Discussions regarding a third How to Train Your Dragon film began in December 2010, with DeBlois later stating that the second film was being intentionally designed as the second act of the trilogy. The film underwent various changes in its release date due to distributor changes. The animation challenges of the production required DreamWorks Animation to update and invent new software to handle complex tasks, such as lighting the Light Fury dragon.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was released on January 3, 2019, in Australia, and on February 22 in the United States. Like its predecessors, it received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its animation, voice acting, musical score, and emotional weight.[5] The film grossed over $525 million worldwide. It received several accolades: five Annie Awards nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, and a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards.
Plot
A year after becoming chieftain,[a] Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, his Night Fury Toothless, and their fellow dragon-riders continue to rescue captured dragons to bring them to Berk; however, the island is becoming overpopulated with dragons. In response, Hiccup desires to find the "Hidden World", a safe haven for dragons once spoken of by his late father, Stoick. Meanwhile, a white female Light Fury, held captive by warlords, is given to an infamous dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly as bait for him to capture Toothless for the warlords' use as an alpha.
Toothless discovers the Light Fury in the woods, and the two become enchanted with each other until the Light Fury, sensing Hiccup's and Astrid's nearby presence, flees. Hiccup and Tuffnut later discover Grimmel's dragon traps in the area. Grimmel visits Hiccup that night, demanding he hand over Toothless while revealing he single-handedly killed every Night Fury species to near extinction, but Hiccup has prepared an ambush for him. Grimmel escapes while his Deathgripper dragons burn down Hiccup's house and Berk. Hiccup then rallies the citizens and dragons to leave Berk on a quest to find the Hidden World and safety from dragon hunters.
Mid-journey, the Berkians discover an island on which they initially plan to rest, but soon begin to settle there, dubbing it "New Berk". Seeing Toothless' inability to fly solo hindering his growing relationship with the Light Fury, Hiccup rebuilds an automatic tailfin for him.[b] Upon receiving it, Toothless flies off, meeting up with the Light Fury and flying with her to an unknown land. On a scouting patrol, Valka notices Grimmel's approaching army and reports back to Hiccup. Hiccup and the dragon riders head to capture Grimmel but fall into his trap and barely escape. Ruffnut is captured, although she irritates Grimmel until he lets her go.
Hiccup, Astrid, and her dragon Stormfly search for Toothless. They find the Hidden World and see Toothless and the Light Fury leading the dragons as a happily mated couple. When the two humans are soon discovered, the inhabitant dragons attack them, but Toothless rescues both and returns to New Berk, with Hiccup realizing that humans would be intruders and unsafe in the Hidden World. Ruffnut returns, but unbeknownst to her, Grimmel had secretly followed her to New Berk. Grimmel appears and captures Toothless and the Light Fury, who had followed them to New Berk. Toothless' alpha status allows Grimmel to capture the rest of Berk's dragons.
With Astrid's encouragement, Hiccup sets out with the dragon riders to stop Grimmel and his army. Gliding on wingsuits, they catch Grimmel's army off-guard, igniting a battle and freeing the dragons while fending off Grimmel's men. With help from Stormfly, Hiccup frees Toothless while Grimmel drugs the Light Fury into obeying him. Hiccup and Toothless give chase and kill Grimmel's Deathgrippers through a powerful lightning strike, but Grimmel tranquilizes Toothless in midair, causing the dragon to fall. Hiccup, realizing he cannot rescue Toothless alone, frees the Light Fury and implores her to save Toothless before falling with Grimmel into the ocean. Hiccup unfastens his prosthetic leg, causing Grimmel to die from impact while the Light Fury returns to save Hiccup.
Back on the island, Toothless and Hiccup acknowledge that dragons are no longer safe in the human world and that humans are forbidden in the Hidden World. Hiccup bids farewell to Toothless as the Berkians set their dragons free to live in the Hidden World, with the Light Fury leading the dragons and Toothless following them. Three months later, Hiccup and Astrid marry and become the chieftains of New Berk.
Nine years later, Toothless and the Light Fury have mated and hatched three hybrid dragon fledglings called Night Lights. Hiccup, Astrid, and their two children[c] sail across the sea to visit them at the edge of the Hidden World. After introducing his son and daughter to his old friend, Hiccup and Astrid take their children flying on Toothless and Stormfly, accompanied by the Light Fury and their offspring. Hiccup vows that, until humans and dragons are ready to co-exist peacefully with one another, the dragons will stay hidden while the Berkians guard their secret.
