Dean DeBlois
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How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Directed by Chris Sanders
influenced by How to Train Your Dragon (2025), Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Themes Plot
How to Train Your Dragon (2025) tries to breathe fire—and manages only a mild spark.
The extra 27 minutes brings with it some impressive look-at-me moments—particularly in the final battle scene—but I found it less charming than it animated counterpart.
Few modern animated films have achieved the emotional clarity, visual majesty, and thematic resonance of 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon and its two sequels.
The film is a live-action remake of the 2010 animated feature of the same name, directed by DeBlois and Chris Sanders for Dreamworks Animation.
It is hard to dissuade people from seeing this, especially if the 2010 animated film, or How to Train Your Dragon animated franchise has meant anything at all to you.
More than a decade after Toothless first charmed audiences, Universal Pictures has breathed new fire into "How to Train Your Dragon" with a live-action adaptation that manages to capture the magic of the original while offering a fresh cinematic experience.
As both a gentle ecological parable and the first Disney cartoon showcase for a Polynesian cast since “Lilo & Stitch” (2002), it could scarcely be otherwise.
The Hawaiian tropics that Disney painted several years back in the cute but slight “Lilo & Stitch” can’t compare.
There’s the welcome cultural aspect of the female explorer, of course, plus the fact that the film gives its heroine a healthy, more realistically proportioned physique (reminiscent of the Hawaiian characters in “Lilo & Stitch”), rather than forcing Moana into the mold of past princesses.
On the plus side, the filmmakers have drawn inspiration from a new cultural setting — indigenous Polynesian culture and mythology — a move crucial to the success of Lilo & Stitch and The Princess and the Frog , which also featured brown-skinned heroines.
In contrast to the sylph-like figures of Frozen , Moana has a sturdiness that recalls the Hawaiian heroines of 2002’s Lilo & Stitch .
It’s been a slow road to self-realization for Disney heroines, but the old tropes have steadily been strengthened through films like Mulan , Lilo & Stitch , The Princess a nd t he Frog , Tangled , Zootopia , and Frozen .
Lilo & Stitch (2025)
Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp
influenced How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Themes
It’s stange to have two beloved animated films in theaters once again, but to have them presented in a way that so much of what made them loved is missing. Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon have something in common aside from their live-action remakes sharing theater space.
…followed it with a more recent, but adored, property, LILO & STITCH…
The new How to Train Your Dragon is somewhat easier to rationalize than Lilo & Stitch: while the latter’s animation style has ensured a timeless aesthetic, the former has begun to show its age, if only slightly.
The film is a big hit, even if it’s not going to do Lilo & Stitch or A Minecraft Movie numbers in the family-friendly space.
…as the latest Lilo & Stitch movie will soon enter the billion-dollar club.
This results in a less interesting film than, say, the new Lilo & Stitch (another recent live-action remake of a DeBlois and Sanders team-up, coincidentally), albeit one that still works as a touching spin on the story we already know.
This is no longer a kids’ adventure from Dreamworks—this is adolescent Game of Thrones.
Imagine “Game of Thrones” for kids — the aerial sequences alone, paired with a thunderous score, elevate the experience beyond what the animation could achieve.
Here, they’re every bit as believable as the beasts that Daenerys Targaryen rode on Game of Thrones.
…you’re certainly not letting your kids watch Game of Thrones, right…
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Directed by Irvin Kershner
influenced How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Visuals Plot
This may as well be his Fortress of Solitude, or to borrow an analogy from that greatest of fantasy-movie sequels, “The Empire Strikes Back” (whose influence on DeBlois cannot be underestimated), it’s the spiritual equivalent of Dagobah, where Yoda trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force.
The influence of The Empire Strikes Back is readily apparent between the often icy environments and steeper stakes (DeBlois has admitted as much in interviews), and although the original’s entire voice cast has reprised its roles, Baruchel and America Ferrera (as Hiccup’s now-girlfriend, Astrid) contribute subtly mature work bringing their lead characters forth from their teens into something resembling adulthood.
This sequel has been pitched by director Dean DeBlois as The Empire Strikes Back to How to Train Your Dragon's A New Hope, picking up five years after the events of the original with Vikings and dragons living in harmony on the island of Berk.
The follow-up has both the solemnity and big story turns that made The Empire Strikes Back a superior sequel, as well as the cartoonish, kid-oriented set pieces that made Return of the Jedi more of a family-friendly adventure.
Like The Empire Strikes Back (which is a terrific qualitative allusion here), How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a marvelous middle act.
The animated sequel takes cues from "The Empire Strikes Back" the same way "Skyfall" took cues from "The Dark Knight."
