How to Train Your Dragon’s Live-Action Toothless Design Eases a Big Concern

The first teaser trailer for the live action adaptation of Dreamworks How to train your dragon provided a clear look at the remake’s aesthetic, and Toothless’ dragon design should ease the concerns of all fans of the multimedia franchise. The original series is among the most successful animated franchises of all time, both from a commercial and critical perspective. How to train your dragon is set to be released in June 2025, and given how beloved the trilogy is, there was a lot of apprehension about how the characters and creatures would translate into live action.

Fortunately, the first teaser appears to have eased some of the angst about the live-action’s fidelity to the original. As the original director of How to Train Your Dragon noted, there will always be continuity between the original animated film and the live-action treatment, given that Dean DeBlois, who is directing the 2025 remake, was co-director and co-writer of the original. It’s clear that, at least from a visual point of view, DeBlois transported the right elements, which is particularly important in the characterization of the series’ most famous dragon, Toothless.

Toothless’ live-action design in How to Train Your Dragon avoided getting too realistic

It’s a perfect translation of the animated design

THE How to train your dragon The remake is avoiding one of the main problems that live-action treatments often cause: making non-human characters too realistic. This problem has been prevalent in live-action adaptations of Disney films, where animals are given near-photorealistic interpretations. Unfortunately, as impressive as CGI is from a visual standpoint, it often eliminates much of the expressiveness of characters that is made possible by animation. With less expressive characters, the overall narrative experience often suffers, despite the talent of the voice actors.

THE How to train your dragon The remake does not need to adapt real animals and therefore has the luxury of not needing to replicate a design that exists in nature. Although DeBlois could have gone for a more irregular and reptilian interpretation of Toothless, he stuck exactly to the design of the animated trilogy. The teaser depicts the first meeting between Hiccup and Toothless, and many frames are taken from the original, with only live-action elements. This should help preserve the emotional strength of the narrative, which is why the films are so popular.

How to Train Your Dragon’s Live-Action Toothless Design Keeps a Core Element

Toothless’ design is key to his characterization

The Toothless design is actually a fundamental aspect of the entire point of How to train your dragon series. Initially, Toothless is portrayed as an ultra-deadly dragon that has never been seen; his fear lies largely in the unknown. It is in Hiccup’s first up-close encounter with Toothless that he realizes he is not a cruel monster. Instead, he is a gentle, highly intelligent creature who possesses an emotional range equivalent to that of a person. In elementary school terms, it’s the “don’t judge a book by its cover” moral practiced with a mysterious dragon.

Toothless’ design makes this message possible. While the Hideous Zippleback or Monstrous Nightmare are terrifying in their appearance, Toothless has large, deep green eyes that communicate his intelligence. He has few sharp edges, and overall his design is almost cute and inviting, especially when you take his goofy personality into consideration. It was essential that the How to train your dragon The live-action remake preserves this element of Toothless’ character design, and the first teaser trailer proves they nailed it.