From “Lilo & Stitch” to “How to Train Your Dragon,” Dean DeBlois has always viewed storytelling as more than just spectacle — and with his new live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon,” the award-winning director says his greatest hope is to foster empathy, especially among younger viewers.
“Hiccup is a character who kind of leads with empathy and compassion in a world where strength is defined by other attributes — forcefulness and tradition,” the 55-year-old Canadian filmmaker told The Christian Post. “He becomes a hero for all of those outsiders who don’t quite fit in.”
The PG-rated film, now playing in theaters nationwide, reimagines DeBlois’ 2010 Oscar-nominated animated hit, itself inspired by Cressida Cowell’s book series. Mason Thames stars as Hiccup and Nico Parker as Astrid, while Gerard Butler reprises his role as Stoick, Hiccup’s father and chief of their tribe.
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While the new version offers upgraded visuals and a grounded, tactile world, its emotional core remains intact. At the center is Hiccup, a misfit Viking who befriends Toothless, a wounded dragon feared by his community. Together, they forge a bond that challenges generations of hostility between humans and dragons.
“That is very central to the story,” DeBlois said. “Hiccup is a character who kind of leads with empathy and compassion in a world where other attributes, forcefulness and tradition define strength. So I think that Hiccup presents as kind of this disappointment in the eyes of his father. He just can’t seem to follow in the tradition of what’s expected.”
“There is love there in the push and pull of expectation and being part of the family, and yet Hiccup can’t help himself but follow his heart and find a new way forward by befriending a perceived enemy and discovering a whole new solution to their problem that can put to rest an age-old conflict,” he continued. “And I think that for Stoick, it becomes a very humbling experience.”
DeBlois added, “He has this enlightened moment where he starts to see in his son a peaceful way forward — not something he would have considered in the past. There are lessons being learned both from a parental point of view, but also in Hiccup’s case. He’s a hero for all of those outsiders who don’t quite fit in, you know, just sort of marching to the beat of his own drum, following his heart, being compassionate and kind of leading the way forward, letting the world evolve around to embrace him for what he is.”
The film’s themes of identity and acceptance are especially resonant in today’s cultural climate, DeBlois noted.
“From a personal point of view, I was an outsider,” he said. “So I connect with characters who feel like they were cut of a different cloth, and they have a harder time assimilating and living up to expectations — whether they be from within your family or your friend’s circle or society at large.”
“There is something that is quite validating about a character like Hiccup, who has the bravery to withstand ridicule and to withstand mockery, and still follow his heart and still lead with compassion,” DeBlois added. “He becomes a teaching hero by simply being who he is and letting the world change around him, as opposed to constantly trying to change who he is to meet someone else’s expectation.”
While the themes of empathy and self-discovery remain consistent across DeBlois’ work, the live-action format presented new opportunities from the original, created 15 years ago. Compared to animation, he said, live-action allows for more spontaneous emotional expression.
“The wonderful thing about live action, which differs from animation, is that there is a point where you prepare and you rehearse and you build sets and wonderful costumes and talk the actors through what you want out of a scene, but then you hand it off to them,” he said. “And as a director, you sit back and stop trying to control everything and allow this rhythm and cadence and honesty to come through. That’s what you’re watching for — the truth to emerge.”
“And with live-action actors embodying their roles, there’s so much more nuance and emotion that comes through if they’re really committed to their characters and they’re really playing the scene, which we absolutely had in spades,” he added. “There is just such a warm connection, a human connection, that comes through in this medium, that gives it that edge over animation, where we manipulate so much of what’s on frame, even in the vocal performance.”
Still, DeBlois said he was careful to balance emotional depth with a sense of wonder. Like the original, the new film is filled with fire-breathing action, heartfelt moments and a sweeping musical score. But he wanted the tone, he said, to carry a maturity that speaks to the reality of growing up.
“I think that that is the balance,” he said. “So many of the films that were indelible in my childhood and influenced me as a storyteller had that balance of darkness and light. There were moments that were tense and emotional, but there was joy and there was wonder, and we tried to give kind of healthy helpings of both.”
“Wonder is what defines this movie, and we see that very rarely, I think, these days, in films. But you know, this is a world of consequence, and lessons must be learned, sometimes the hard way,” DeBlois said. “And there is loss, you know, there is sacrifice that comes with heroism. And so just try to balance those things in a way that you can take the audience to kind of a dark place, so long as you bring them back and you make it ultimately a joyful experience and one that’s very life affirming.”
The film, he emphasized, also serves as a return to a style of storytelling more common in past decades, when family films carried emotional weight and lasting impact.
“That was our goal,” DeBlois said. “It does feel like a rare thing these days for a movie to deliver on that. I always think like it was an ’80s aesthetic where you had movies that were so full of wonder and adventure but joy, and so that’s what we’re trying to bring. It’s this kind of retro feel of a good family movie that sticks with you.”
“How to Train Your Dragon” is now playing in theaters nationwide.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
