As dragons swoop back onto the big screen with the live-action adaptation of DreamWorks How To Train Your Dragon, Blocks delves into the creation of LEGO Icons 10375 How To Train Your Dragon: Toothless with LEGO Designer Jae Won Lee.
“We’re Vikings. It’s an occupational hazard,” says Hiccup as he finds himself soaring into battle with Toothless in order to save dragon kind. But it wasn’t an easy road for them to traverse, as Hiccup and Toothless both have to overcome centuries of enmity. In a world where strength is celebrated and Viking warriors are lauded at feast tables, Hiccup finds himself the odd one out. He’s always striving to prove himself to his father, Stoic the Vast, yet always seems to mess up instead. And when Hiccup finally has the opportunity to slay his first dragon – he lets the Night Fury go free. So begins the unlikely friendship between Hiccup and Toothless, steering his people into a new era of peace alongside dragons.
Their inspiring story about friendship and overcoming the odds has captured the hearts of audiences around the world, with How To Train Your Dragon expanding into multiple television series, holiday specials and the Isle of Berk as a theme park land at Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe. While there are a variety of different dragon species throughout the films and shows, Toothless remains the favourite. With his deep loyalty and goofy moments, it’s easy to be reminded of a beloved pet – even if Toothless breathes fire.
“10375 How To Train Your Dragon: Toothless was planned as a cute chibi-style model from the beginning,” LEGO Designer Jae Won Lee says of the set’s style, which is still recognisable as the character, but is not a direct recreation. Chibi is a Japanese word most popularly used in manga to describe something small, cute and stylised, with chibi characters usually having big eyes and exaggerated proportions. “I used this style because Toothless is primarily a display model. He’s meant to be displayed anywhere – on a shelf or desk. He’s meant to be a fun building experience even though he’s a small model. Hopefully the cute style will appeal not only to existing LEGO fans, but those who simply like Toothless.”
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Another reason the chibi style was chosen is because there are currently no small character models within LEGO Icons. 43247 Young Simba: The Lion King is much bigger and more detailed than the team wanted to make Toothless, so Jae ended up taking a detour to Hawaii. “43249 Stitch was a great benchmark for Toothless. When we were discussing the size, we aimed for about the same size as Stitch. Those types of models can fit anywhere and could also look good together.”
While 10375 How To Train Your Dragon: Toothless may look extremely cute, it’s still a serious build. As Toothless is a Night Fury, the fastest dragon in existence, he’s extremely aerodynamic due to the curviness of his body and wings. Yet those organic shapes posed multiple challenges as Jae tried to recreate – and stylise them – in LEGO bricks. “The neck has so many connections. There are a lot of ball-joints and turntable elements, as capturing the movement was quite tricky,” he continues, moving around the model to demonstrate the expressiveness in Toothless’ face. “It moves left to right, up and down, so I wanted to make use of multiple connection points to capture that.”
Although the main working feature is Toothless’ expressive face, that didn’t make the body any easier. “His appearance has multiple organic shapes. That was tricky to get right but a fun challenge,” says Jae. It also led to him being able to use his favourite LEGO piece within the finished design. “When I create buildable models of characters I always use these pieces,” he says, pointing to the shoulder elements that were initially introduced for LEGO constraction figures. On Toothless they double as kneecaps, helping to give his legs a sleeker appearance. “I always enjoy using them as shoulders and kneecaps, it’s my favourite part of this model.”
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