How to Train Your Dragon was filmed in both studio spaces and on location around the world, bringing some natural beauty to the film. A remake of the 2010 film of the same name, How to Train Your Dragon was memorable for plenty of reasons, chief among them the visuals. The animation did a great job of fleshing out the world of Berk, using real life inspiration to paint a vivid world full of viking warriors and wild dragons.
Some of the locations that helped inspire that animated film have now been used as the backdrop for the live-action How to Train Your Dragon cast, with many scenes in the movie being filmed on location in Northern Ireland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. These locations lend the film a sense of scope to the flight scenes and bring a bit of beauty to the action, helping sell the film’s attempt to bring the animated characters to life again on the big screen. Here are all the places where the critically acclaimed How to Train Your Dragon was filmed.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Most Of How To Train Your Dragon Was Filmed At Film Studios In Ireland
Much of How to Train Your Dragon was filmed in Norther Ireland, with many locations across the nation serving as the stand-in for the island of Berk. Following a brief delay caused by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA Strike, filming began at тιтanic Studios and Belfast Harbour Studios (among the largest film studio spaces in Europe) in January 2024. Production only took a few months, with filming concluding in May. As explained by director Dean DeBlois in a behind-the-scenes video, the unpredictable weather and natural beauty of the nation made the setting a perfect stand-in for the animated landscapes of the original.
Filming in Northern Ireland took the production around much of the country, including to famous locales like the Tollymore Forest Park, Dunseverick Castle, Murlough Bay, and the Giant’s Causeway. Tollymore Forest Park was the background for the scene where Hiccup and Toothless meet, while dramatic conversations between Hiccup and Astrid happen near what appears to be Dunseverick Castle and the Giant’s Causeway. These landmark locations (many of which have featured in other films and TV shows over the years) appeared as many of the exterior sH๏τs of Berk outside the village.
Iceland
Production Of How To Train Your Dragon Flew Over Iceland
Filming didn’t just take place in Northern Ireland, however. Some of How to Train Your Dragon‘s exterior flying sH๏τs were taken over Iceland, with other sequences seemingly filmed using Iceland’s volcanic landscapes, glaciers, and black sand beaches as backdrops for dramatic beats (such as the hunt for the Red Death). Berk in the original How to Train Your Dragon film was implied to be located in the North Atlantic sea, so the live-action How to Train Your Dragon visiting Iceland makes perfect sense.
Los Angeles, United States
Some Minor Scenes Were Reportedly Filmed In Los Angeles
Some filming for How to Train Your Dragon was completed in Los Angeles, California. As one of the central hubs for film and television production, it makes sense that any effects-heavy sH๏τs or pick-ups after principal pH๏τography had been finished could be achieved in one of the many studios that can be found across Hollywood. It’s unclear which sH๏τs were specifically filmed in Los Angeles, although IMDB has Los Angeles listed as one of the filming locations for the remake..
Faroe Islands, Denmark
One Of How To Train Your Dragon’s Most Iconic Scenes Happens On The Faroe Islands
One of the most memorable scenes in How to Train Your Dragon is the first flight of Toothless and Hiccup, soaring around the island cliffs and pulling off a dramatic dive. One of the places they pᴀss under is the rock formation Drangarnir, a real-life location in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean that falls within the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Consisting of 18 small islands and a small number of villages, the Faroe Islands serve as backdrops in the film.
The use of the Faroe Islands in How to Train Your Dragon carries an additional meaning, given the history of the series. While author Cressida Cowell took inspiration from the Hebridean Islands of Scotland for the setting of the How To Train Your Dragon book, many visual elements of the original animated film take inspiration from the Faroe Islands. These gorgeous backdrops lend a grounded beauty to How to Train Your Dragon, which helps give the CGI dragons a bit more weight in the film.
Via: IMDB
