How to Train Your Dragon Live-Action Movie Changed Toothless And You May Not Have Noticed

by

You can now catch the live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon,” featuring Mason Thames as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid, streaming right in your own virtual lair! Grab it for a digital purchase or rental and enjoy this fantastical adventure at your convenience.

One of the major hurdles for writer-director-producer Dean DeBlois was finding a solution to transform the amazing dragons from his animated “How to Train Your Dragon” movie into tangible, terrifying creatures that could realistically interact with human actors in live-action scenes. To achieve this, DeBlois turned to Framestore, one of the leading digital character creation companies globally, for assistance in making Toothless and other dragon species convincing on the big screen.

Recently, I had a chat with Christian Manz, VFX supervisor for How to Train Your Dragon and creative director at Framestore. I inquired about the digital wonders that posed the biggest challenge for him and his team, and he shared two standout examples with me.

Speaking about creating the iconic Night Fury, he noted that it was challenging from both a conceptual and acting standpoint to make it appealing and grand. Conversely, the Red Death presented a different set of difficulties, yet it was equally demanding when it came to sheer scale and impact.

The aim for live-action Toothless was to feel like animated Toothless

It wasn’t until October 2022 that Framestore, in collaboration with director Dean DeBlois, began exploring whether the vision for the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, which was first publicly disclosed as in development in February 2023, could be realized digitally.

Manz mentioned that DeBlois and Peter Cramer, Universal’s production president, pointed out Buckbeak the Hippogriff from the “Harry Potter” films as a prime example of a digitally crafted cinematic character. Manz added that he had been involved in the project back in 2003, and expressed some pride about it. He further explained that when creating magical creatures like those in the “Fantastic Beasts” series or even characters like Dobby or Paddington, their approach is to study the natural world for believability. This means focusing not just on appearance, but also on mimicking the behaviors and personalities of real-world animals.

When designing the physical appearance of Toothless during its developmental stage, Manz explained they referenced the initial 3D character model from the animated version to translate the cartoon outline into reality. They drew inspiration from various animals such as salamanders, axolotls, big cats, tortoises, snakes, and lizards for their movements and physical attributes.

Manz explained their creative process: “A sculptor was working on it, and right now, we’re using Z Brush and Blender to model it. We’re not focusing on visual effects; instead, our goal is to discover the creature’s form. At this stage, we’re considering anatomy details such as whether he has two or four shoulder blades due to his wings, and how large his eyes should be. However, in animation, the eyes on our character wouldn’t function as they would physically collide within the head. So, we study real animal skulls to determine their size.

During the development, they significantly enlarged Toothless both in height and build, making him an intimidating figure when facing off against humans like Thames.

Manz clarified that Toothless appears quite small in the animated movie due to changes in his proportions. Instead of having a larger head compared to his neck and bigger eyes, he now has a smaller head, neck, and eyes. The final version of Toothless is anatomically and physically distinct from what was initially conceived. However, the intention was always to make him feel like Toothless. They experimented with making him bigger, more scaly, and more dragon-like, but it never captured the essence of Toothless.

In another aspect of the visual balance, the way Toothless was brought to life through animation played a crucial role. As Manz pointed out, in traditional animation, animators must convey much through motion. Conversely, in live-action animation, simplicity often proves more effective.

Over and over, I use my pet as an illustration, and when it’s time for food, he tilts his head, his tail stiffens, and he gazes intently at you. He might even shuffle slightly while maintaining eye contact, but he’s not wandering off or being busy elsewhere. This behavior resonates with us because we recognize it in our own pets. In a more realistic context, I believe that if Toothless had been animated similarly, he would seem less genuine and more like a cartoon character.

In the animated movie, there were instances where they could manipulate or “cheat” the dragon’s size for the sake of the scene. However, in our live-action adaptation, we couldn’t do that because we had actual sets and people to work with. The dragon’s size was a significant challenge since our production designer needed to design and construct sets that would accommodate the dragons without any manipulation. This required a lot of planning and effort before we even started filming.

Making The Red Death even more epic in the live-action movie

In the transformation from animation to live-action, it was the colossal Red Death “Big Bad” dragon, which clashed with Toothless and the Vikings in the final scene of the movie, that underwent the most significant change. The concept artists had a vision for this revamped version that was even more immense, making Toothless and his kin appear minute by comparison. This presented an exhilarating challenge to the Framestore team as they worked to bring this vision to reality on screen.

Manz expressed his excitement, stating, “Though I’ve worked on numerous creature designs, this project stands out as unique because we constructed sets that depicted parts of the Red Death’s lair, where Astrid fights against the beast by chipping at its teeth and shattering its eyes. Unlike many other massive creatures, this one wasn’t just mindlessly rampaging. Each action served the narrative, which I found fascinating. The animated movie did this effectively, and I believe we’ve carried that same efficiency over to this production, as it constantly propels forward with swift motion.

Manz mentioned that while creating the Red Death, they drew inspiration not only from theoretical concepts but also from real-life examples, such as SpaceX rockets. He recalled a YouTube video of a SpaceX rocket booster and shared it with his team, saying, “When we ignite the Red Death’s fire, it’s one of the most powerful things on Earth, just like that rocket.

They adopted the appearance of a fired booster for what emerges from the Red Death’s mouth, earning prompt approval from DeBlois.

Instead, we made minimal changes to it and focused on enhancing its aesthetics while maintaining a high level of detail. In creating a fantasy, one often finds inspiration in the real world.

Afterward, she enjoyed crafting devastating destruction and mayhem as it erupted from its volcanic abode and invaded the external realm.

She took delight in manufacturing chaos and destruction, which burst forth from its volcanic dwelling into the outside environment.

He laughs, saying, “The shots contain images of her immense tail, which was previously shown in pre-vis, destroying and trampling over a thousand Vikings. Although these scenes are already cool, we thought they could be made even more impactful. In the animated film, she appeared more upright and T-rex-like. However, in our movie, Dean designed her to look like an ancient, weathered lion that has been living near a volcano for a long time. When she emerges, we wanted her to exude a sense of age and power. We were researching references, such as images from Iceland and also other rock and magma-related visuals.

As a gamer putting on my creative hat, I can’t help but marvel at the triumph of my friends at Framestore with the phenomenal success of turning How To Train Your Dragon into one of the most successful animation-to-live-action adaptations. Yet, there’s no time to bask in glory as they’re deep into creating early tests for the sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2. The journey continues!

He shared that he has been examining dragon-related ideas and has already organized a series of events. He recalls watching the film in 2014 with his seven-year-old son, and more recently revisited it on his laptop with his now 18-year-old. The movie, he says, is captivating, and he eagerly anticipates seeing how Dean plans to develop it. However, what excites him the most is the solid base they’ve established, allowing them to learn from past experiences and aim for further improvement.

Despite needing to speed things up significantly, he let out a chuckle, hinting at the fast-approaching June 11, 2027 deadline.

The digitally-purchasable or rentable version of the movie, “How to Train Your Dragon,” includes bonus features like a blooper reel and cut scenes.

Read More

2025-07-16 23:02