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One of my favorite things about animation is that the boundaries are as limitless as our imaginations. If we can dream it, we can make it. And if we do it well, audiences will believe it wholeheartedly.
  — Dean DeBlois  

Dean DeBlois is a Canadian Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. He is the writer and director of How to Train Your Dragon 2 and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. He also co-wrote and co-directed the original How to Train Your Dragon film along with Chris Sanders.

Biography[]

Dean DeBlois was born in the small town of Aylmer, Quebec, Canada on June 7, 1970 - ironically about an hour and a half from Jay Baruchel's home town. When he was young, he took a strong interest in comic books, which would later help him with his drawing ability. Growing up, Dean was a bit of a loner due to his interest in comics as well as his homosexuality. This allowed him to identify with his character Hiccup, as both were on the outskirts of their respective societies as boys.[1]

In to adulthood, Dean realized that a career in the continuously growing animation industry offered many tantalizing avenues to express his creativity. He worked his way through college at Hinton Animation Studios in Ottawa, Canada while attending Sheridan College in the Classical Animation Program. Out of college, Dean moved to Ireland to work at Sullivan Bluth Studios in Dublin, Ireland, working as a storyboard assistant, layout artist, and character designer on such films as A Troll in Central Park and Thumbelina.

Four years later, Dean accepted a job at Walt Disney Feature Animation in California as a storyboard artist on Mulan. The change in scenery was a surprise for Dean, as the community in Burbank was diverse and accepting. At Disney, Dean also co-created the popular film Lilo & Stitch with friend and colleague Chris Sanders. An anecdote Dean recalls well is that his other colleagues knew one of the creative pair was gay, and assumed it was Chris Sanders.[1]

In October 2008, he shifted to working as co-writer and co-director of How to Train Your Dragon with Chris Sanders, which was experiencing major production problems. He re-wrote the script and produced the film less than two years later to much acclaim. While working on the first film, Dean was already envisioning a trilogy, with the end result paralleling the final book in the original How to Train Your Dragon Book series - Dragons leaving the humans behind.

Selected Filmography[]

Year Title Role(s) Type of Media
1989 The Raccoons Assistant animator Television series
The Teddy Bears' Picnic Animator Song
1990 The Nutcracker Prince
  • Assistant animator
  • Layout artist
Feature film
1994 Thumbelina Layout artist Musical feature film
A Troll in Central Park Feature film
1998 Mulan Story co-head
2001 Atlantis: The Lost Empire Story artist
2002 Lilo & Stitch
  • Co-writer
  • Director
2003 Stitch! The Movie Characters - uncredited
2005 Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch
2006 Leroy & Stitch Short film
2003–2006 Lilo & Stitch: The Series Television series
2007 Heima
  • Director
  • Camera operator
Documentary film
2010 Go Quiet
  • Director
  • Editor
  • Camera operator
Musical feature film
2008–2012 Stitch! Characters - uncredited Television series
2014 Disney Infinity:
Marvel Super Heroes
Characters: Stitch Video game

DreamWorks Dragons Works[]

Year Title Role(s) Type of Media
2010 How to Train Your Dragon
  • Screenplay co-writer
  • Director
Feature film
2011 Gift of the Night Fury Executive producer Short film
2014 How to Train Your Dragon 2
  • Screenplay writer
  • Director
  • Executive producer
Feature film
2016 Burning Midnight Co-Author
with
Richard Hamilton
Graphic novel
2017 The Serpent's Heir
2018 Dragonvine
2019 How to Train Your Dragon:
The Hidden World
  • Screenplay writer
  • Director
  • Executive producer
Feature film
2025 How to Train Your Dragon Live-Action

Gallery[]

References[]

External Links[]

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