The How to Train Your Dragon Live-Action Soundtrack Includes a New Song
Hear the latest from composer John Powell in the new How to Train Your Dragon movie.
How to Train Your Dragon — a live-action reimagining of the original animated film seris — premiered on June 13, bringing the epic story of friendship, loyalty, and forgiveness between dragons and Vikings to the big screen. A movie this mesmerizing would naturally need music to match.
Who other than composer John Powell (Migration, Kung Fu Panda) could pull it off? His songs for the original 2010 How to Train Your Dragon movie were so influential that he was nominated for an Academy Award. Powell composed the soundtracks for the two animated sequels as well, creating sweeping orchestral arrangements and memorable melodies like “This is Berk,” “Forbidden Friendship,” and, of course, “Test Drive.” In the new live-action movie, he leads the score again, giving it his unmistakable touch by reprising many of those classics, but with a few twists and turns.
How to Train Your Dragon End-Credits Song
Movie-goers are in for a sweet surprise: Powell introduced a brand-new track, called “You Are My Homeward,” that comes as the credits roll. The piece evokes a sense of hope and triumph that befits the movie's ending — for more on that with spoilers, read below:
Even familiar songs from the animated trilogy got a subtle refresh that careful listeners may not notice.
“One of the things I had to do was try to restructure things. If I’ve done my job right, people will think I haven’t done anything different at all,” Powell said in an interview he posted on Instagram. “But there are a lot of differences going on, and I try to make them feel as if they always were there.”
Powell, who was also Oscar-nominated for the Wicked film score, aimed to capture the “joy of flying” and “the joy of friendship” through the music, and he certainly did that with “You Are My Homeward.” But you can hear for yourself. The soundtrack was released on June 13 and is available for purchase or streaming on digital music platforms like Apple Music.
How does How To Train Your Dragon end?
The live action-ending mostly stays faithful to the original but brings more emotional depth to Hiccup’s relationship with Astrid (Nico Parker) and his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), showing why the franchise has such staying power.
All hope seems lost when Stoick becomes furious over his son’s friendship with Toothless, a supposed dragon enemy. The chieftain kidnaps Toothless, leading him to the Dragon’s Nest, where the monstrous “Red Death” dragon awaits, but Hiccup (Mason Thames) is close behind. He and his fellow dragon-riders, including Snoutlout, race over and ultimately defeat the Red Death, with help from their dragon friends. Hiccup has shown all the Vikings, including his dad Stoick, that dragons and Vikings can work together, paving the path for a peaceful future.
We also learn that Astrid, who hopes to be a Viking chief one day, initially saw Hiccup as a rival due to his unique skills and position as the son of the chieftain, which adds another interesting layer to their romantic connection.
Hiccup and his friends ride off into the sunset on their dragons, but the new song and other surprises give audiences a reason to stick around for the end credits.
How To Train Your Dragon is now in theaters. Get tickets at Fandango.
