How to Train Your Dragon was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2011 Oscars. The film ultimately lost to Pixar’s Toy Story 3, but director Dean DeBlois and producer Bonnie Arnold did not walk away completely empty-handed.
Arnold told The Hollywood Reporter, “We got out for a break, and I go over to get something to drink, and Dean comes up to me and goes: ‘I just ran into to Cate Blanchett!'”
DeBlois saw the Blue Jasmine actress while on his way to the bathroom, and he immediately pitched her the movie.
Blanchett would go on to voice the character of Valka, a dragon rider and Hiccup’s long-lost mother.
