Berk's Grapevine

Hiccup & Toothless on the Today Show


During a live broadcast on the Today Show, arena show director Nigel Jamieson gets attacked by a Monstrous Nightmare, and Hiccup takes a flight on Toothless.

(Apologies for the ads.)

The arena show premiered in the US yesterday in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Next up will be London, Ontario on July 4th, and then....

Comic Con, anyone?


Unfortunately, neither of us (BlackRose108 and IcelandicEel) can make it to Comic Con for the Riders of Berk panel on Thursday, July 12th. In fact, it seems like no one from the HTTYD community is going. It would be very bad if the info DreamWorks reveals ends up going to waste.

So, is anyone here going?

(Check the original Comic Con post for the description, time, etc.)

Global Creatures live projection showcase


Check out a showcase of mouth-watering animated scenery and arena show footage that's been floating around the internet recently. From the video description:
In March 2012, Global Creatures teamed with Dreamworks to launch a live theatrical show based on the film "How To Train Your Dragon." Spinifex Group was contracted to develop the graphic content for the entire show. The brief was to take the movie from its original look and portray it in a more illustrative style. 
The challenges focused around timing the animation to match the choreography of the actors and dragons, while also maintaining a sense of scale and balance between the animatronic creatures and the projected content. In addition, the animation needed to move as one seamless scene across both the wall and floor, serving as a complete theatre set—a first of its kind.
If I had a couple of those projectors, I would paint my room Berk-colored.

Kit Harrington: Confirmed as the Sequel's Villain


Somewhat older news, but still interesting. Kit Harrington, who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, may join the cast of How to Train Your Dragon 2 as an "unnamed villain." Some people are speculating that this villain may be Alvin. [see comments]


For those of you uneducated about this thrones thing, here are some clips featuring him:

Riders of Berk is coming to Comic Con 2012!


Want some leaked info on Riders of Berk?
Check out our guide.

This has been speculated but mostly hoped for since the show was announced for the Fall. Autumn tv shows are always a given for having panels at San Diego's Comic Con and luckily "Dragons: Riders of Berk" is no exception! Here's the description provided by BuzzFocus:
Picking up where the critically-acclaimed feature film, How to Train Your Dragon, left off, this weekly animated series follows the continuing adventures of master dragon trainer Hiccup, his faithful dragon Toothless and his friends on the island of Berk. Dragon training reaches new heights as our heroes unlock secrets about their dragons, explore wild frontiers and discover new dragon species, all while battling against fierce enemies they never dreamed existed. Come get a first look at the series, which premieres this fall on Cartoon Network, and hear from some of the talented dragon trainers who helped bring it to life. 
The panel will take place on Thursday July 12th in room 6A from 12pm-1pm. And for those of you who can make it to the event, do make it there. I'm almost certain this panel will feature the long awaited new footage we've all been dying for!

Burnt Grapevine and a Storyboard Update


It shall forever be a mystery....

It makes sense that some of the storyboards appearing online wouldn't be in the show. But big things like Heather, and Stoick's dragon, and "Alvin's Dragon Training Cage"? Well, those are pretty critical to the plot. You can't just take them out. Unless Alvin is being renamed to Frederick or something.

So I'm going to guess the answer is yes. Alvin will be appearing.


Oh, and by the way, John Sanford actually is, in fact, interesting. Besides working on the Dragons TV show, he also makes some really great webcomics. You should follow him.

New Riders of Berk Storyboards: Hiccup and Mulch


Remember that old Viking from the previous leaked storyboard? Turns out his name is Mulch. And a Fishlegs action sequence? Now that's unexpected. Also Stoick has a dragon, and Alvin appears!

(thanks to Mina from the Night Fury's Den)

The storyboard starts out of order with "Fishlegs and Meatlug's Special Moment" and the comes back to "Hiccup's Big Adventure." Mulch also appears in Fred Reyes' storyboard, though unnamed.



UPDATE 6/17: Check out neia silva's animatics of these boards on YouTube: (No longer up, sorry).
Hiccup's Big Adventure
Fishlegs and Meatlug's Special Moment

UPDATE 6/19: TV show director talks about these storyboards.

UPDATE 7/12: Alvin exists! He's being played by Mark Hamill. We were also right about Stoick's dragons. See more here.

UPDATE 7/15: Sorry but these storyboards have been taken down as well. Hopefully you all got an eyeful while they were up.


Pictures of Stoick's dragon below. If you want to be surprised during Episode 8, don't click to read more.

Riders of Berk: The Game?

      
Two new DreamWorks trademarks have been filed which hint at a possible game based on the animated TV series. From the trademark description:
Downloadable software in the nature of a mobile application.
Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line computer games featuring characters from an animated television series.
With their past games, DreamWorks has filed for trademarks only slightly in advance of the release date. So either this game is coming out soon, or DreamWorks is being extra careful this time.

And how, exactly, is basing the game on the TV show different from basing it on the film?

TV Series name changed to "Dragons: Riders of Berk"


This rumor has been flying around for a good week and a half now, but no one had any actual proof passed claiming they saw a new promo. But now we have proof!!! It's official--for now--that the new working title is "Dreamworks Dragons: Riders of Berk"! And it's still rated TV-PG-V.

(thanks to Serimon and NickBobEsponja4 for the new version)

And for more on the tv series, check out the site's Riders of Berk page.

Also, apparently there was a licensing expo that featured yet another new logo for the franchise/TV series. So enjoy:


No News Today

On April 18, 1930, BBC Radio announced that there had been absolutely no news that day. They proceeded to play piano music for the rest of the broadcast.

It seems like we are encountering the same problem. Hopefully, DreamWorks has decided to spend their limited time and money on making sure the TV show is really great instead of on advertising. Or maybe they are focusing on Madagascar 3, which opened last weekend.

But either way, it seems like we're having a slow news week. Cue the music:


(piano music didn't seem quite appropriate)

TV Series: Snow?


"This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three. But don't worry: it all magically disappears during the complicated shots."

Although it is interesting to know that some episodes will be taking place during the winter. And for those of you who don't know who "jsanford" is, he's directing around 7 episodes in Season 1 and some in Season 2.