Many beloved animated pictures have made the jump to live-action over the years, with How to Train Your Dragon being the next classic to be brought to life in an all-new way. With the original animated films being an adaptation of a book series, those movies were adaptations in their own right, while this new film continues the legacy of the fan-favorite books. Many of these adaptations bring in new creative leadership to helm such projects, though one thing that makes the new How to Train Your Dragon so interesting is that Dean DeBlois, who directed the original trilogy, also directed this live-action experience. The new How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters on June 13th.
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“It’s the spirit of [Cressida Cowell’s] book that comes through,” DeBlois shared with ComicBook about continuing the franchise’s journey. “When Chris Sanders and I came onto that first film, we were invited to bring our own story to the mix, keep the essence of the characters, but make make it broader and more expansive, and that just caused the story to head in its own direction, but people who love the movies go to read the books and people who’ve read the books come to watch the movies. I think it’s this cross-pollination that works.”
DeBlois isn’t the only original filmmaker returning for the live-action adapation, as John Powell returns to this world to craft the live-action score.
“He called me very early and I had to prod him into it a little bit. He was a bit nervous and I just said to him that I remember that the first film was incredibly cinematic,” Powell expressed of reuniting with DeBlois. “It felt like if you’d been able to make it live action, you would, so why not do that? Just go with that feeling. He really did. He really, really did. He was very respectful for that original audience, but this is really, I think, almost what he was wanting to make.”
As far as how scoring the live-action experience compared to scoring the animated films, Powell detailed, “This is a very different view on that score from when you were making it the first time. When you’re making it the first time, you have no idea what you’re doing. You don’t know if it’s going to work. You’re just trying to piece it all together. You’re going from zero to something. This time, we go from something that exists to a different version of it that needs to respect two audiences: the audience that liked it 15 years ago and loves animation and the audience that has never seen it. So it’s a real duality. You have to make the score work for both of those groups of people. You mustn’t disappoint the people who are waiting for things, but you also need to make it work as well as it possibly can fit in a way that is deeply emotionally consistent with what is happening on screen or on the level of the story. Not necessarily just what you’re seeing, but the level of the characters. Understanding the characters’ feelings at the time, and then where the audience is on that timeline of understanding the story. It proved to be much harder than I expected.”
Even though the live-action film has some familiar faces making their returns, a new ensemble of talent allowed this new movie to expand on things previously unexplored or put new twists on familiar territory.
“Speaking to Dean, I think it was definitely something to highlight, the reasoning behind all of her actions and her behavior and why she is the way she is. Why is she so ambitious? Why is she so strong? Why is she so determined?” actor Nico Parker pointed out about playing Astrid. “That felt like stuff that we really wanted to highlight and I feel like we did a pretty good job of it. I literally would have played a tree in this movie if they had wanted me to, so the fact that we even got to expand a bit on the character is beyond any of my wildest dreams.”
Gabriel Howell, who takes on the role of Snoutlout in the live-action movie, admitted, “It’s intimidating because I’m a huge fan of Jonah Hill anyway. Growing up, him being him, and he’s so funny in the animation and I think because they could just riff in the recording booth, they’ve just got absolute gold, and that’s perfect. So getting anywhere, or attempting to get near that, would be fruitless. Love Jonah, love the part, love the world, how can I nestle in there as me, and my heart, and my soul?”
Julian Dennsion takes on Fishlegs in the new adaptation and thinks all of his preparation will stick with him, revealing, “I think Fishlegs has this ADHD. He’s obsessive over everything about dragons. I think it’s a lot in my head. I still have the cards at home. I was able to take some home. And also I loved the riders of Berk. You see a lot more of the lore and Fishlegs learning about things. It’s still in there, it’s stuck to my brain. Hopefully when we do more, it stays there so I can scrape it off again and use it.”
While there’s lots of visual effects required to bring the movie to life, the live-action perspective did mean the cast got to immerse themselves in this fantastical world a bit more authentically.
“Toothless was an incredible feat of mechanics. I think he had a few more moving parts than the rest of us. Jealous,” Howell shared. “I think Julian had it tough, because he’s so squat, so his legs were up, whereas Hookfang has a bit of space, so I could … I was strapped in, but I could I could relax, and so I think I had it easy. Cons would be you can’t really get down. If you’re like, ‘Oh, I need a wee,’ or something, they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s gonna be 25 minutes.’ Once you’re up there, you’re up there.”
Ruth Codd, who plays Phlegma the Fierce, expressed, “They built a whole set, like they built the whole arena, they built the whole Berk, so it was pretty hard not to be immersed in it. You’re dressed up as a Viking, my leg was in the shape of a dagger, so it was pretty, pretty easy to get into character.”
While Nick Frost wasn’t in the original movies, he’s well versed in bringing to life a variety of characters, with the experience of being surrounded by younger performers offering him interesting opportunities.
“The younger cast, they’re not that young, even though we call them the trainees and often we refer to them as the kids,” the actor joked. “It’s like, I think they’re in their 30s. But to me, when you’re 53, it’s like, ‘Oh, they’re our kids.’ But in terms of Mason [Thames], I find myself being quite protective to him all the time because I have children who aren’t much younger than Mason. So I’m like, ‘You all right? Do you want a drink?’ I’m quite fatherly to him. It’s a big deal for him, I know he’d done Black Phone and other little bits and pieces, but this is just an entirely different animal. If he can learn something in terms — I’d never want to teach. I always find, because someone’s younger than you, doesn’t mean you’re a better actor just because you’re older, that’s just nuts, but in terms of, ‘Okay, so Nick turns up on time every day, he knows everyone’s name, he stays to the end, he does lines off camera.’ That’s what you can teach.”
How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters on June 13th.
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