The Art of How to Train Your Dragon

From the studio that brought you "Shrek", "Madagascar" and "Kung-Fu Panda" comes "How to Train Your Dragon" - an adventure comedy set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, based on the book by Cressida Cowell. The story centres around a Viking teenager, who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. Initiation is coming, and this is his one chance to prove his worthiness to his tribe and father. But when he encounters, and ultimately befriends, an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down. The Story: Launched from the youth-targeted original book by Cressida Cowell, "How to Train Your Dragon" has grown up into a feature length action film which takes the original concept of the book and ages it up to the level of a fantasy adventure film, with real world stakes, exciting action sequences, and more mature character interactions and themes. In the film, Dragons and Vikings do not yet coexist (as they do in the book) but merely terrorize and antagonize each other, until Hiccup a scrawny teenaged Viking meets up with the injured dragon Toothless, which eventually leads to a more peaceful Viking/Dragon relationship. The story centers around Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, who lives on the island of Berk in the North Sea. He belongs to the tribe the Hairy Hooligans, Hiccup wants to make his father, the Hooligan's chief, Stoick the Vast, proud of him. Initiation is coming, and this is his one chance to prove his worthiness to his tribe and father. When Hiccup encounters and ultimately befriends an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down. The Cast: Gerard Butler ("The Ugly Truth") as Stoick the Vast, Hiccup's father and chief of the tribe, Jonah Hill ("Superbad") as Snotlout, a bully who thinks he should be the next chief Jay Baruchel ("Tropic Thunder", "Knocked Up") as the teenage Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third Christopher Mintz-Plasse ("Superbad") as Fishlegs, a Viking big in size, but small in brains Emmy Award Winner America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") as Astrid, who partners with Hiccup for the initiation. Illustrations: Over 250 images of concept sketches, preliminary drawings, architectural plans, watercolors, oil paintings and digital artwork, providing an indepth look at the process involved with bringing both the Dragon and Viking worlds to life with present-day cinematic energy. Text: Approximately 10,000 words in extended captions, pull quotes, and short sidebars, an insider's guide to the creative process behind developing the story, the script and the characters; descriptions of the animating, rigging, surfacing and lighting process; and the special challenges of working in the new Stereoscopic 3-D environment. Writer: Tracey Miller-Zarneke (author of "The Art of Kung Fu Panda" and "The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs") is former Production Department Manager for Walt Disney Feature Animation.