DreamWorks Dragons | |
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Also known as | Dragons: Riders of Berk(season 1) Dragons: Defenders of Berk(season 2) Dragons: Race to the Edge(seasons 3–8) |
Genre | Action Adventure Fantasy |
Based on | |
Developed by | Linda Teverbaugh Mike Teverbaugh |
Showrunners | Linda Teverbaugh (seasons 1 and 2) Mike Teverbaugh (seasons 1 and 2) Art Brown (seasons 3–8) Douglas Sloan (seasons 3–8) |
Voices of | Jay Baruchel Chris Edgerly America Ferrera Christopher Mintz-Plasse Julie Marcus T.J. Miller Nolan North Zack Pearlman Andrée Vermeulen |
Theme music composer | John Powell |
Composer | John Paesano [1] |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 118 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Linda Teverbaugh Mike Teverbaugh (seasons 1 and 2) Art Brown Douglas Sloan (seasons 3–8) |
Producers | Art Brown Douglas Sloan |
Editors | John Laus Lynn Hobson Peter Tomaszewicz Joel Fisher Jay Fox Ernesto Matamoros |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company | DreamWorks Animation |
Original release | |
Network | Cartoon Network |
Release | August 7, 2012 – March 5, 2014 |
Network | Netflix |
Release | June 26, 2015 – February 16, 2018 |
Related | |
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Dragons, commonly referred to as DreamWorks Dragons, is an American animated television series based on the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon . The series serves as a bridge between the first film and its 2014 sequel. [2] [3] [4]
Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and David Tennant reprise their voice-acting roles from the film. Other cast members include Julie Marcus and Andree Vermeulen as Ruffnut (previously voiced by Kristen Wiig), Zack Pearlman as Snotlout (previously voiced by Jonah Hill), Chris Edgerly as Gobber the Belch (previously voiced by Craig Ferguson), and Nolan North as Stoick the Vast (previously voiced by Gerard Butler).
Dragons was announced by Cartoon Network on October 12, 2010. [5] According to Tim Johnson, executive producer for the film, the series was planned to be much darker and deeper than DreamWorks Animation's previous television series spin-offs, with a similar tone to the film. Dragons was the first DreamWorks Animation series to air on Cartoon Network rather than Nickelodeon. [6]
A one-hour preview consisting of two episodes aired on August 7, 2012, on Cartoon Network, [7] with the official premiere of the series airing on September 5, 2012. [8] A total of 40 episodes aired on Cartoon Network during the first two seasons, subtitled Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk respectively.
Afterwards, the series was subtitled Race to the Edge, the first season of which debuted on Netflix on June 26, 2015. [3] The second and third seasons of Dragons: Race to the Edge premiered on January 8 and June 24, 2016, respectively. [9] [10] The fourth season was released on February 17, 2017. [11] The series was renewed for a fifth season, which was released on Netflix on August 25, 2017. The series (alongside the Netflix exclusive, All Hail King Julien ) is syndicated as part of the newly rebranded Universal Kids on September 9, 2017. Dragons: Race to the Edge was renewed for the sixth and final [12] season which was released on February 16, 2018.
Taking place between How to Train Your Dragon and How to Train Your Dragon 2 , DreamWorks Dragons follows Hiccup as he tries to keep balance within the new cohabitation of Dragons and Norse vikings. Alongside keeping up with Berk's newest installment—A Dragon Training Academy—Hiccup, Toothless, and the rest of the Viking Teens are put to the test when they are faced with new worlds harsher than Berk, new dragons that can't all be trained, and new enemies who are looking for every reason to destroy the harmony between Vikings and Dragons altogether.