…perhaps capturing some of the magic of on-camera flight from other such timeless sequences in films like 1978’s Superman, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Avatar…
It hit theaters just a few months after James Cameron’s epochal blockbuster Avatar, and it tapped into a similar yearning to disappear into a universe where one could tame and ride fearsome, colorful mythical beasts. The two films had been produced concurrently and independently, and both adventures hit familiar sweeping, rousing beats.
It kind of reminds me of the scene in Avatar when Jake first rides the banshee, when Hiccup rides Toothless as he flies through the clouds.
Shrek (2001)
Directed by Andrew Adamson
influenced How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019), How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
Characters
…is the third best opening ever for Dreamworks Animation behind a pair of Shrek movies.
But still, the story feels fresh to me, the way Shrek was when it first came out.
Both the original and follow-up sequel earned Academy Award nominations for best animated feature – a feat only matched by Shrek and Kung Fu Panda since the category was created back in 2001.
Whether it’s talking donkeys in “Shrek” or dancing penguins in “Madagascar,” (smile and wave boys, smile and wave), the studio has always had a fire in its belly when it comes to characterization.
So, although “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” may be the third film in DreamWorks’ series, in many ways, it’s a first: After getting the greenlight to continue the saga, writer-director Dean DeBlois conceived installments two and three together, constructing a trilogy that enriches the original while also serving to entertain newcomers who know none of the backstory — and that’s key, considering that box office dipped nearly 20% between “How to Train Your Dragon” (DWA’s most successful non-“Shrek” feature) and its sequel, and the studio needs to regain some of that audience this time around.
Antz (1998)
Directed by Eric Darnell
influenced How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
Plot
In its early days, the studio directly copycatted Pixar, with movies like Antz and Shark Tale attempting to ride the coattails of A Bug’s Life and Finding Nemo .
When Dreamworks Animation first made its mark with Antz back in 1998, hopes were high that this would be the competition needed to take on the mighty Pixar.
For the first time in about 60 years, watercolors are used for the background animation, giving the movie a throwback feel of classic Disney films like "Dumbo" and "Snow White."
It is written and directed by relative newcomers Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders (Sanders himself essays the voice of Stitch), who have notably chosen to use watercolor background paintings, a medium not used in a Disney feature since Dumbo (1941), adding, for better or worse, an old-fashioned touch to the film's overall look.
Instead, the use of watercolor scenery, a style that hasn't been used in the 60 years since "Dumbo," "Pinocchio," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Bambi," gives "Lilo & Stitch" a more folksy feel for its futuristic story line.
Sophisticated, expert animation, attractive pastel colors, and the relentless Disney hype machine can’t disguise the fact that this shameless animated ripoff of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is the worst-ever Disney animated feature (yes, even worse than The Black Cauldron).
Directors Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders (who also wrote the script and supplies the voice of Stitch) combine elements of Frankenstein, Home Alone, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in this story of a lonely child and her extraterrestrial friend yearning for a nuclear family.
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Directed by Lee Unkrich
influenced How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Themes Plot
Written and directed by franchise veteran Dean DeBlois, The Hidden World is aesthetically as beautiful as ever, with melancholy themes reminiscent of Toy Story 3 .
The gold standard has always been Toy Story 3, which (at the time) wrapped up Pixar’s marvellous franchise in spectacular fashion.
The Hidden World does eventually build to an emotional Hail Mary, its very own Toy Story 3 tearjerker of a trilogy conclusion.
Even so, the film is filled with a number of other surprises, including a finale that conjures fond memories of the mesmerizing conclusion to Toy Story 3.
From its space politics, where Grand Councilwoman (Zoe Caldwell, "The Purple Rose of Cairo") sentences based on an individual's worth to society, to its themes of broken homes forming wide-reaching families, "Lilo & Stitch" has something for everyone.
Kevin McDonald ("The Ladies Man," "Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy"), Zoe Caldwell ("The Purple Rose of Cairo") and Jason Scott Lee ("Soldier," "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story") round out the other major characters and all do fine work.
Star Wars (1977)
Directed by George Lucas
influenced How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Visuals Themes
Taking its cues as much from Star Wars and Game of Thrones as from its own storybook narrative, How to Train Your Dragon 2 breathes fire into a franchise sequel.
It's clear that he took inspiration from the first Star Wars trilogy — not a bad model for breathing new life, and yes, a bit of fire, into one of Hollywood's more nuanced animated franchises.
Like the original "Star Wars" trilogy and "Toy Story" series, the makers of this franchise are allowing the films to grow up alongside loyal young viewers.
