Among the most hotly anticipated movies of the summer are two live-action remakes of recent animated classics, Lilo & Stitch, releasing May 23, and How To Train Your Dragon, coming just a few weeks later on June 13. What many may not know, is that both of the original animated films share the same writing/directing team. One half of that team is Chris Sanders, who wrote and directed last year’s Academy Award-nominated hit, The Wild Robot (2024). The other half, who is returning to direct the live action remake of Dragon, is Canadian animator and filmmaker Dean DeBlois. The return may seem almost obligatory for the man who spearheaded the animated franchise, but in tracing DeBlois’ origins and filmmaking ambitions back to his boyhood love of comic books and Star Wars in the 1980s, it’s easy to see why writing and directing the live action remake of his own film makes all the sense in the world.
Read more: ‘The Wild Robot’ Screenwriter Chris Sanders Tells How to Write for Animation
DeBlois started out drawing homemade comics, transitioned into animation, and rose the ranks at Disney until Sanders took note of his innate, passionate storytelling sense, and brought him on to co-write/co-direct the original Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Dragon (2010) with him. All the while, DeBlois dreamed of being able to direct a live action film until he finally received his shot with this summer’s Dragon. The common thread between every step he took is a very pure love and reverence for the creative process and craft of visual storytelling, and a hard work ethic. DeBlois’ story is truly a case study for when preparation meets opportunity. By taking his career one story, one scene, one frame at a time, Dean DeBlois carved his way into cinema history.
Honing the craft… from Canada to Ireland (1970-1994)
As a youngster in Canada, Dean DeBlois fell in love with comic books - the character design, the world-building, the dynamic compositions. He taught himself to draw and tell his own stories visually until everyone around him began insisting he become a professional artist. DeBlois resented being told what to do, and dreamt of being a marine biologist instead, but when he realized the amount of math and science involved, he finally gave in to his true purpose, fully embracing his passion for the visual. Seeing The Empire Strikes Back in theaters with his dad in 1979 made him fall in love with movies as well, and given the dearth of comic companies in Canada, after high school he decided to fuse his love of the moving image with his knack for visual storytelling and went into animation.
DeBlois studied Classical Animation at Sheridan College in Ontario while working as an assistant animator and layout artist, contributing backgrounds to small animated Canadian TV series and films. Upon graduating, Disney Animation alumnus Don Bluth hired him to come work for his animation company in Dublin, Ireland. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment had helped Bluth establish Sullivan Bluth Studios and together they created such classics as An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988). DeBlois joined the team as a layout artist in the early 90s and leant his talents to Thumbelina (1994) and A Troll In Central Park (1994). But he noticed the quality of the writing on some of their projects wasn’t up to par, and took it upon himself to develop his writing craft so that he might be able to contribute to the writing process one day. He went to London for a Robert McKee story seminar and read as many books on story and screenwriting as he could, while moving up at the company until he was Bluth’s storyboard assistant.
With enough experience under his belt, DeBlois then applied to work at the esteemed Walt Disney Animation Company, and moved to the states. He continued his work as a layout artist on The Lion King (1994) and graduated to character design and storyboard work for animated sitcom Quack Pack (1996-1997). Finally, after many years of keeping his head down and working hard at his craft, his opportunity to work on the writing side of things finally presented itself in the form of a Disney production based in Chinese legend.
'Mulan' (1998)
","img":{"alt":"Image from the animated movie Mulan where Mulan (as Ping) is shooting an arrow with a fruit attached to it as Shang glares at her in disapproval","height":475,"src":"https://200838.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/200838/Image%20from%20the%20animated%20movie%20Mulan%20where%20Mulan%20(as%20Ping)%20is%20shooting%20an%20arrow%20with%20a%20fruit%20attached%20to%20it%20as%20Shang%20glares%20at%20her%20in%20disapproval.png","width":840},"link_url":{"no_follow":false,"open_in_new_tab":true,"rel":"noopener","sponsored":false,"url":{"content_id":null,"href":"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120762/?ref_=ttmi_ov_bk","href_with_scheme":"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120762/?ref_=ttmi_ov_bk","type":"EXTERNAL"},"user_generated_content":false}}]{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "smart_objects" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}[]{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "smart_type" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"NOT_SMART"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "tag" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"module"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "type" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"module"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "wrap_field_tag" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"div"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% end_module_block %}Time to shine: Mulan (1998)
American animator Chris Sanders had a few years headstart on DeBlois, having already worked for Disney doing character design and story on such classics as Beauty & The Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) by the time DeBlois joined the company. As early as 1993, Sanders became the Head Of Story for a film based on the Chinese folk heroine Hua Mulan, who according to legend, disguised herself as a man to take her father’s place in the army. DeBlois joined the project as a layout artist, but the team couldn’t seem to settle on the story, leaving him with little to draw, so he took the opportunity to throw his hat in the ring to become part of the story team. The film’s producer, Pam Coats, gave him his shot and Sanders and DeBlois quickly bonded over similar tastes in story, music and sense of humor.
