The live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon by DreamWorks Pictures, with the help of Universal Pictures, is set to release on June 13, 2025.
On a small island called Burk, where Vikings fought dragons as a way of life, the son of the chief, Hiccup, was seen as a misfit. He could not stomach the killing of any creature, including dragons.
On March 21, 2010, How To Train Your Dragon reached homes all over the United States, and was an immediate hit.
It featured a Viking clan that had settled on an island that also inhabited dragons. Hiccup, being the son of the chief, was subject to high standards, and quickly fought against the beliefs of the clan he was born into as they were against the dragons and he was not.
His love interest, Astrid, took some persuading but ultimately became his first ally in co-existing with dragons. She is a huge character throughout the movie, as she represents a strong woman with a big personality, strong leadership skills, and a deep understanding of dragons.
She posed as a role model for young girls and was a crucial part of this production.
This movie is set to be a huge success, but there is an aspect that has created some controversy amongst viewers hoping to watch the movie when it is released.
Actress Nico Parker has been cast to play Astrid in this new film. This has caused uneasiness amongst some people because her ethnicity does not match that of the role she is playing.
“I feel like they could have picked someone that portrayed Astrid’s physical qualities a little bit more accurately,” Gage Briggs said.
Nico Parker is a 19-year-old actress from London, who has starred in the popular series The Last of Us. While she is a great actress, her playing the role of a Viking has not made sense to people wanting to see the new How To Train Your Dragon movie.
Astrid is a Viking that has very prominent features like bright blue eyes, and blonde hair, but the woman playing her in the new production does not have these characteristics. Parker has features such as dark brown hair, a darker skin tone, and big brown eyes.
Seeing as her features do not match Astrid’s, people are unsure why she was cast to play the role.
Not only does she lack these characteristics, but her ethnicity does not fit with the ethnicity of a Viking clan.
“I do not mind, it’s definitely a better choice than who they cast to pay the twins, but I feel that it is okay to make the change with her being African American, it is a different time, but it wouldn’t have been bad if they stuck to the original,” Cooper Allen said.
Parker is of African American descent, with her mother being African American, and her father being of European descent. This creates a controversial topic, seeing as Vikings were Scandinavian, and featured light eyes, and light-colored hair.
Between DreamWorks Animation and Disney, there have been many cases where actors have been cast for a role in which they have none of the same features as who they are trying to portray.
“I think there could have been a better casting if she was younger, I think that Willow Shields, from the Hunger Games, would have been a better fit for the role,” Allen said.
The live-action movie The Little Mermaid, produced by Walt Disney Pictures made the same casting error when they chose Halle Bailey to play the role of Ariel. Anyone who has seen the original movie knows that Ariel has features like bright red hair, fair skin, and green eyes.
Again, Bailey lacks every single one of these features and is also of African descent.
“I think that the purpose behind race swapping is bad, but the main concept is not bad, just how they are doing it is bad,” Allen said.
This Disney film barely broke even and was almost a flop. Compared to other live-action movies produced by Disney, The Little Mermaid fell far behind in popularity.
With these movies falling in popularity, why do production companies continue to cast people that take away from the movie’s originality? It has not paid off and resulted in many people being angered and confused by their casting choices.
“No I will not go see the movie, because I feel like it is going to be boring, I feel like it will not be better than the first one,” Briggs said.
What is next? Is DreamWorks or Disney going to cast Sydney Sweeney to play Tiana when they produce a live-action Princess and the Frog?
These production companies are failing their audiences by casting certain characters that take away from the originality of the movie they are portraying.
This becomes a problem for people who want to watch these films as they are being released.
