Dean DeBlois

Dean Allan DeBlois (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born June 7, 1970) is a Canadian filmmaker and animator. He is best known for writing and directing the Oscar-nominated animated feature films Lilo & Stitch for Walt Disney Animation Studios (with Chris Sanders), the How to Train Your Dragon film trilogy for DreamWorks Animation (the first film also with Sanders), and directing the documentary Heima about the Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

Early life

DeBlois was born and raised in Aylmer, Quebec, 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's three year Classical Animation program in Oakville, Ontario. From 1988 to 1990, DeBlois contributed to such productions as The Raccoons (TV series), The Teddy Bears' Picnic (TV special), and The Nutcracker Prince (feature animated film).

Upon graduation from Sheridan College in 1990, DeBlois was hired by Sullivan Bluth Studios in Dublin, Ireland. There, he worked as a layout artist, character designer, and storyboard assistant to Don Bluth on such feature animated films as A Troll in Central Park and Thumbelina.

In 1994, DeBlois left Dublin for Los Angeles to begin work for Walt Disney Feature Animation as a storyboard artist, where he worked alongside his frequent collaborator, Chris Sanders, as Head of Story on Mulan. Shortly thereafter, they re-teamed to create Lilo & Stitch.

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, Touchstone Pictures, and Universal Studios respectively.

DeBlois' feature-length music documentary film Heima chronicles the homecoming concert of Iceland's Sigur Rós.

In October 2008, DeBlois returned to feature animation to co-write and co-direct DreamWorks Animation'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 Sigur Rós front-man Jónsi, entitled Go Quiet, as well as a feature-length concert film entitled Jónsi: Live at The Wiltern.

DeBlois wrote and directed the fantasy/action film How to Train Your Dragon 2, 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, DeBlois was attached to write and direct a film adaptation of the Micronauts.

In February 2023, a live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon was announced with DeBlois returning to direct, write, and produce. The film is slated to release on June 13, 2025.

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

Title	Year	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
Mulan	1998	Template:No	Template:Partial	Template:No	Credited as "Story Co-Head"
Lilo & Stitch	2002	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	alongside Chris Sanders
Heima (documentary)	2007	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	also camera operator
How to Train Your Dragon	2010	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	alongside Chris Sanders
Go Quiet (direct-to-video short)		Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	also camera operator & editor
How to Train Your Dragon 2	2014	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Partial
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World	2019	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Partial
How to Train Your Dragon	2025	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Micronauts	TBA	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No
Treasure Island	TBA	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes

Producer only

Title	Year	Notes
Gift of the Night Fury	2011	Executive producer Direct-to-video short
The Other Side of the Wind	2018	Co-producer
The Wild Robot	2024	Executive producer

Animation department

Title	Year	Notes
The Teddy Bears' Picnic (short direct-to-TV)	1989	assistant animator
The Nutcracker Prince	1990	assistant animator / layout artist
Thumbelina	1994	layout artist
The Lion King
A Troll in Central Park
Atlantis: The Lost Empire	2001	story artist

Television series

Title	Year	Credited as	Notes
The Raccoons	1989	assistant animator	9 episodes
Quack Pack	1996	character designer / storyboard artist / prop designer	7 episodes
Histeria!	1998–1999	storyboard artist	17 episodes

External links

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