How to Train Your Dragon director Dean DeBlois says he isn’t a fan of remaking animated classics in live-action, but explains why he wanted to oversee the process in this instance.
Dean DeBlois is having an interesting month at the movies. He co-wrote and co-directed the animated Lilo & Stitch film with Chris Sanders, which was just remade in live-action, and is currently grossing a fortune in cinemas.
He also co-wrote and co-directed the animated How to Train Your Dragon, and has now co-written and directed the live-action remake, which hits screens next week. When it will go toe-to-toe with Stitch and Lilo in theaters.
We spoke to Dean about this new tradition that’s proving extremely lucrative for movie studios, and while he has misgivings, DeBlois also reveals his reasons for doing Dragon again.
How to Train Your Dragon director on potentially “ruining childhoods”
How to Train Your Dragon is pretty much a perfect movie, and the first installment in what is arguably a perfect trilogy. So there was understandable pushback from fans when a live-action remake was announced. And Dean DeBlois says he understood the criticism.
“We felt that stress from everybody, from the moment it was announced really,” DeBlois explains. “The feedback was ‘please don’t do this – you’re going to ruin our childhoods, you’re going to mess it up.’ So we were kept honest and on our toes the whole time.”
So why do it? DeBlois says that it was simply down to a belief that he was the right person for the job.
“The studio wanted to do it, and I didn’t want somebody else’s version” says the writer-director. “I felt too protective of the world and the characters. I know where the heart it. So I said I don’t love this trend, but if you’re going to do it, I want to be the steward, because I can protect all of those things, and bring the wonder and the emotion across the lines between mediums and make sure it’s still present.”
How to Train Your Dragon hits UK screens on June 9, 2023, and US screens on June 13. For more animated action, here’s why 2024 was the year of the cartoon, plus our list of best animated movies ever.
