How to Train Your Dragon (franchise)

The How to Train Your Dragon franchise from DreamWorks Animation consists of two feature films How to Train Your Dragon (2010) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), with a third feature film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, set for a 2019 release. The franchise is inspired by the British book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. The franchise also consists of four short films: Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010), Book of Dragons (2011), Gift of the Night Fury (2011) and Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014). A television series following the events of the first film, Dragons: Riders of Berk, began airing on Cartoon Network in September 2012. Its second season was renamed Dragons: Defenders of Berk. Set several years later, and as a more immediate prequel to the second film, a new television series, titled Dragons: Race to the Edge, aired on Netflix in June 2015. The second season of the show was added to Netflix in January 2016 and a third season in June 2016. A fourth season aired on Netflix in February 2017, a fifth season in August 2017, and a sixth and final season on February 16, 2018.

The franchise follows the adventures of a young Viking named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of Stoick the Vast, leader of the Viking island of Berk. Although initially dismissed as a clumsy and underweight misfit, he soon becomes renowned as a courageous expert in dragons, beginning with Toothless, a member of the rare Night Fury breed as his flying mount and his closest companion. Together with his friends, he manages the village's allied dragon population in defense of his home as leader of a flying corps of dragon riders. Dean DeBlois, the director of the trilogy, described its story as "Hiccup's coming of age," taking a span of five years between the first and second film, while explaining in the third and final film why dragons no longer exist.

The film series has been highly acclaimed with its first two features being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, in addition to the first film's nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.