Following the recent release of 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon, director Dean DeBlois has revealed that he chose to delete several scenes from the original animated film to reshape the narrative of the live-action remake. In a recent discussion, DeBlois pointed out the updated sequences in the new version of the film but also explained the reasoning behind these changes.
Dean DeBlois reveals why How to Train Your Dragon remake cut many scenes
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, DeBlois clarified that he opted to delete multiple scenes from the original How to Train Your Dragon for his 2025 remake, as he felt the live-action performances from the actors filled in the audience on the story’s development more effectively than its animated counterpart.
“There are also scenes from the animated movie that we omitted. Hiccup is no longer accosted by Terrible Terrors… Astrid no longer nearly catches him red-handed in the blacksmith stall… We felt like the storytelling was coming through loud and clear with the live-action performances, and we no longer had to lean on or make a finer point of it with these scenes,” DeBlois clarified.
Despite leaving several scenes from the original out of the new film, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon is still actually longer than the 2010 film, containing “at least 27 minutes of new material,” according to THR. Pointing out the scenes that contained brand new footage, DeBlois noted, “The scene in which Hiccup is supposed to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in front of the whole village. There’s time spent with Astrid and Hiccup in the tunnel. There’s a little more time spent with Stoic and Hiccup, and there’s the intense scene that unfolds in the arena as Toothless bursts in and tries to protect Hiccup.” He then explained the reasoning behind adding the sequences, stating, “A lot of individual scenes just grew because we allowed for the relationships to run a little deeper. So the action is dialed up, but so is the interplay between characters.”
DeBlois’ live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon opens in theaters today.