Predator (1987)
Directed by John McTiernan
influenced How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
Visuals
(The effect reminded me of the cloaking device in 1987’s Predator .)
Toy Story (1995)
Directed by John Lasseter
influenced How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Visuals Themes
Whatever its intentions, "Lilo & Stitch" may end up as one of the many missed opportunities for Disney standing on the sidelines as a third stringer while its contemporaries like "Shrek", "Monsters, Inc.", "Toy Story" or "The Lion King" will continue to capture the hearts of the millions of moviegoers long after their departure from the big screen.
Lilo & Stitch is the latest "conventionally animated" effort from Walt Disney Pictures (that is to say, not associated with the Pixar digital animation company, with whom Disney has collaborated on such spectacular films as Toy Story [1 and 2 ], A Bug's Life , and Monsters, Inc. ).
Watching How to Train Your Dragon 2, you’re reminded of the thrill you felt when you saw your first computer-animated movie, be it Toy Story or A Bug’s Life or even the forgettable Antz.
Not since Toy Story has an animated movie managed to feel so fresh and vibrant with its second helping.
There's already a third movie in the works, and now it seems likely that director Dean DeBlois can make it stellar enough to join the ranks of Toy Story and Shrek as unforgettable animated franchises.
Like the original "Star Wars" trilogy and "Toy Story" series, the makers of this franchise are allowing the films to grow up alongside loyal young viewers.
Spirited Away (2001)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
influenced How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Visuals
It should remind one of the films of Hayao Miyazaki (Oscar winner for “Spirited Away”), whose lyrical work in movies has allegedly ended after last year’s amazing “The Wind Rises.”
How to Train Your Dragon 2 can hope to be as good as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro, but hoping’s as close as it’s gonna get.
This time the voices are less recognizable, by Lauren Holly, Michael Chiklis and Daveigh Chase, the voice of the little Hawaiian girl in "Lilo & Stitch."
"Spirited Away" features traditional animation combined with computer-generated effects, which is not particularly unusual; "Treasure Planet," "Lilo & Stitch" and "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" also mixed mediums.
Disney executives, knowing a good animated thing even when they don't make it, bought the worldwide rights to "Spirited Away" and refitted it with an English script and a new voice cast that includes such American actors as Suzanne Pleshette, David Ogden Stiers and Daveigh Chase, last heard as Lilo in Disney's "Lilo & Stitch.
River gods, dragons, radish spirits, flying oragami birds, rolling, muttering decapitated heads, twin witches, and spirits of all imaginable shapes and sizes roam the countryside of a mystical landscape into which a young modern-day girl named Chihiro (Daveigh Chase, Lilo & Stitch ) stumbles when her cloddish parents take a wrong turn on their way to their new house.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Directed by Mark Osborne
influenced How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Themes
Other hit films such as Kung Fu Panda and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are stirring tales of heroism and maturity; recent Pixar classics such as Coco and Inside Out examined the bonds of the family unit through the eyes of kids on the verge of growing up.
Both the original and follow-up sequel earned Academy Award nominations for best animated feature – a feat only matched by Shrek and Kung Fu Panda since the category was created back in 2001.
As for the recurring matter of human legacies, Dragon 2 ’s themes fall in line with the studio’s well-worn favorites: Shrek 2 was also about living up to parental expectations, while sequels to Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda similarly dwelt on the protagonist’s long lost heritage.
Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
Directed by Michael Apted
influenced How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Plot
It shows, too, particularly in the unoriginal plot, which borrows from everything from “Harry Potter” to “Gorillas in the Mist,” with a little “Brave” tossed in for measure.
When Bridget starts to blame her brother for bringing that fanged book into their apartment, Beth steps in and deescalates, but as she listens to the recordings on headphones in an attempt to understand what they are dealing with, her sister, inspired by a neighbor’s cat, slides down from an overhead duct and proceeds to put her talon on the spinning vinyl and project its sound just like Stitch in “Lilo & Stitch.”
Finding Nemo (2003)
Directed by Andrew Stanton
influenced How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Visuals Themes
In the same way that “Finding Nemo” evoked the happy rush of tropical scuba diving, this aerial joyride conjures up the thrill of flight and free fall through cloud formations.
Finding Nemo largely explores the love of a father for his son and lightly touches on the love of a son for his father.
What the sea was to " Finding Nemo ," the sky is to "How to Train Your Dragon 2"—a boundary-free backdrop of natural beauty that allows the audience to experience first-hand the wonders down below or up above in an immersive way that only the best in 3-D animation can do.