Dragons live store has opened!

The Dragons live store just opened a couple days ago. It's the only place (that we know of) where you can still buy HTTYD stuff, so if you missed out on the movie merchandise you should check it out. They have dragonesque headwear, several plush toys, keychains, shirts, and of course, everyone's favorite Night Fury tankard cup.

So even if you can't see the show, at least you can get the dragons.

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Arena show projections and VIP tour

With all the recent Riders of Berk posting we've been doing, we've kind of been ignoring the Dragons arena show. So here's an update.

Read more for the three awesome behind-the-scenes arena show videos we've been collecting over the past few weeks.

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New Behind the Scenes video of Live Show!

Cartoon Network has given us a small behind the scenes look at the Live Show, hosted by the always funny (seriously, he's hilarious) Kevin Wu.

Thanks Serimon for finding this!

Also, there was another 3 seconds of new footage at the end. Click "read more" for the still frames:

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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....

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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.

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New Sneak Peek of Arena Show!

The Today Show hosted a special four minute behind the scenes sneak peek of the Arena Spectacular this morning (we apologize for the ad):

For more videos on the arena show, check our the Grapevine's arena show video page.

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Arena Show: US Tour Dates [UPDATED]

The dragons are arriving in the US! Here are the first four cities they will visit:

EDIT: This is now looking more like a final list of cities (29 in total).

Also, here's more arena show news and videos.

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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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Backstage Footage: Arena Show

I was stalkerishly browsing the Twitter page of Sarah McCreanor (Astrid) when I found something awesome. It's backstage footage from the arena show. Jump to the end for Forbidden Friendship!

Also check out this site from the person who posted the video, which has more info on the show. The show has finished its last rehearsals in Sydney and is heading over to Melbourne. You Australians are so lucky!

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"HTTYD: Arena Spectacular" Sneak Peek Video

Earlier this week, a TV special aired in Australia promoting the "How to Train Your Dragon: Areana Specutacular" show which is to make its world premier next month.

For those of you who didn't catch it or don't live in Australia, you can watch the special here:

Sneak Peek Video

And, for more on the Arena Spectacular check out our video page for the arena show for interviews, trailers, and more behind the scenes exculsives.

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Arena Show TV Special

You might know that there's a Dragons arena show in the works, and if you're like me, there's probably one thing on you're mind: what will the Night Fury look like?

Well, for the first time, they're going to show us. On February 4, the TV special How to Train Your Dragon Comes to Life will air on Seven Network in Australia. It promises to describe the process behind creating the giant dragon puppets and, yes, will give us the first ever glimpse of their Toothless model. Theatrepeople.com.au explains:

The television special will feature the cast and crew preparing for the show’s WORLD PREMIERE in Melbourne in March. The star dragon of the show TOOTHLESS, will be introduced to viewers with his dark colour, piercing eyes, and lovable nature. He is indeed the dragon that the audience will irresistibly fall in love with.

Audiences will also get a glimpse into what it takes to bring these mythical beasts to life via animatronics and 'voodoo' puppetry. [...] Cast members Rarmian Newton, Riley Miner, Sarah McCreanor and Gemma Nguyen look at various aspects of the production and how the engineers and creative team mount a spectacle of this size - from the massive wall-to-floor projections, to the amazing flying rig, to the dragons themselves.

Yeah. It's pretty cool. So far, I've seen no dates for the arena show to appear in the US, but according to this article, there are arena shows being planned for Las Vegas as well.

UPDATE 2/5: It's out! Did you see it? That's okay, you can always use the Internet...

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