The animated film that is garnering the most awards buzz of the pack is the Dreamworks box office hit, “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” which wraps up the storied trilogy with stunning animation and emotional power, allowing the hero Hiccup and the Dragon Toothless to mature into the leaders of their respective clans. The voice actors are a mega talented bunch they include; Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Kit Harington, F. Murray Abraham, Gerald Butler, America Ferrara, AJ Kane, and Craig Ferguson.
At a recent panel at the Pacific Design Center, along with a stunning exhibit of the art behind the film, Dean DeBlois, the Writer /Director of the film explained what brought him to the franchise, which was adapted by the book by Cressida Cowell. “The opening line was, ‘there were Dragons when I was a boy’ right then I was hooked. The three stories all cross boundaries of time and are universal rites of passage. Every success hiccup has been because of Toothless.”
Joining the panel was Producers Bonnie Arnold and Bradford Lewis, Composer, John Powell who wrote an outstanding, gorgeous score, the Production Designer Pierre Oliver, Head of Character Animation the esteemed Simon Otto, Supervising Sound Designer Randy Thom, and VFX Supervisor Dave Walvoord.
Dean called his co-workers “masters of what they do” while the noted composer Powell called Dean, “a rare unicorn.” Powell went on to talk about how the score was recorded at the iconic Abbey Road in London. DeBlois summed it up by saying, “The film is naturalism with a sense of whimsy. The fact that these movies resonate around the world shows that the over ten years this masterful team spent on them were well spent. These films show all the love and care we all put into it.”
Considering the huge success “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” continues to be, the audience certainly agrees and the awards voters will most surely too.
