The first teaser trailer for the live action adaptation of Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon provided a clear look at the aesthetic of the remake, and the design for the dragon Toothless 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 a critical perspective. How to Train Your Dragon is slated for a June 2025 release, and given how beloved the trilogy is, there was plenty of trepidation about how the characters and creatures would translate to live action.

Fortunately, the first teaser seems to have assuaged some of the angst about the live action’s faithfulness to the original. As How to Train Your Dragon’s original director has noted, there was always going to be continuity between the original animated movie and the live action treatment given that Dean DeBlois, who is directing the 2025 remake, was a co-director and co-writer on the original. It’s clear that at least from a visual perspective, DeBlois has carried over 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 Going Too Realistic

It’s A Perfect Translation Of The Animated Design

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

The How to Train Your Dragon remake doesn’t need to adapt real animals, and therefore has the luxury of not needing to replicate a design that exists in nature. While DeBlois could have gone with a more jagged, reptilian interpretation of Toothless, he stuck exactly to the design from the animated trilogy. The teaser depicts the first encounter between Hiccup and Toothless, and many frames are pulled right from the original, just with live action elements. That should help to preserve the emotional strength of the narrative, which is at the core of why the movies are so popular.

How To Train Your Dragon’s Live-Action Toothless Design Retains A Core Element

Toothless’ Design Is Key To His Characterization

Toothless’ design is actually a foundational aspect of the entire point of the How to Train Your Dragon series. Initially, Toothless is depicted as an ultra-deadly dragon that has never actually been seen; the fear of him largely lies in the unknown. It’s in Hiccup’s first up-close encounter with Toothless that he realizes that he isn’t a vicious monster. Rather, he’s a gentle, highly intelligent creature that possesses an emotional range on par with a person. In grade school terms, it’s the “don’t judge a book by its cover” moral played out with a mysterious dragon.

The
How to Train Your Dragon
live action remake has a lot to live up to, as the original animated film actually received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Toothless’ design makes that 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 very few sharp edges, and overall his design is almost cute and inviting, especially when you factor in his goofy personality. It was essential that the How to Train Your Dragon live action remake preserve that element of Toothless’ character design, and the first teaser trailer proves that they absolutely nailed it.