After spending a decade in a world of dragons and Vikings, Dean DeBlois is ready to soar onward.
The destination: unclear.
The mode of transportation: definitely wings.
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1 weekend and universal critical acclaim.
The sequel added another $600 million to the box office haul.
After all, how does a family in real-life say goodbye to the family they created on screen?
DreamWorks Animation
(Spoilers forHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Worldfollow.)
Everythings building up to the domestic release.
Hopefully people want to see the movie.
DreamWorks Animation
Is that what happened?I was out there peddling live-action projects.
There are no longer the limitations that we had 10 years ago, or even five years ago.
And its emotional for me because this has been 10 years of my life.
It was certainly an emotional moment for me.
How do we be responsible but attempt to put in everything that we love about movies up on screen?
It kind of got bigger than us these characters, this world.
There was a sense that it had taken ownership among our fans and we were servants to that.
But there were little housekeeping things as well.
So little things here and there.
Looking back, what has surprised you about your returning voice cast?
They became authorities on their characters.
It really kept me on my toes.
They didnt come in for a three-hour voice session and that would be that.
I was so impressed with their dedication to the craft and how tireless they were.
He just had so much power in the room; it was a master class in acting.
[Laughs] I am not an actor and I know it.
But it is so fun to find yourself in a situation where you have to act opposite Cate Blanchett.
A massive power failure.
And it took 10 minutes to restart everything.
[Laughs] I think it was emotional for him in whole.
But I was so bummed that he got cheated out of the emotional experience of the climax.
But that turned out to be the last line of his we had to record.
She probably anticipated we would come back to her, but we had everything we needed.
[Laughs] She was so proud of it and really excited.
And thats obviously super-validating for me.
I want them to be proud.
Was it joyous every day going into work?
[Laughs] That started to happen, certainly, towards the end.
As people were wrapping up their characters, it occurred to us that it was becoming very bittersweet.
Thats what the dragons represent.
And we tried to do it in a story that embraced consequence and peril.
So many animated films never really take on consequence and real physics.
What if we just kill Toothless?
What if we do an Old Yeller?
And we all just went, Wait, what!?
Oh my God.We went, Hold on!
Weresoclose to the credits!
Maybe he doesnt come out of this unscathed.
And it might bond him to Toothless even more, but it also says something about his sacrifice.
And it was a very precarious idea.
And we realized, wow, everybody gets it.
Even the youngest of the young.
The movie meant more to them because we took that risk.
And that ended up defining the daring mentality for the entire trilogy.
When we last spoke, I asked you whether this film ended the wholeDragonfranchise, and you said yes.
Is that still your current understanding?
That this is the end of all thingsDragon?I wanted to be definitive with the ending.
But that said, I dont own the franchise.
That would be amazing, and as such, thats my intention.
I am done with it.
Hopefully the studio sees the value in having a complete story.
I wonder when youll feel youve truly said goodbye to Hiccup and Toothless.
Maybe it will be at the end of awards season next year.
Its funny, like,Lilo & Stitch, Stitch is such a ubiquitous character.
He continues to pop up everywhere.
I see merchandise that I didnt even know existed.
So maybe we never really let go of these characters.
They continue to be favorites of people out there.
That would be amazing.
But I dont know if Im ever really going to say goodbye!
I think Im just going to preoccupy myself with something new.
What do you want to do next?
But Im also open to anything out there.
But its wide open at the moment, and thats kind of exciting.
I havent committed to anything too early.
The first order of business is to take a little vacation and clear my head.
I would say Kit Haringtons Eret.
We had some really wonderful moments that we had to pare back because of our limited runtime.
But I think hes a bit of an underused, underutilized character.
And lets see, a dragon?
And every main dragon who was there with Toothless all along icons!
[Laughs] One of my favorites is Gobbers dragon.
Its a variation of a Gronckle.
Its the perfect complement to Craig Fergusons personality.