Voice cast
Jay Baruchel – Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of Stoick the Vast and Valka, the newly crowned Viking chief of Berk, the one who initially trained the dragons, and Astrid's husband[6]
A.J. Kane – younger Hiccup
America Ferrera – Astrid Hofferson, an excellent fighter and Hiccup's wife[6]
F. Murray Abraham – Grimmel the Grisly, an infamous dragon hunter who is responsible for the near-extinction of the Night Furies[7]
Cate Blanchett – Valka Haddock, a dragon rescuer and Hiccup's mother, now living on Berk after twenty years of isolation[6]
Gerard Butler – Stoick the Vast, the late father of Hiccup and Berk's previous chieftain, as seen in flashbacks[8]
Craig Ferguson – Gobber the Belch, a seasoned warrior, blacksmith, and dragon dentist[9]
Jonah Hill – Snotlout Jorgenson, a brash, overconfident, and fairly unintelligent but reliable friend of Hiccup[9]
Christopher Mintz-Plasse – Fishlegs Ingerman, an enthusiastic friend of Hiccup knowledgeable in dragon lore, which he often relates in a role-playing game style[9]
Kristen Wiig – Ruffnut Thorston, Tuffnut's fraternal twin who is friends with Hiccup[10][9][11]
Justin Rupple – Tuffnut Thorston, Ruffnut's fraternal twin who is friends with Hiccup.[10][9][11] He was originally voiced by T.J. Miller in the first two films and the TV series.
Kit Harington – Eret, a former dragon hunter who used to work for Drago Bludvist, who has joined the dragon riders after the events of the second film[7]
Julia Emelin – Griselda the Grievous, an aggressive warlord who works with Grimmel
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson – Ragnar the Rock, an incompetent warlord who works with Grimmel
James Sie – Chaghatai Khan, a less aggressive and stubborn warlord who works with Grimmel
David Tennant – Ivar the Witless, a dragon trapper who works for the Warlords
Tennant also voices Spitelout Jorgenson, the father of Snotlout
Randy Thom – vocal effects for Toothless and the Light Fury
Production
In December 2010, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that there would also be a third film in the series: "How To Train Your Dragon is at least three: maybe more, but we know there are at least three chapters to that story."[12] Dean DeBlois, the writer and director of the second and the third film, stated that How to Train Your Dragon 2 was being intentionally designed as the second act of the trilogy: "There are certain characters and situations that come into play in the second film that will become much more crucial to the story by the third."[13] DeBlois said in an interview that the third part would be released in 2016.[14] Although the series has taken a different path of telling a story of Hiccup and Vikings, author Cressida Cowell revealed that the trilogy and the book series will have similar endings (with "an explanation as to why dragons are no more").[15]
The film was produced by Bonnie Arnold[16] and Brad Lewis. DeBlois and Chris Sanders were the executive producers; Sanders was an executive producer of the second film and co-director of the first.[16] Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Kristen Wiig returned in the third film,[16] with Justin Rupple replacing T.J. Miller as Tuffnut.[10] DeBlois revealed that Miller did originally return to voice Tuffnut, but DreamWorks recast him after the actor's sexual assault allegations and arrest for calling in a fake bomb threat.[17] Cate Blanchett also reprised her role as Valka from the second film.[6] On November 14, 2017, it was announced that Kit Harington would reprise his role as Eret and F. Murray Abraham had joined the cast.[7] During the earlier stages of production, DeBlois stated that Djimon Hounsou would also return as Drago Bludvist.[18] It was even planned to have Drago redeemed by the film's end, but halfway through development, DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg convinced DeBlois that the story of Drago's redemption required more screen time that they could not provide, causing his inclusion to be scrapped.[19] On April 17, 2018, DreamWorks Animation announced that the sequel's title would be How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.[20][21] The animation challenges of the production required DreamWorks Animation to update and invent new software to handle complex tasks, such as lighting the Light Fury dragon.[22]
John Powell, who composed the previous two films, returned to compose the film's score.[23] In addition, Powell's collaborators Batu Sener, Anthony Willis, and Paul Mounsey are credited as additional composers. Also returning from the previous films, Jónsi wrote a new song for the film, titled "Together from Afar", which was released as a single on January 31, 2019.[24] Jónsi also provided vocals for a track titled "The Hidden World".[25]
Release
In September 2012, 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks Animation's then-distributor partner, and the studio itself announced the film was originally going to be released on June 17, 2016.[16][26][27] In September 2014, the film's release date was pushed back a year from its original release date of June 17, 2016 to June 9, 2017.[6] DeBlois explained the release date shifts as such: "It's just that these movies take three years. I think it was a little ambitious to say 2016... As is normally the case, they kind of throw darts out into the future and wherever they land they call that a release date until we start talking about it in practical terms, and then it's like, 'Uh yeah that's not enough time'. So knowing that they take three years from this moment, from outlining and writing the screenplay through to the final lighting of it, it's just a process of building models and doing tests and animating, storyboarding, the whole thing just adds up to about three years."[28]
In January 2015, the release date was pushed back a year from June 9, 2017 to June 29, 2018 following DreamWorks Animation's corporate restructuring and lay-offs meant to maximize the company's "creative talent and resources, reduce costs, and drive profitability."[29][30] On June 18, 2016, the release date was moved up from June 29, 2018 to May 18, 2018, taking the release date of the Warner Animation Group's The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.[31] On December 5, 2016, the US release date was pushed back from May 18, 2018 to March 1, 2019.[32] The release date was moved up for a final time from March 1, 2019 to February 22, 2019, taking the slot of The Turning, a live-action DreamWorks film which in turn was pushed back to January 24, 2020.[33][34]