DeBlois was able to shine by putting everything he’d learned about writing and visual storytelling into the artful realization of the sequences he was given, including the largely wordless sequence of Mulan deciding to leave home on a rainy night, cutting her hair and getting into disguise. DeBlois drew inspiration from silent film storytelling and set the sequence to a temporary music cue suggested by Sanders. By the time the long production ended, many team members had come and gone, but Sanders and DeBlois remained, and the magic that came from their collaboration was cemented. Mulan became a critically acclaimed box office smash, with Chris Sanders receiving 2 of the film’s 10 Annie Award wins. But Sanders knew how pivotal DeBlois’ contributions were, and when it came time to create his own, original movie, Sanders knew just the collaborator he wanted by his side.
The hard work pays off: Lilo & Stitch (2002)
The origins of Lilo & Stitch go back to 1985, when then 23-year-old Chris Sanders, freshly graduated from California Institute of the Arts, drew a little monster creature named Stitch. He hoped to make a children’s book about the monster’s adventures in a forest, but when no one warmed to his pitch, he abandoned it. That is, until 1997, when amidst the production of Mulan, Sanders joined a retreat for Disney Feature Animation executives to plot out their next several films, with an emphasis on creating original characters, not based on fairy tales or folklore. Sanders pitched his decade old children’s book idea, the story of Stitch, now an alien who crashlands in a forest and continually fails in his attempts to ingratiate himself with the woodland creatures. Thomas Schumacher, then executive vice president of Disney Feature Animation, suggested that Stitch might read as more alien and contrast better if he interacted with human characters instead, so Sanders decided Stitch could befriend a little girl in a place as distant from the fairytale lands they’d depicted as could be: contemporary Hawaii. Over twenty years later, Sanders would write and direct The Wild Robot, about a robot who crash lands in a forest and tries to befriend the animals, bearing a resemblance to the original idea for Stitch.
DeBlois was toiling away on Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) when Sanders insisted that he join him to co-direct Lilo & Stitch. The studio wanted to bring in an outside screenwriter to write the film, but since the production was relatively small and shielded from much studio oversight, Sanders and DeBlois wrote enough of the story during the screenwriter search to prove an additional writer unnecessary. With a budget too small for computer generated imagery, Sanders and DeBlois used 2D animation and decided to use watercolor backgrounds for the first time since the earliest Disney movies of the 30s and 40s. They injected their idiosyncratic sense of humor and love of rock ‘n roll into the story, and were conscious to avoid overly sentimental pitfalls. When no voice actors proved the right fit to voice Stitch, Sanders decided he’d do it himself. Twenty years later, Sanders has still returned to voice Stitch in every single iteration of the character across all media.
With its offbeat sense of humor, Elvis soundtrack and irresistible central alien, the movie became a standout hit, ranking only behind Ice Age as the second highest-grossing animated film of 2002. It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. DeBlois had worked at his craft meticulously for decades, and with Stitch, he was able to rise to meet a rare opportunity, and put his preparation to good use. As the name behind an acclaimed movie that would launch a sequel and hit TV series the following year, the world was DeBlois’ oyster, and he had his sights set on moving into live action direction, like the Star Wars film he’d loved as a kid.
'How To Train Your Dragon' (2010)
","img":{"alt":"Image from the animated movie How to Train Your Dragon where Hiccup pets a dragon with jagged teeth on its underbite. A group of onlookers stare at him shocked","height":475,"src":"https://200838.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/200838/Image%20from%20the%20animated%20movie%20How%20to%20Train%20Your%20Dragon%20where%20Hiccup%20pets%20a%20dragon%20with%20jagged%20teeth%20on%20its%20underbite.%20A%20group%20of%20onlookers%20stare%20at%20him%20shocked.png","width":840},"link_url":{"no_follow":false,"open_in_new_tab":true,"rel":"noopener","sponsored":false,"url":{"content_id":null,"href":"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/?ref_=ttmi_ov_bk","href_with_scheme":"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/?ref_=ttmi_ov_bk","type":"EXTERNAL"},"user_generated_content":false}}]{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "smart_objects" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}[]{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "smart_type" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"NOT_SMART"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "tag" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"module"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "type" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"module"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% module_attribute "wrap_field_tag" is_json="true" %}{% raw %}"div"{% endraw %}{% end_module_attribute %}{% end_module_block %}Opportunity knocks: How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
Off the success of Lilo & Stitch, DeBlois was able to sell three different pitches as possibilities for his next feature. But several changes in studio leadership resulted in all three languishing in development hell. One of them, a live action paranormal adventure set in Ireland, got so far along that DeBlois was scouting locations and nearing production when the film fell apart.
