Who Asked for This? The Pointlessness of a Live-Action How to Train Your Dragon

Back in 2010, DreamWorks gifted us with How to Train Your Dragon, a beautiful, heartfelt animated film that captivated audiences of all ages. It had stunning visuals, a powerful score, and deeply emotional storytelling. It was one of those rare animated features that didn’t just entertain kids—it genuinely moved people. It spawned a beloved trilogy and a whole franchise. So… why, in 2025, are we getting a live-action remake of it?

Seriously. Who asked for this?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some grumpy animation purist yelling at clouds. But let’s be real: there’s something deeply uninspired about Hollywood’s current obsession with remaking relatively recent animated hits into live-action films no one actually requested. This isn’t some dusty 1950s classic being reimagined for a new generation. The original How to Train Your Dragon is still fresh. It's readily available on streaming, and honestly, it holds up better than most modern blockbusters.

The worst part? There’s nothing live-action can do here that animation didn’t already do better. The dragons were visually incredible in the animated trilogy—adorable, fierce, expressive. Turning them into photorealistic CGI creatures for a live-action world risks losing that charm. And the sweeping landscapes of Berk? They thrived in the stylized animation. In live-action, they’ll just feel… smaller. Less magical.

This remake doesn’t feel like a creative decision. It feels like a corporate one.

Sure, nostalgia sells. Studios know people will at least talk about something they recognize. But just because a film can be remade doesn’t mean it should. Especially not a film that already did everything right the first time. The characters were strong. The world-building was rich. And don’t even get me started on that score—John Powell’s music gave the original its soul.

There’s also something frustrating about the trend of “live-action = superior” that these remakes push. Animation is a legitimate art form, not a stepping stone. Some stories are meant to be animated. Toothless, for example, was crafted with the expressiveness of a cat-dog hybrid, something that only animation could convey so perfectly. You turn that into a hyper-realistic dragon, and you lose half of what made him special.

I know it’s too late to stop the live-action How to Train Your Dragon. The cast is set. The promo’s already out. But as a fan of the original, it’s hard not to feel like this remake is missing the point. Instead of breathing new life into a forgotten tale, it’s trying to cash in on something that never needed fixing.

Hollywood, listen up: not everything needs a live-action version. Sometimes, the dragon is better left untouched.