Film

How to Train Your Dragon

Name: How to Train Your Dragon
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Animation, Family
Released: 2010
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill

A scrawny Viking teenager discovers that the monster he's meant to kill is actually terrified, funny, and desperate for a friend. What follows is one of the best-looking animated adventures of its decade — soaring flight sequences, real emotional stakes, and a friendship that never curdles into saccharine. Thrilling for kids, quietly moving for adults, gorgeous enough to watch twice just for the sky.

TMDb rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you respond to gentle humour paired with a lonely outsider's search for belonging, and you love flying sequences shot with real swoop and momentum.

Skip it if you need grit, real menace or a slow, meditative pace, since this one is bright, brisk and eager to reassure you.

What it asks of you: Around ninety-eight minutes, moving at a quick clip with plenty of comic beats and only brief pauses to let its feelings land.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Iron Giant1999

A boy hides a colossal, possibly dangerous creature from adults who want it destroyed, and the tenderness between them rivals anything Pixar has made. Funny, sad, and genuinely thrilling by the end.

But The Cold War paranoia plot feels dated, and the animation shows its late-90s budget in places.

Lilo & Stitch2002

Another odd, destructive creature adopted by a lonely kid who needs him more than anyone admits — chaotic, warm, and unexpectedly moving about found family and forgiveness.

But Broader slapstick than Hiccup's world, with tonal whiplash between silliness and genuine grief that not everyone loves.

Big Hero 62014

A grieving kid bonds with a huge, ungainly companion who turns out to be his best defense against loss — big action, bigger heart, same DNA of boy-and-beast loyalty.

But Leans harder into superhero spectacle and gadget humor, so the quieter character work gets less room to breathe.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from How to Train Your Dragon

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Black Stallion1979

Same essential story — a boy and a dangerous, magnificent animal earning each other's trust — but told in near-total silence with live horses instead of animated dragons, decades earlier.

A shipwrecked boy and a wild, untamable horse form a wordless bond on an empty beach, shot with such patience and beauty it plays almost like a silent film. One of the great taming-the-beast stories, decades before Hiccup and Toothless.

But Glacially slow by modern standards, with long stretches of near-silence that will test anyone expecting Dragon's pace and jokes.

Kung Fu Panda2008

An underdog hero nobody expects much from finds unlikely purpose, wrapped in gorgeous DreamWorks animation and real warmth beneath the jokes — the studio's other great coming-into-your-own story.

But More comedy-forward and less emotionally intense than Hiccup's arc; the father-figure stuff is gentler, less central.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse2018

A teenager growing into an identity nobody expects of him, told through some of the most inventive animation ever put in a mainstream film — dazzling, funny, unexpectedly tender.

But No dragons, no father-son standoff — the connection is purely coming-of-age spirit and craft, not plot.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse poster

The Mitchells vs. the Machines2021

A family forced together by chaos discovers they're stronger united than apart, animated with the same restless visual imagination and genuine heart that made Dragon a standout.

But Contemporary internet humor and hyperactive visual style are a big tonal shift from Dragon's Norse-myth calm.

Toy Story1995

The animated benchmark for a friendship story that respects kids and adults equally — funny, adventurous, and quietly wise about loyalty and change.

But No creature-taming thrill; the stakes are toys, not dragons, so the adrenaline runs lower throughout.

Shrek2001

An unlikely, initially hostile pairing — ogre and donkey — grows into real affection, told with the same irreverent charm and surprising sweetness underneath the jokes.

But Broader, more pop-culture-referential humor that ages in a very different way than Dragon's timeless tone.

Wreck-It Ralph2012

A misfit desperate to prove himself finds an unlikely companion who changes everything he wants from life — colorful, kind, and surprisingly moving about belonging.

But The video-game-world setting and comedy pacing feel worlds away from Dragon's windswept Viking landscapes.

My Octopus Teacher2020

Strips away every fantasy element to ask the same question Dragon asks — can you truly befriend a wild, alien creature — and answers it with footage, not animation.

A real man forms an actual, patient friendship with a wild octopus off the coast of South Africa — no script, no danger of sentimentality, just genuine wonder at a creature nobody expected to be capable of connection.

But A slow, meditative documentary for adults with no jokes, no action, and an ending that isn't the triumphant kind.

Pan's Labyrinth2006

Same fairy-tale structure — a misfit child, a fantastical creature, a warrior father figure who wants obedience over imagination — but pushed into horror-tinged, adult territory with real historical stakes.

A lonely child escapes into a dark fantasy world full of strange creatures during a brutal, real war — gorgeous, frightening, and far more adult about what it costs to choose kindness over cruelty.

But Genuinely disturbing violence and a much bleaker tone; this is not a film for kids or anyone wanting Dragon's warmth.