I saw (and bought…) one of the first productions drawings from the upcoming How To Train Your Dragon movie last year while at San Diego Comic-Con. Just from the art, I thought this would be an amazing movie. Add Chris Sanders, the artist responsible for the look of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and you have an incredible start. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a Dreamworks film, meaning it must be done in CGI. With the call for a return to traditional animation, I think Dreamworks may have missed the boat for this picture. Sanders is a top-line artist and animator, easily on par with anyone who worked on Disney’s Princess and the Frog. Dreamworks hired him to be co-director with writer Dean DeBlois as they set out to adapt the book of the same name by Cressida Cowell. Even with the success of the Shrek franchise (with the fourth and final movie also coming out this year…), Madagascar (the Penguins were the best part of the movie…) and the modest success of Kung-Fu Panda; Dreamworks is still looking for their next big hit in the family market after the bomb that was Monsters & Aliens. How To Train Your Dragon is about a young Viking boy who finds and befriends a baby dragon (still the size of a horse though…). The problem is that the dragons and humans have been at war for many years and his father expects him to continue the fight. Adding their voices are Jay Baruchel (Fanboys, Tropic Thunder), Gerard Butler (300, Gamer), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), Craig Ferguson (The Late Show with Craig Ferguson), Jonah Hill (Superbad, Funny People), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass, Superbad) and Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live). Seems like a pretty decent cast and story, I’ll be checking it out in the hopes it’ll lead to Chris Sanders getting a traditional animation project soon. Take a look at the trailer below and let me know what you think…