I tried not to make that joke -- but hey, everyone else is using McLovin' ones!The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Gerard Butler joins America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Christopher Mintz-Plasse to voice How to Train Your Dragon. Get your minds out of the gutter -- this is a children's comedy about a scrawny Viking teenager who must capture and subdue a wild dragon. Based on the Cressida Cowell book, the story centers on the timid son of a Viking chief who must capture and train a dragon in order to be initiated into his tribe.
Baruchel will voice the boy, named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, who is saddled with an undersized and uncooperative dragon. Butler is the father and chief of the tribe, Stoick the Vast (how appropriate for a former Beowulf), while Ferrera voices Astrid, who partners with Hiccup for the initiation. Hill will play Snotlout, a bully who thinks he should be the next chief, and Mintz-Plasse portrays Fishlegs, a Viking big in size but small in brains.
This is a DreamWorks Animation production, and the second to be made in Ultimate 3-D. (Many girls are now thinking how they wanted to see a 3-D Gerard Butler film, but this wasn't precisely what anyone had in mind.) It has a release date of March 26th, 2010, moved up from its original release of November 2009.
Did anyone envision Butler cornering the youth market after 300? Everyone had him pegged for mindless action flicks -- but instead he's making Nim's Island and How to Train Your Dragon. Given that his was the "This is SPARTA!" cry heard round the world, it's rather apt he is lending his voice out to animation.
1. I'm impressed with the turn of Butler's career path. Perhaps forming his Evil Twins production company will prove to be the best thing he's ever done. Personally, I think all adult actors secretly have a desire to be the voice of an animated character, probably hearkens back to their childhoods. Disney and Pixar made it chic. An animated character has now become the Hollywood must have!
I always feel bad for the celeb that makes the mistake of choosing one of the really cheesey animation companies that does something like Barbie meets her dream date. Ouch.
Posted at 12:52PM on Mar 18th 2008 by Tigerlily