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World grossed $160.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $361 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $521.8 million, against a production budget of $129 million.[3]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $130million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it 12th on their list of 2019's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".[38]
In the United States and Canada, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World held early screenings at 1,000 theaters on February 2, 2019 and grossed $2.5 million, one of the highest advance showing totals ever.[39] It was released alongside the wide expansion of Fighting with My Family, and was initially projected to gross $40–45 million from 4,259 theaters in its opening weekend.[40] After making $17.5 million on its first day (including $3 million from Thursday night previews), weekend projections were increased to $60 million. It went
on to debut to $55 million finishing first at the box office.[3][41][42] The film made $30 million in its second weekend, retaining the top spot, before being dethroned by newcomer Captain Marvel in its third.[43][44]
The film grossed $1.5 million on its opening day in Australia, setting a record for a DreamWorks Animation film in that country (surpassing Shrek 2). In New Zealand, the film grossed $173,000 on its opening day, ranking as DreamWorks Animation's second biggest opening day in the country, behind Shrek 2.[45] By its third weekend of international release the film has grossed a total of $41 million.[46] As of March 24, 2019, the film's largest markets in other territories were China ($53.7 million), Russia ($26.8 million), France ($25.0 million), United Kingdom ($24.8 million) and Mexico ($21.0 million).[3]
Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 272 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The rare trilogy capper that really works, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World brings its saga to a visually dazzling and emotionally affecting conclusion."[47] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[48] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale (the same score earned by the first two films), while those at PostTrak gave it a 90% positive score and a 77% "definite recommend".[42]
Jennifer Bisset of CNET praised the voice performances of the main characters, while also citing the visuals and action sequences, and singled out the development of the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless, saying, "Continuing a series-long focus on family and love, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World narrows on what those values mean for Toothless. He experiences romance. He grows up. And with heavy, satisfied hearts, we let him, and Hiccup, go."[49]
Michael Nordine of IndieWire gave the film a B, saying, "Directed once again by Dean DeBlois, The Hidden World strikes a bittersweet chord in reminding its young audience that all good things — including the age of dragons — must come to an end." He later went on to applaud the CGI, lauding the "arresting visuals", and stating that "The animation itself is striking — an early sequence in which the sky is filled with dragons is an early sign of the visual treats to come — and ends up being the film's highlight."[50] Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times gave a positive review of the characters and emotional messages of the film, writing "More bittersweet and less triumphal than its predecessors, and directed by a returning Dean DeBlois, The Hidden World concerns the exigencies that Hiccup faces as a leader, both politically and personally. If you truly love that dragon you trained, its message says, let him go."[51]
Conversely, some critics felt the film had the presence of too many juggled sub-plots and an obligatory ending, with Movie Crypt concluding that "Fans will enjoy seeing their characters grown and progressing as story arcs are closed, but the final resolution rings hollow. Ultimately, none of it appeared necessary other than a need to say goodbye; the dragons and their champions certainly earned a better conclusion than that."[52] Kerry Lengel of The Arizona Republic says that "The plot is thin and holey and the characters are mostly just a single gag set on repeat" and calls it "a lazy effort".[53]
Accolades
Accolades received by How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
In February 2023, a live-action remake of the first film was announced to be in development. It will be produced by Marc Platt Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures, with DeBlois returning to write and direct. It was originally scheduled for release on March 14, 2025, but was delayed to June 13 of that year due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[85][86][87]
^Hiccup had previously built an automatic tailfin for Toothless but Toothless later discarded it, as depicted in the short film Gift of the Night Fury (2011)
^DeBlois in Dragons 3 Le Monde Caché : Rencontre avec Dean DeBlois et Brad Lewis / Dragons 3 The Hidden World: Meeting with Dean DeBlois and Brad Lewis (YouTube). Cloneweb. Event occurs at 00:53. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. "In early drafts of 'Dragon 3', we did focus on the return of Drago. I'd always intended to give more dimension to the character by showing a redeemed version of him by the development of 'Dragon 3.' Midway through the development of 'Dragon 3' I was asked to come up with a fresher take that wasn't dependent on 'Dragon 2.' ... So very wisely, Steven Spielberg had said to me, 'The redemption story of Drago requires so much screen time you don't have in order to really sell it properly, and you would do yourself a disservice to try to force it in.'
