Coverage: Cartoon Network 2012 Upfront

So the news from the Cartoon Network Upfront is here and it seems like we got three new pieces of info!

First off is the lovely new and improved logo you can see above. Then, we got confirmation of all the voices from the movie that are returning. Sadly, not everyone is returning, but the voices of Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut will remain the same in the TV series. So I wonder who the replacements for Ruffnut, Snotlout, Stoick, and Gobber will be? 

And we also got a new description which gives a more in depth feel of what the TV show is really about:

"DreamWorks Dragons: The Series-- 

Picking up where the critically-acclaimed feature film, How to Train Your Dragon, left off, this weekly animated series follows the continuing adventures of Hiccup and his dragon Toothless on the island of Berk, along with the band of dragon trainers, all of whom now have dragons of their own! 

Through their training, the kids are finding out the cool things dragons can do. Not only will they learn more about their dragons, they'll also discover new ones and battle against enemies as they explore worlds they never dreamed existed. In addition, the talented cast from the feature film--Jay Baruchel (Hiccup), America Ferrera (Astrid), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Fishlegs), and T.J. Miller (Tuffnut)--will lend their voices to the series, which is produced by DreamWorks Animation and premieres this fall!"

Unfortunately there was no new footage or a new trailer released. But, some news is better than no news! I know it's a long wait, but as we get closer to fall new footage will come. And maybe we'll even get a panel at Comic Con this summer?

Either way, we did get some confirmation of who's coming back, and Since Hiccup and Astrid will probably be the main characters, it's good to know that they'll be having consistent voices throughout the franchise! 

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Happy Birthday, HTTYD!

You're two years old. You deserve a Gronckle egg.

With the arena show, TV show, and continuing work on the sequel, 2012 truly is the Year of the Dragon. Just remember, now is the perfect time to bake that Toothless-shaped cake. You know you want to. So bring out the trusty DVDs and give them a watch-through: it's dragon day!

Also, Berk's Grapevine just passed 8,000 pageviews a couple days ago. Thanks a lot, everyone! The How to Train Your Dragon community isn't the most active one at the moment, so it's cool to see so many people interested in this site. And things are only going to get more interesting as we approach the fall.... But, focusing now on more current events, the Cartoon Network Upfront is only two days away!

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TV Series at Cartoon Network Upfront?

Every year in March, TV channels give their annual upfront which showcases what will be airing on their channel for the current year. And Cartoon Network is no exception.

Last year, the upfront brought us a very basic description of the TV series, but since it's actually airing this year we can hope to expect a lot more coverage, and this quote in USA Today gives us high hopes that we'll get some new news about the show.

"The No. 3 children's network will give advertisers a first look next week at a new series based on the Annoying Orange, another YouTube phenomenon, due in summer or fall, along with a spinoff of DreamWorks movie How to Train Your Dragon, which was announced last year, and Omniverse, the latest edition in its long-running Ben 10 series."

The upfront for Cartoon Network makes its debut on the 28th of this month, so be here at the Grapevine for full coverage!

3/28 Update: Coverage is here!

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Arena Show Update, Free Tickets

It's been a slow news week with the TV show, so here's an update on what's happening in Australia with the arena show with some new video clips.

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Arena Spectacular: Reviews and Videos

Since the premier launched last week—and after the depressing cancellation of the first show and several technical "hiccups"—it's good to see that things are back on track and there's been plenty of coverage on it, as well as a review of the premier show.

In addition there are plenty of videos of sneak peeks of the show floating around on the Internet, such as this one:

To check out more videos on the spectacular, visit the updated video page for the show! Also, check the newly released tour dates on the arena website. So far it's just Australia, but there have been rumors of a North American tour in July!

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"How to Train Your Dragon" Sequel Secrets from Dean DeBlois

An old article was found that actually gave away some good plot points to the sequel in an interview with the How to Train Your Dragon sequel director Dean DeBlois.

The interview claims that the sequel will be "multicultural" and that Hiccup will come across new dragons, new cultures and....more women. Yes, you read that correctly. Here's what DeBlois had to say:

"It certainly will be multicultural. At the end of last film, all these Vikings who were previously somewhat landlocked are now on the backs of dragons so the entire Northern Hemisphere opens up to them. And with that Hiccup’s curiosity increases, the map expands and inevitably they are going to come across new dragons, new cultures, and more women.” 

So, some great news there! Who's to say you can't learn new things from an old article? You can read the whole interview HERE.

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TJ Miller returning on Dragons TV Series!

After we all heard that Jay Baruchel would, in fact, be voicing Hiccup for the TV series, it's good news that TJ Miller (voice of Tuffnut) tweeted that he'll also be voicing his original character on the show!

SOURCE

So, we've got two of the original cast on board, let's hope we can get some more!

And speaking of twitter...Berk's Grapevine now has a twitter as well! So follow us for double the news updates! You know you want to.

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More Leaked Storyboards: Dragons TV Show

UPDATE 3/6: Unfortunately, we had to remove them since the artist removed his blog post. But if you still want to find them, I have two words for you: Google cache. Hi to those from Burbank, and good luck with the show!

Here are five new storyboard pages from Fred Reyes's portfolio blog. They appear to be of Hiccup riding Stormfly, although there's a mysterious second Viking riding behind him as well. Unfortunately there's no episode number for this one. However, unlike the Episode 10 storyboard, this one seems to start of right in the middle of the story, and not at the very beginning.

Click For More (we can't host it here because of copyright issues, so grab it while you can!)

Thanks to Mina on The Night Fury's Den!

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Jay Baruchel Confirmed for Dragons TV Series and Arena Show Postponed

Good news everyone! Although we all saw it coming because Jay voiced Hiccup's narration in the Cartoon Network Promo, an interview posted on Collider.com officially confirmed Jay's involvement with the Dreamworks Dragons TV series. The interview says:

"Do you have any involvement with the How to Train Your Dragon animated series for the Cartoon Network?

Baruchel: Yeah, I’m in it! I’m in every episode. I’ve already recorded a bunch of them, and we’re in the process of doing the second movie, too. I’m doing the movie and the TV show."

So, this is good news! Hopefully some more of the original cast from the movie will return as well. Here's the full interview.

In other bad news, though, the arena show, which was scheduled to come out today, was cancelled for "technical issues." Hopefully the show will be back on track soon enough.

But for now, enjoy an "exciting" first look at the arena show:

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