BOOK OF DRAGONS

Dreamworks Animation
Steve Hickner
Renegade Animation

short film for Dreamworks

Shine designed and animated graphic dragons, book page designs and graphic transitions for DreamWorks’ “Book of Dragons” short film, directed by Steve Hickner. Shine partnered with Renegade Animation and DreamWorks Animation and integrated both company’s amazing animation into the film. The content Shine created within this eighteen-minute short film employs a diverse mix of animation styles within the structure of a book that immerses the audience into the world of fourteen extraordinary dragons.

Book of Dragons is a DreamWorks Animation DVD/Blu-Ray feature, packaged alongside Gift of the Night Fury in the Dragons set. It features Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Gobber, sharing insider secrets and adding to the Dragon mythology. The Dragons featured are the Terrible Terror, Monstrous Nightmare, Gronckle, Whispering Death, Hideous Zippleback, Snaptrapper, Deadly Nadder, Timberjack, Scauldron, Thunderdrum, Changewing, Boneknapper, Skrill, and the Night Fury.

This film opens when Hiccup did a voice-over about how life was before he trained a dragon in contrast with how they live their lives now. The narrative explains how their friends are now dragon trainers and how they learned more interesting knowledge about the world of dragons. Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs sit down (Gobber present) and take notes in the Dragon Manual when Toothless arrives at the table bringing to attention an incoming visitor. The story acts as though you are part of it. Gobber explains to you about the Dragon Manual and introduces different dragons and their classes. Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs also narrate.

Bork the Bold was a viking with the first idea to classify dragon and he’s Gobber’s great-great-great grandfather. Bork the Bold was formerly known as Bork the Very Very Unfortunate hence the fact everything he touched sprouted very very very bad luck. He couldn’t find a suitable occupation on Berk, for he tried being a shepherd, a blacksmith, a farmer, and a fisherman, yet to be unsuccessful because of his deficient interactions with dragons.