Dean DeBlois ( ; born 7 June 1970) is a Canadian film director, film producer, screenwriter, and

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...

. He is best known for writing and directing the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-nominated animated films ''

Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...

'' for

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...

(with

Chris Sanders Christopher Michael Sanders (born March 12, 1962) is an American director, screenwriter, producer, illustrator, and voice actor. His credits include '' Lilo & Stitch'' (2002) and '' How to Train Your Dragon'' (2010), both of which he co-wrote an ...

), the '' How to Train Your Dragon'' film trilogy for

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a divisio ...

(

the first film ''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, making ...

also with Sanders), and directing the documentary ''

Heima ''Heima'' (; ''at home'') is a documentary film and double DVD set about the tour around Iceland in the summer of 2006 of the band Sigur Rós. During the tour the band played two big open-air concerts at Miklatún - Reykjavík (30 July) and Ásbyr ...

'' about the Icelandic band

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, active since 1994. The band comprises singer and guitarist Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal sound, fr ...

Early life

DeBlois was born and raised in

Aylmer, Quebec Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It is located on the north shore of the Ottawa River and along Quebec Route 148, Route 148. In January 2002, it amalgamated into the city of Gatineau, which is part of Canada's National Capital Region ...

, Canada. As a boy he was interested in comic books, which he later said influenced his drawing ability, imagination and storytelling. Growing up poor, he would visit a nearby smoke shop on weekends, where the proprietor let him read comics for free. Memorizing them, he went home and drew. DeBlois attended Darcy McGee High School.

Career

DeBlois began his career as an assistant animator and layout artist for Hinton Animation Studios/ Lacewood Productions in Ottawa, Ontario, while simultaneously attending

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded i ...

's three year Classical Animation program in Oakville, Ontario. From 1988 to 1990, DeBlois contributed to such productions as ''

The Raccoons ''The Raccoons'' is a Canadian animated television series that ran on CBC from November 11, 1985 to March 19, 1991 in Canada and on Disney Channel from July 4, 1985 to August 28, 1992 in the U.S., with three preceding television specials from ...

'' (TV series), ''The Teddy Bears' Picnic'' (TV special), and '' The Nutcracker Prince'' (feature animated film). Upon graduation from

in 1990, DeBlois was hired by

Sullivan Bluth Studios Don Bluth Entertainment (formerly Sullivan Bluth Studios) was an Irish-American animation studio established in 1979 by animator Don Bluth. Bluth and several colleagues, all of whom were former Disney animators, left Disney on September 13, 1979, ...

in Dublin, Ireland. There, he worked as a layout artist, character designer, and storyboard assistant to

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including '' The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), '' An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...

on such feature animated films as ''

A Troll in Central Park ''A Troll in Central Park'' (released in some countries as ''Stanley's Magic Garden'') is a 1994 American animated musical fantasy comedy film co-directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The film stars the voice talents of Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leach ...

'' and ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" i ...

''. In 1994, DeBlois left Dublin for Los Angeles to begin work for

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...

as a storyboard artist, where he worked alongside his frequent collaborator,

, as Head of Story on '' Mulan''. Shortly thereafter, they re-teamed to create ''

''. Following its release in 2002, DeBlois sold several original live action feature film projects to write, direct, and produce, including an Irish ghost story titled ''The Banshee and Finn Magee'', a psychological thriller titled ''The Lighthouse'', and a family adventure series titled ''Sightings'', which were optioned at

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

, and

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

respectively. DeBlois' feature-length music documentary film ''

'' chronicles the homecoming concert of Iceland's

. In October 2008, DeBlois returned to feature animation to co-write and co-direct

's then-troubled '' How to Train Your Dragon'', once again re-teaming with Sanders. The duo re-envisioned the film's story and shepherded the production to its March 2010 release. The resulting film became the studio's top-grossing film in North America outside of the ''Shrek'' franchise. During that same time, DeBlois also directed another feature-length music film for

front-man

Jónsi Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (; born 23 April 1975) is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his "angelic" falset ...

, entitled '' Go Quiet'', as well as a feature-length concert film entitled ''Jónsi: Live at The Wiltern''. DeBlois wrote and directed the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

/ action film ''

How to Train Your Dragon 2 ''How to Train Your Dragon 2'' is a 2014 American computer-animated action fantasy film loosely based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequ ...

'', a sequel to the original, which was released on June 13, 2014, followed by '' How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'' on February 22, 2019. On September 23, 2019, it was announced that DeBlois would make his live action filmmaking debut when he was attached to write and direct a film adaptation of the

Micronauts Micronauts is a North American science fiction toyline manufactured and marketed by Mego from 1976 to 1980. The ''Micronauts'' toyline was based on and licensed from the ''Microman'' toyline created by Japanese-based toy company Takara in 1974. ...

Personal life

DeBlois is openly gay, and told '' The Advocate'' that people in the industry "knew that one of us was gay" but mistakenly assumed it was his straight screenwriting partner Chris Sanders, because DeBlois "hobbled in there looking like a redneck."

Filmography

Films

Filmmaking credits

Animation department

Television series

Commercials

Directed commercials for ''HP.com''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deblois, Dean 1970 births Canadian animated film directors Canadian animated film producers Animation screenwriters Canadian animators Canadian film producers Canadian screenwriters Canadian storyboard artists Gay artists LGBT artists from Canada LGBT film directors Living people Sheridan College animation program alumni Artists from Ontario Artists from Quebec French Quebecers Anglophone Quebec people Film directors from Ontario Film directors from Quebec Sullivan Bluth Studios people Walt Disney Animation Studios people DreamWorks Animation people Annie Award winners Writers from Ontario Writers from Gatineau Canadian gay writers LGBT film producers People from Brockville LGBT screenwriters LGBT animators Fantasy film directors