How to Train Your Dragon will return to the big screen in 2025, but this time, the franchise’s beloved characters will be in live-action. Those interested in catching up on the franchise before Mason Thames and Nico Parker bring Hiccup and Astrid to life can use our guide to find out how to watch every How To Train Your Dragon movie, TV show, and short film in order streaming on platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video!
How to Train Your Dragon began as a children’s book series by Cressida Cowell. Her series caught the attention of DreamWorks Animation, which adapted it into the 2010 award-winning movie How to Train Your Dragon. The animated film follows Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (Jay Baruchel), an inventive and awkward teenage boy who lives in the village of Berk, which is run by his father, Chief Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler). Although he has been raised to hate and fear dragons, he soon befriends a rare Night Fury (Randy Thom), setting him on a path that could change his entire village’s way of life.
The movie earned high critical acclaim, including two Oscar nominations, for its stunning animation, dazzling dragons, and surprisingly emotional and mature script. DreamWorks wasted no time expanding the franchise. It quickly greenlit How to Train Your Dragon 2 and tapped Cartoon Network to broadcast a spinoff series, DreamWorks Dragons. The show set the stage for the sequel and followed Hiccup as he helped Berk adapt to co-existing with dragons.
In the sequel film, Hiccup and his father return, along with Hiccup's friends, Astrid (America Ferrera), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Tuffnut (T. J. Miller), and Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig). How to Train Your Dragon 2 picks up five years after the original and sees Hiccup’s mission to explore uncharted territory catch the attention of a fearsome warlord, Drago (Djimon Hounsou). The film was another major success, paving the way for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.
The third How to Train Your Dragon installment was treated as the final film in the series. It sees Hiccup, now in the role of Chief, forced to make a difficult decision about all of the dragons’ future. The movie upheld How to Train Your Dragon’s success streak, earning high critical acclaim for its story and animation. After the movie, DreamWorks started pursuing other opportunities, including two spinoff series set in the How to Train Your Dragon universe that featured all-new characters. By 2023, a live-action film reboot of the series was greenlit.
How to watch the How to Train Your Dragon franchise in order
In addition to the film trilogy and three TV spinoff series, there are six How to Train Your Dragon short films. Although they’re not essential to understanding the movies, they offer additional lore. The only series that doesn’t fit into the chronological order is Dragons: Rescue Riders, as it is not part of the official canon. See below for how to watch all the shows, movies, and short films in chronological order:
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon
- Book of Dragons
- Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury
- Dragons: Riders of Berk seasons 1 - 2
- Dragons: Dawn of the Dragon Racers
- Dragons: Race to the Edge seasons 1 - 6
- How to Train Your Dragon 2
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
- How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming
- How to Train Your Dragon: Snoggletog Log
- DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms
Check out our list below for the release date order and find out where to watch the How to Train Your Dragon franchise online in the U.S.!