Animated feature films typically require years of development, followed by more years of animation, plus postproduction before the finished product is ready to debut.

DreamWorks Animation

Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) rides Toothless the dragon in How to Train Your Dragon. The movie opens Friday at area theaters.

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However, the process was very different for directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois on How to Train Your Dragon.

The creators of Lilo & Stitch were hired by DreamWorks Animation to take over the troubled project about a year before its designated release date, with nothing yet filmed and a story that needed a major overhaul.

“There had been several attempts to adapt the book, but what they discovered was that the story in the book was a little too small for what the world promised,” DeBlois said during a recent promotional stop in Dallas. “The inherent epic fantasy-adventure element was missing.”

The comedy-adventure is adapted from a children’s book by Cressida Cowell, telling the story of a young misfit viking named Hiccup who is dismissed as too wimpy by his macho dragon-fighting father. When Hiccup starts training to fight dragons himself, he instead winds up befriending a dangerous dragon that he names Toothless, and tries to break down the traditional animosity between vikings and dragons — against his tribe’s wishes.

Once they got on board, one of the first duties for DeBlois and Sanders was to whip the script into shape, which for them meant scrapping almost all of what previously existed and starting virtually from scratch. That was a risk, given the limited time frame.

“Chris and I love stories that have young protagonists and worlds of fantasy. Those are the stories that we write,” DeBlois said. “We saw a lot of promise in the material and had some definite opinions on where it should go. We kind of retained the spirit of the book.”

Sanders

The directors worked at Disney for many years, collaborating on scripts for a few projects including Mulan before they made their feature directorial debuts with Lilo & Stitch. Afterward, DeBlois left to pursue some live-action projects and Sanders moved to the DreamWorks studio. When he was approached by company executives about taking over Dragon, his first phone call was to DeBlois.

“We’re anxious to always do something new,” said Sanders, who has done the voice for Stitch in the film and subsequent projects. “We never want to be typecast in a certain way. We try to engage with stories that require new solutions. This has a really different vibe.”

DeBlois

The directors’ decisive approach instantly earned the trust of DreamWorks executives, allowing the project to proceed at the necessary quick pace.

While the script was being reworked, some of the background animation already was complete and most of the characters (including several dragons) had been designed and even paired with voice talent, allowing for fewer changes in those areas.

“There had been lots of development done on the look of the film. It was an interesting assignment in that it was kind of a puzzle,” DeBlois said. “How do you take these existing things that we don’t have the time and resources to redo, nor do we really want to, and rejigger the story to incorporate all of that?”

Sanders said the project made for a unique learning experience that eliminated much of the visual experimentation and tinkering associated with the typical animation process. On top of that, it was the directors’ first time working in the 3-D realm, an integration that Sanders said was surprisingly smooth.

“We were really worried at the very beginning that it would be the cart that pulled the horse and we would be compelled to do scenes just for the 3-D [effect], which couldn’t be further from the truth,” Sanders said. “As it turns out, there were incredible opportunities that were intrinsic to the story. You’ve got flying dragons and sequences where dragons are blasting fire. There are huge opportunities for 3-D to enhance the moment, but we never let that be in front of the story.

“We always approach these [films] very seriously,” he said. “We don’t treat them like cartoons. Any world that we work in we’re going to treat like it’s real, and let the humor come out of the characters and situations.”

How to Train Your Dragon opens Friday at area theaters.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com.