Production Information - Visual Hollywood

―How to Train Your Dragon‖ Production Information 28VIKINGS AND DRAGONS FOREVERThose who came aboard for the ride of Hiccup and Toothless were just as effusiveabout their own experiences on the project, starting with executive producer TimJohnson: ―What‘s fascinating about dragons is you pick almost any culture on Earth, theFar East, Europe, anywhere, and everybody has their own dragon mythology. It‘ssomething that is built into mankind, creating these noble, savage, terrifying monsters.Monster stories are a part of every culture. Overcoming your fear of these things, of theunknown, as a child, that‘s part of every culture‘s storytelling. For us to be a part of thatkind of tradition—taking an animal as far-reaching culturally as a dragon, deciding to tellour own story using Cressida Cowell‘s books, and bringing it into a 21 st century versionof a dragon story—that‘s been one of the biggest honors and challenges of working onthe movie.‖―I want audiences to feel like they‘ve been on a ride as good as in any themepark. But more importantly, the film, it‘s inspirational, it‘s got hope, it‘s got laughs, it‘sfun, it‘s heartwarming,‖ says producer Bonnie Arnold. ―In addition to that, it has a nicemessage. Hiccup is a hopeful character. He befriends the mortal enemy of his villageand it‘s that relationship, between Hiccup and Toothless, which actually changes theworld for the better.‖―The special effects in this movie are unbelievable,‖ adds writer/director DeanDeBlois. ―The animation, the acting, they‘re incredible. The lighting and the texturesand the designs, everything is just at such a top-notch level that I couldn‘t be happier withit. I marvel every day at what we accomplished. I‘m beyond proud of this film, and Ihope people see the care we took to make it.‖Adding to that sentiment, writer/director Chris Sanders says, ―We wanted ‗Howto Train Your Dragon‘ to be a mythic experience. It‘s a world of Vikings and dragons, ofscaled wings and iron swords. We lift our audience off the ground and up into the clearArctic air on the backs of flying monsters. We journey into the heart of a dangerousworld and an impossible relationship with ancient creatures that have only existed in thepages of books till now. You won‘t forget these characters, and you won‘t forget thisplace..‖