One of the most memorable moments from the How to Train Your Dragon franchise is the boop. This is the occasion when Viking youth Hiccup and the adorable Night Fury Toothless establish a genuine connection for the first time, with the dragon’s snout gently brushing against Hiccup’s hand.
More than 15 years after the debut of Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Cressida Cowell’s novels, DeBlois has returned to How to Train Your Dragon as a live-action film, meticulously redoing the beloved boop scene shot-for-shot.
Mashable UK Editor Shannon Connellan interviewed DeBlois along with How to Train Your Dragon actors Mason Thames and Nico Parker to discover how the film reimagined the moment.
“Our goal was to recreate that scene as accurately as possible through live-action on a stage with our cove set, almost shot-for-shot that precise moment — and also the test-drive scene when they are soaring above the clouds,” DeBlois shared with Mashable.
“We aspired for these to be completely faithful as a homage to the fans. The way we pulled it off was by relying heavily on our puppeteering team, particularly Tom Wilton, who worked our Toothless. We utilized a foam head for Toothless, along with a body and a tail. His puppeteering companion, Sarah, coordinated the footsteps in the sand and the trail between all the drawn lines, and it turned into this exquisite dance.”
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Thames, who has a ballet background, underwent extensive training for the scene, with the director having composer John Powell’s score playing during the shoot.
“It may seem like I’m just maneuvering around some objects, but leading up to it, we had about a week and a half of rehearsals and practicing that, aligning every step to each note of the song — as we had the tune playing,” Thames explained. “It was a dance, and I believe ballet significantly contributed to nailing that.”
“Once we began playing John Powell’s music, the entire stage fell silent, and it became something magical,” DeBlois remarked. “It felt like a moment of true wonder amid the whirlwind of filmmaking, where everyone sensed they were crafting something extraordinary.”
How to Train Your Dragon premieres in UK theaters on June 9 and in the U.S. on June 13.