How To Train Your Dragon Teaser Trailer Reaction

Universal is starting the marketing push for it’s splashy live-action remake of ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, releasing a teaser trailer hoping to excite fans. While this is astonishing in its presentation, with the dragons especially looking stunning, its shot-for-shot recapturing of the original animated film shows that Universal is falling into the same trap that Disney has gone down many, many times before, and that’s honoring the source material in a way that’s derivative and not an homage.

The trailer does look stunning, with Toothless in particular standing out. He is of course (in this adaptation) a Night Fury, which is black, though this would of course fade into the screen and background very easily. To avoid this, Universal have cleverly added bits of teal to his face, creating areas where the light bounces off him. And he still has adorable cat-like behviour, with humongous green eyes propelling that feeling.  

An early shot shows many dragons from the nest of the Red Death shows the vibrance and colour they all have, with them all soaring across the sky. They look very striking against the sea, which is comparatively dull. It’s clear that this contrast will propel the movie to soaring heights. Visually, this film must be a masterpiece, thoughthat likely came at a high monetary price. The trailer doesn’t offer much more than this, other than the key moment where Hiccup chooses compassion over his violent upbringing. 

So, to address the elephant (or in this case, the dragon) in the room, is Universal’s strategy. Its obvious aim is to try and capture some of the nostalgia people felt from watching the original, animated ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, from those that grew up watching it, but also draw new fans into the franchise. But on both counts, simply updating the film into a live-action style (sadly, Universal didn’t capture real dragons on camera), has the effect of saying that the animated version is somehow lesser, that it was somehow missing something by not being in live-action. That’s simply not true. 

What’s also equally frustrating is the way Universal have gone about this. Much of the trailer is a shot for shot remake of scenes from the animated film, indicating that the story the film will be telling will be wholly unoriginal, simply copy-pasted over from the animated version. It’s overly safe, verging on boring, as perhaps an alternate telling of this tale might work. An adaptation that hues more closely to the story to the books told would be better, as the animated films threw out the established narrative in favour of something different. This would help justify the decision to make this film too. Yet Universal seems to be adding little that’s new, preferring to bank on nostalgia instead of creativity. 

And while this is perhaps the most cynical way they could have gone about this project, time and time again it works. Disney’s live-action remakes prove that. Until the final film is out in cinemas, it’s hard to tell fully if this will be a complete remake, or if the narrative will take a few suprise twists and turns. Though based on the trailer in front of audiences this seems unlikely.   

So, while the film does look stunning, the decision to recreate the film shot-for-shot in live-action begs the question of the existence of this project. The story of the animated film (while not accurate to the books it was based on), holds a dear place in many people’s hearts, and it’s already been made. Yet Universal are forging ahead with this cynical project.

Audiences won’t have too long to wait before the live action adaptation of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ releases, as it soars into cinemas on June 13, 2025.