dangers of the Deep (2014),[59]The Ice Castle (2015),[60]The Stowaway (2015),[61]The Legend of Ragnarok (2015),[62] and Underworld (2015).[63] Two more comic books were published on February 24, 2016, titled Dragons: Defenders of Berk. The following volumes are The Endless Night (2016)[64] and Snowmageddon (2016).
Graphic novels
Dark Horse Comics have released a series of graphic novels based on the franchise, starting with How to Train Your Dragon: The Serpent's Heir in 2016.[65] The series was co-written by Dean DeBlois, writer and director of the film series, and Richard Hamilton, writer of Dragons: Race to the Edge, with the production designer of How to Train Your Dragon 2, Pierre-Olivier Vincent, providing cover artwork.[65] The series took place between the events of the second and third film, with the first novel picking up right after the conclusion of the second film.[65][66]
Hiccup and a mechanical model of Toothless at How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular
How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular or How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular is an arena show adaptation of the original film.[68] The show is being produced in partnership with Global Creatures, the company behind another arena show Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular, and directed by Nigel Jamieson. The score was composed by John Powell and Jónsi from Sigur Rós. Arena Spectacular features 24 animatronic dragons – 10 different species in various sizes: Nadder, Gronckle, Monstrous Nightmare, Night Fury (Toothless), Red Death, Skrill, Stinger, Kite Dragon, Zippleback and Egg Biter. It also features villagers and Vikings, including Hiccup (Rarmian Newton/Riley Miner), Astrid (Sarah McCreanor/Gemma Nguyen), Stoick (Robert Morgan), and Gobber (Will Watkins).[69][70]
The show premiered as How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular on March 3, 2012, in Melbourne, Australia,[71] and was followed by a New Zealand tour in April 2012.[72] Renamed to How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, it toured United States and Canada between June 2012 and January 2013,[70] when it was cancelled in favour of taking the show to China where it premiered in July 2014.[73][74] It was also planned to come to England but was later scrapped due to an increase in market demand in China.
Theme parks
Heide Park
In 2016, the German theme park Heide Park created a whole section of the park offering various rides based on the franchise called "How to Train Your Dragon: The Island". It offers three different flying attractions and a boat ride where guests venture into the dark Dragon Caves to meet and help Hiccup, Toothless and their friends.[75]
Motiongate Dubai
The Dubai Hollywood-inspired theme park Motiongate Dubai also features a section of the park based on the films and television series. The most prominent attraction is the hanging roller coaster named "Dragon Gliders". Riders join Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly in flying through the caves of the Forbidden Island, where they come across an unexpected threat.[76] Guests can also meet and greet with Hiccup, Toothless, and Astrid.[77]
Universal Studios
To promote How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Universal Studios Florida briefly had a limited-time virtual reality experience where guests could experience riding on Toothless, while Universal Studios Hollywood allowed visitors to meet and greet with Toothless.[78]Universal Studios Beijing's Hollywood Boulevard area contains The Untrainable Dragon, an immersive How to Train Your Dragon-themed stage show with largescale puppets and sets.[79][80]
In January 2024, it was announced that How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk would be one of the five lands of Universal Orlando's third theme park Universal Epic Universe, which opened on May 22, 2025.[81] The land features five attractions, including the Untrainable Dragon show from Beijing, a launch roller coaster called Hiccup's Wing Gliders, a sky fly ride called Dragon Racer's Rally, an interactive boat ride called Fyre Drill, and a children's play area called the Viking Training Camp. Guests can also meet and interact with various characters and dragons from the films.[82] The area's notable dining options include Mead Hall, Spit Fyre Grill, and Hooligan's Grog & Gruel. Mead Hall will serve "Yaknog", a themed drink made of malted chocolate, cinnamon, and whipped cream.[83]
The franchise as a whole has received accolades for its positive portrayal of people with disabilities.[108] The movies have been recognized for depicting multiple characters with disabilities that have their own "narrative purpose" and characters who are not entirely defined by their disability.[109] The franchise has received similar recognition for including characters that are "never portrayed as less capable than any of the other characters" within the films.[110] Commenting on the first film, DeBlois has stated the decision to include these elements were influenced by soldiers returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after having lost limbs.[111]
↑ Smith, Matthew (September 7, 2011). "Dreamworks Dragons Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
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