How to Train Your Dragon

It was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois and produced by Bonnie Arnold, from a screenplay that Sanders and DeBlois co-wrote with Will Davies, and stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.

J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig. The story takes place in Berk, a mythical Viking village; Hiccup, an undersized teen wishing to become a dragon slayer like the other Vikings, injures a rare Night Fury dragon but is unable to bring himself to kill it.

He instead helps and befriends the dragon, and quickly discovers that things are not exactly as they seem in the conflict between Vikings and dragons.

In 2004, the book series began attracting the attention of the executives at DreamWorks Animation. After the success of Over the Hedge (2006), producer Bonnie Arnold shortly became interested in the newly acquired property.

The directors of the film wanted to make sure to cash in the improvisation abilities of the secondary cast by frequently bringing them together in the recording sessions.

The filmmakers hired cinematographer Roger Deakins (known for frequently collaborating with the Coen brothers) as a visual consultant to help them with lighting and aesthetic of the film and to add a live-action feel.

John Powell composed the film’s musical score. How to Train Your Dragon premiered at the Gibson Amphitheater on March 21, 2010, and was released in the United States on March 26, by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation.

The film was a commercial success, earning nearly $500 million worldwide. It was widely acclaimed for its animation, voice acting, writing, musical score, and 3D sequences.

The film was nominated for two awards at the 83rd Academy Awards and received numerous other accolades.

How to Train Your Dragon is the first entry in what would become the multimedia franchise of the same name, which includes two more films—How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019).

A live-action reboot from Universal Pictures is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2025.

Instead, he creates mechanical devices under apprenticeship with Gobber, the village blacksmith. Hiccup uses a bolas launcher to shoot down a Night Fury, a rare dragon, during a dragon raid.

He goes into the forest and finds the creature but cannot bring himself to kill it and sets it free instead.

Before leaving with his fleet to find and destroy the dragons’ nest, Stoick enrolls Hiccup in a dragon-fighting class with fellow teenagers Fishlegs, Snotlout, twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Astrid, on whom Hiccup has a crush.

Facing little success in the class, Hiccup returns to the forest and finds the Night Fury in a cove, unable to fly because Hiccup’s bolas tore off half his tail fin.

Hiccup gradually befriends the dragon, naming him ‘Toothless’ after his retractable teeth, and designs a harness and prosthetic fin that allows Toothless to fly with Hiccup riding him.

Learning dragon behavior from Toothless, Hiccup is able to subdue the captive dragons during training, earning admiration from his peers, but sparking suspicion and jealousy from Astrid. Stoick’s fleet returns home unsuccessful.

Hiccup must kill a dragon for his final exam. He tries to run away with Toothless, but Astrid discovers the dragon. Hiccup takes her for a flight to demonstrate that Toothless is friendly.

During the flight, Toothless is hypnotically drawn to the dragons’ nest. There, a gargantuan dragon named the Red Death summons smaller dragons to feed it copious amounts of live food to avoid being eaten themselves.

Realizing the dragons have been forced to attack Berk to survive, Astrid wishes to tell the village, but Hiccup advises against it to protect Toothless.

In his final exam, Hiccup faces a captive Monstrous Nightmare dragon and tries to subdue him to prove that dragons can be peaceful. When Stoick unintentionally enrages the dragon into attacking, Toothless arrives to protect Hiccup but is captured.

After Hiccup accidentally reveals that Toothless knows the location of the dragons’ nest, Stoick, furious, disowns Hiccup and sets off for the nest with Toothless guiding.

Astrid prompts Hiccup to realize that he spared Toothless out of compassion, not weakness. Regaining his confidence, Hiccup shows his friends how to befriend the training dragons, and they set out after Toothless.

Stoick and his Vikings locate and break open the dragon’s nest, awakening the Red Death, which overwhelms them. Hiccup and his friends ride in on the training dragons, distracting the Red Death.

Hiccup attempts to free Toothless; Stoick rescues them, reconciling with his son. Toothless and Hiccup destroy the Red Death through teamwork. Whilst escaping the explosion, Hiccup gets knocked off Toothless.

The Vikings and Stoick find out that Toothless saved Hiccup from the explosion by covering him with his wings, but Hiccup has lost his lower left leg. Some time later, Hiccup awakes back on Berk and finds that Gobber has fashioned him a prosthetic.

He is now admired by his village, including Astrid, who kisses him. Berk begins a new era of humans and dragons living in peace.