The original version of this article was written by Jenni Russell and published on 30 September 2024.
The How to Train Your Dragon series, based on Cressida Cowell’s book series, has grown into a beloved franchise since the release of the first animated movie in 2010. Known for both its heartwarming relationships between humans and dragons and its beautiful animation, the story’s universe has grown to include everything from animated and live-action films to TV series, video games, a graphic novel and a theatrical play.
This guide includes details on the wide range of How To Train Your Dragon movies, shorts and TV shows, including where you can find them on services such as Netflix, ITVX, and Sky Go.
How to Train Your Dragon Movies
How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
Here’s the movie where it all began. How to Train Your Dragon is a story about a young Viking, named Hiccup, who makes friends with a wounded dragon, named Toothless. It’s a wonderfully exciting story that also contains a message about accepting outsiders, as Hiccup and Toothless’s friendship changes how the other vikings think about dragons and, ultimately, about themselves.
Needless to say, if you’re looking for an animated adventure that viewers of all ages can enjoy (think Kubo & the Two Strings or Raya and the Last Dragon), few do it better than this one.
How To Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 follows Hiccup and Toothless on their adventure to discover new lands and wild dragons. Along the way, they encounter Drago Bludvist (voiced by Djimon Hounsou), an evil villain who wants to control all dragons, and Valka Haddock, a dragon rescuer who also happens to be Hiccup’s long-lost mother.
Speaking about the movie, series creator Dean DeBlois cited The Empire Strikes Back and My Neighbour Totoro as influences—so if you’re a fan of those movies, you might spot some similarities here.
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
The final movie in the trilogy, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, sees Hiccup and Toothless discover a hidden dragon utopia. Now 21 years old, Hiccup must deal with the responsibilities of being chief, while Toothless finds love with Light Fury. Together, they confront a new dragon hunter called Grimmel (voiced by the great F. Murray Abraham).
Talking about the movie in interviews, Deblois mentioned Avatar as a visual reference for the bioluminescence of The Hidden World and, more interestingly still, cited the cinematography in The Revenant as inspiration for some of the long takes in the action scenes. So, if you’re a HTTYD fan who appreciates either of those movies, you’ll want to check this one out.
How To Train Your Dragon (2025)
2025 has been a great year for Dean DeBlois, with live-action versions of two of his creations making the top five of the highest-grossing movies of the year (at the time of writing). DeBlois acted as producer on Lilo & Stitch (based on the 2002 Disney classic he wrote and directed with Chris Sanders), but the live-action How to Train Your Dragon was both written and directed by him, too.
This is a super faithful retelling of the 2010 movie, so if you love the original, you’ll probably enjoy seeing it adapted so accurately here—especially as Gerard Butler gets to reprise his role as Stoick the Vast.
How To Train Your Dragon TV Series
Dreamworks Dragons (2012-2018)
The first HTTYD series to be released was DreamWorks Dragons, which ran between the end of the first movie and the beginning of the last. The first two seasons can be watched between the first and second movie, with Seasons 3 to 8 between the second and Hidden World.
Most of the voice cast return in a series that explores the challenges and joys of the new cohabitation of Vikings and dragons, following the events of the first movie.
DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders (2019-2022)
After the events of the original trilogy, Netflix released DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders. The plot follows Dak and Leyla, two young humans who were raised by dragons and, as a result, have acquired the ability to speak with them.
A spin-off show from the HTTYD universe, Rescue Riders might be appealing to much younger viewers.
Dreamworks Dragons: The Nine Realms (2021-2023)
The most recent spinoff from the HTTYD universe is DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms. Taking place in pretty much the present day, it’s also the biggest diversion from the fantastical Nordic world of the original movies—so if you’re interested in seeing that clash, you might want to check it out.
The action is set 1300 years after Hidden World, following a group of teenagers who uncover a dragon world in the crash site of a comet. Soon, they begin to discover something about their own destinies, too.
How To Train Your Dragon Short Films
Legend of the Bonekeeper Dragon (2010)
The first How to Train Your Dragon short is titled Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon and follows Hiccup and Gobber on a quest to face the titular dragon, a skeleton-like creature of mythical lore.
The short is roughly 12 minutes long, but about half of that is told in traditional 2D animation—it might be one for you if you’d like the chance to see a HTTYD story told in that style, and one that shows a bit of Gobber’s past.
Book of Dragons (2011)
Released a year later, the slightly longer short, Book of Dragons, expands the universe of HTTYD through the titular book, which explores a range of never-before-seen dragons.
The 18-minute-long short introduces 14 new species, separated into seven different classes. If learning about all the different varieties sounds interesting, you might want to check this one out.
Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury (2011)
Released in December 2011, Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury is the first holiday special in the Dragons franchise. The story begins with Hiccup and his fellow vikings preparing for their annual winter celebration, which, of course, is called Snoggletog.
Toothless becomes sad when the other dragons migrate away, and so Hiccup must try to cheer him up. It’s a typically sentimental holiday tale that younger fans of the series will enjoy.
Dragons: Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014)
The longest HTTYD short is Dragons: Dawn of the Dragon Racers, a 26-minute story that originally appeared on the DVD release of How to Train Your Dragon 2.
Set three years before the second movie, this one follows a race between Hiccup and his friends to become Berk’s first Dragon Racing Champion—younger viewers with a love for all things racing will likely appreciate it more than others.
How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019)
How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming is the second holiday special in the HTTYD universe. Containing most of the cast from The Hidden World, this one is set ten years after the end of the movie, when the dragons left the vikings, and focuses on Hiccup’s attempts to convince his children that the dragons weren’t monsters. To do so, he and Astrid plan to bring back the Snoggletog pageant.
This is another of the series’ holiday offerings and another that younger members of the family will definitely get into.