Season | Subtitle | Episodes | Originally released | |||
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First released | Last released | Network | ||||
1 | Riders of Berk | 20 | August 7, 2012 | March 20, 2013 | Cartoon Network | |
2 | Defenders of Berk | 20 | September 19, 2013 | March 5, 2014 | ||
3 | Race to the Edge | 13 | June 26, 2015 | Netflix | ||
4 | 13 | January 8, 2016 | ||||
5 | 13 | June 24, 2016 | ||||
6 | 13 | February 17, 2017 | ||||
7 | 13 | August 25, 2017 | ||||
8 | 13 | February 16, 2018 |
On October 12, 2010, it was announced that Cartoon Network had acquired worldwide broadcast rights to a weekly animated series based on the film. [5] According to Tim Johnson, executive producer for How to Train Your Dragon , the series was planned to be much darker and deeper than DreamWorks Animation's previous television series spin-offs, with a similar tone to the film, and would follow after the events of the first film. DreamWorks Dragons is the first DreamWorks Animation series to air on Cartoon Network; DreamWorks Animation's previous television series, including The Penguins of Madagascar , Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness , and Monsters vs. Aliens , had aired on Nickelodeon. [6]
Although it was initially announced that the series would be called Dragons: The Series, [13] the San Diego Comic-Con schedule announced in June 2012 revealed the new title to be Dragons: Riders of Berk. [19] The second season of the show was titled Dragons: Defenders of Berk. [20] At the end of May 2014, DreamWorks Animation announced that the series would move to Netflix in spring 2015. [3]
Dragons: Riders of Berk has received positive reviews. Brian Lowry of Variety reviewed the series: "The program is dazzling visually, and pretty effortlessly picks up where the narrative left off," although he noted the initial episodes' "lack of actual villains" and "not-particularly-stirring array of characters". [21] Mary McNamara of Los Angeles Times said that it "retains both the personality and production value of its progenitor. Dragons promise to be lively and entertaining, with great visuals of dragons swooping and soaring." She praised its look: "It looks pretty dang spectacular even by today's standards. It's so crisply drawn and fluid that a person of a certain age would be forgiven for wondering how on earth we survived with things like Scooby-Doo and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop." [22] According to Nielsen Media Research, episodes of the first season ranked on average #1 in their timeslot among boys 2–14. [23]
Year | Association | Category | Nominee | Result |
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2012 | Annie Awards [24] [25] | Best Animated Television Production For Children | Episode: "How to Pick Your Dragon" | Won |
Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Shi Zimu | Nominated | ||
Teri Yam | ||||
Yan Jiazhuang | ||||
Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Andy Bialk (for "Alvin and the Outcasts") | |||
Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | John Eng (for "Animal House") | Won | ||
Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | John Paesano (for "How to Pick Your Dragon") | |||
Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Doug Lovelace (for "Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man") | |||
Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Mike Teverbaugh, Linda Teverbaugh (for "Animal House") | Nominated | ||
Editorial in an Animated Television Production | Lynn Hobson (for "Animal House") | |||
2013 | Primetime Emmy Award [26] | Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation – Character Design (for "We Are Family: Part 2") | Andy Bialk | Won |
Annie Awards [27] | Animated Effects in an Animated Production | David Jones | Nominated | |
Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Elaine Bogan | |||
Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Douglas Lovelace | |||
Editorial in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Lynn Hobson | |||
2015 | Annie Awards [28] | Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Ernesto Matamoros | Nominated |
2016 | Annie Awards [29] | Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Television/Broadcast Production | Chi-Ho Chan | Won |
Daytime Emmy Awards [30] [31] | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | Art Brown, Douglas Sloan, Chad Hammes and Lawrence Jonas | Nominated | |
Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program | Art Brown and Douglas Sloan | |||
Outstanding Sound Mixing - Animation | Carlos Sanches and Otis Van Osten | |||
Outstanding Casting for an Animated Series or Special | Christi Soper and Ania O'Hare | |||
Outstanding Sound Editing - Animation | Otis Van Osten, Joshua Aaron Johnson, Roger Pallan and Jason Oliver | Won | ||
Saturn Awards [32] | Best New Media Television Series | DreamWorks Dragons | Nominated | |
2017 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | Art Brown, Douglas Sloan, Chad Hammes and Lawrence Jonas | Nominated |
Outstanding Sound Editing - Animation | Otis Van Osten, Dan Smith, Joshua Aaron Johnson and Jason Oliver | |||
Outstanding Sound Mixing - Animation | Carlos Sanches and Otis Van Osten | |||
2018 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Mixing - Animation | Carlos Sanches and Otis Van Osten | Nominated |
2019 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | Jay Baruchel (as Hiccup) | Won |
A 3D Unity-based in-browser game, titled Dragons: Wild Skies, was launched on August 27, 2012, on CartoonNetwork.com. [33] Players will go through a tutorial with Hiccup, and train a Deadly Nadder, before being able to free roam around the several islands in the Barbaric Archipelago, with dragons scattered around them. The player can choose to be a blonde/brunette male or female Viking, before setting off to explore the islands. To train a dragon, players must feed the dragons correct food before doing correct gestures to gain the dragon's trust. In the game, players do not die or otherwise fail. Players complete challenges to earn gold for buying tools to obtain food for training dragons. The overworld consists of six islands, each with a unique dragon to tame. The number of dragons and worlds to explore is set to expand over time, as the series introduces more and more places and dragons... [34]
A DVD collection of the first four episodes, titled Dragons: Riders of Berk, was released on November 20, 2012. [35] The first season of the series was released on DVD in two parts on July 23, 2013. Dragons: Riders of Berk: Part 1 contained episodes from 1 to 11, [36] and Dragons: Riders of Berk: Part 2, episodes from 12 to 20. [37] In December 2013, Walmart released an exclusive pack containing the Complete 1st Season in a special edition "Toothless" plastic package. [38] A DVD collection of the first 10 episodes of the second season, titled Dragons: Defenders of Berk: Part 1, was released on March 25, 2014. [39] The second part, titled Dragons: Defenders of Berk: Part 2, was later released on May 27, 2014. [40] On February 12, 2019, the first two seasons of Dragons: Race to the Edge was released on DVD in one set. Seasons three and four were released on DVD on March 5, 2019, and seasons five and six were released on DVD on March 26, 2019, albeit all only in Region 1 format.