Then, DeBlois got a call from his old friend Chris Sanders. Sanders had left Disney after creative differences on the film that would become Bolt (2008), and was now working at DreamWorks Animation. The company was struggling to properly adapt Cressida Cowell’s 2003 children’s book, How To Train Your Dragon, to the big screen, and asked Sanders to take a shot at it. Sanders knew his best chance at success was alongside DeBlois, and invited him to come aboard. The book told the story of a Viking boy tasked with training a dragon as a rite of passage. DeBlois channeled his Star Wars childhood origins to turn the story into a more perilous hero’s journey with heavier stakes and emotions. They in turn, hired acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins as an advisor, to innovate in richer cinematic lighting for the animation, giving it a more dramatic, live action feel that embraced darkness.
Sanders and DeBlois poured everything into perfecting the story and innovating within the visual medium, and the result was an instant classic. Dragon received critical raves, became one of the highest grossing films of the year, and was nominated for 2 Academy Awards and won 10 Annies. Perhaps it was DeBlois’ study of live action filmmaking craft in the years between Lilo and Dragon that resulted in the grounded emotions and visual innovations of Dragon. While he still dreamed of directing a live action film next, when talks of an inevitable sequel came up, DeBlois thought about the storytelling opportunity at hand, and decided to spend the decade ahead creating a franchise trilogy like the ones he grew up loving as a kid.
Going solo: How To Train Your Dragon 2 and How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2014 & 2019)
Sanders gave DeBlois his blessing and moved on to make The Croods (2013), remaining onboard the Dragon franchise as an executive producer, and for the first time, DeBlois was writing and directing a feature film on his own. Unlike most animated productions, DeBlois favored a more traditional outlining and screenwriting style akin to his live action experience. He looked to his beloved Empire Strikes Back for inspiration in expanding the world, physically and emotionally, and treating the film as a second act with real stakes and devastating narrative consequences. DeBlois shared the plot outline with filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, who had enjoyed the first film, and credits Del Toro with recommending that one pivotal character should die, because they had exhausted their narrative function and their death would best challenge the hero and advance the narrative. The death would mark a second act low point on par with Han Solo being frozen in carbonite and Luke Skywalker losing his hand at the end of Empire (Harrison Ford, like Del Toro, had hoped that Solo would, in fact, die in Empire to better suit the narrative).
DeBlois learned from Lilo & Stitch that if you want a good chance of being able to visit a place, you should write it into your movie, and so he included a Nordic landscape into the newly expanded world. Roger Deakins returned to the franchise and joined DeBlois on a trip through Norway and beyond to see the landscapes and figure out how best to animate them, including a snowmobile safari through polar bear country near the North Pole. Deakins also cautioned DeBlois and the animation team, that although the advanced technologies they were using could allow for the camera to do just about anything, they should always consider point of view, and the concept of an imaginary camera operator. They thus grounded the visual point of view and included little camera bumps and deliberate flaws in the animation to give a sense of live action camerawork.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 to ecstatic audience reaction and critical acclaim. DeBlois received praise for the grounded themes and dark emotional stakes in protagonist Hiccup’s fraught journey to manhood, and received another Oscar nomination. And while rising to the challenge of following up a beloved, colossal hit is a difficult task, doing it a second time is often found to be impossible.
Luckily, DeBlois’ conception of the second film as a second act meant cuing up characters and narratives for a firm conclusion. Unlike many franchises of today, he viewed How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World as just that: an ending. After working tirelessly on the first two films, DeBlois knew the world and the characters well enough to let their emotional journeys dictate the plot, and created a challenging, but satisfying endpoint, teaching his young audience about letting go. The film, resultantly, was another Oscar-nominated box office success, and capped off one of the most satisfying and acclaimed trilogies in cinema history. DeBlois, like the film’s characters, was ready to let go as well, and turned his focus back to the possibilities of live action direction.
Coming full circle: How To Train Your Dragon (Live Action) (2025)
As recently as 2020, DeBlois was quoted as saying he wasn’t interested in live action remakes, preferring to pursue original stories. But he was also still desperate to make his live action directorial debut, and when a live action version of How To Train Your Dragon was announced, DeBlois jumped at the opportunity to be able to physicalize and immerse himself in a world he’d worked so hard to create. To take full advantage of the different medium, DeBlois insisted upon shooting as much practically as he could, building massive sets in Northern Ireland not far from where he’d dreamed of shooting his failed adventure film two decades earlier. As for the live action remake of Lilo & Stitch, DeBlois gave his blessing to director Dean Fleischer Camp of Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (2021). And though Chris Sanders was busy making The Wild Robot, he came back strictly in an acting capacity, to lend his voice to Stitch in the new version.
DeBlois rose the ranks of the industry by relying on and always continuing to improve his innate storytelling sense. It’s why Sanders entrusted him with co-creating two movies that would spawn gigantic franchises and live action remakes, and to finish telling the Dragon story that they’d begun together. It’s a testament to the creativity and imaginations of DeBlois and Sanders that the two animated films they created became such juggernauts that their live action remakes are coming out within a month of each other and are poised to be two of the year’s biggest hits. But as Sanders’ brilliant Wild Robot and DeBlois’ brand new experience in the live action director’s chair show us, they’re far from done with trying new things on their creative journeys, and perhaps it won’t be long before DeBlois decides to bring another brand new story to the screen.