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Sheridan alumnus Dean DeBlois wins Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature

How_to_Train_Your_Dragon_2 | DreamWorks Animation
How_to_Train_Your_Dragon_2 | DreamWorks Animation

How to Train Your Dragon 2, written and directed by Sheridan alumnus Dean DeBlois has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. The award was presented at a ceremony on Sunday, January 11, 2015 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

A 1990 graduate of Sheridan’s renowned animation program, DeBlois was also the executive producer of How to Train Your Dragon 2 for DreamWorks Animation. The 3D fantasy action film is the second in the trilogy which follows the adventures of a young viking hero and his dragon. How to Train Your Dragon 2 features the voice talent of Gerard Butler, Jay Baruchel and Cate Blanchett.

DeBlois received a 2011 Academy Award nomination in the best animated feature film category for How to Train Your Dragon, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Chris Sanders for DreamWorks. In 2013, DeBlois demonstrated the wonder of motion capture animation for U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to DreamWorks.

Born in Aylmer, Quebec, DeBlois worked as an animator in Ottawa while simultaneously attending Sheridan. Following graduation, he was hired by renowned director Don Bluth in Ireland. DeBlois joined Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1994, where he contributed to Mulan (1998), and went on to co-direct Lilo and Stitch (2002) with Chris Sanders.

The Golden Globe for How to Train Your Dragon 2 marks the first time that DreamWorks Animation has received the award in the best animated feature category since it was introduced in 2006.

Other Golden Globe nominees for this category included The Boxtrolls, co-directed by Graham Annable who graduated from Sheridan’s Classical Animation program in 1991, and Big Hero Six, co-directed by Chris Williams who studied animation at Sheridan. Graduates of Sheridan’s animation program also worked on The Lego Movie and The Book of Life, the additional two films nominated in the best animated feature category.