Dean DeBlois

Dean DeBlois (; born June 7, 1970) is a Canadian film director, film producer, screenwriter, and animator. He is best known for co-writing and co-directing the Oscar-nominated animated films Lilo & Stitch for Walt Disney Feature Animation, the How to Train Your Dragon film trilogy for DreamWorks Animation, and directed the Sigur Rós documentary/music film Heima. 2Early life DeBlois was born in Aylmer, Quebec. As a young boy, he was interested in comic books, which later influenced his drawing ability, sense of imagination and story-telling. Growing up poor, he visited on weekends a little smoke shop in a strip mall close to his house, where they let him read everything for free. Memorizing the comics, he went home and drew. 2Career 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 Thumbelin