TAHLEQUAH – On Sept. 30, the premiere of the Cherokee-dubbed version of “How to Train Your Dragon” was shown to students at the Durbin Feeling Language Center in Tahlequah.
The project was launched in May 2025 working with 15 Cherokee-speaking voice actors and eight Cherokee translation experts.
CN citizen and 2012 Cherokee Immersion School alumni, Ethan Winn, worked as an audio engineer on the project as well as voiced the character, “Snotlout.”
“When I went through the Immersion School, we didn’t really have anything like this growing up,” Winn said. “So, if we wanted to talk about animated movies, kids shows, and stuff that we were watching as kids, we had to do it kind of in Cherokee, but we didn’t have a reference to that and how it would sound and everything.”
The 2010 film is the story of Hiccup, an awkward teenage Viking who lives in a village where dragon-slaying is the most honorable tradition. Instead of slaying his first dragon, he befriends him in secret.
“I’m not sure why they chose this movie,” Winn explained. “Our first project was “The Rings of Power” (an Amazon Prime Series prequal to The Lord of the Rings novels). That’s kind of geared towards an adult audience. There are lot of themes, scenes, and stuff in there that maybe young kids shouldn’t see.
“I think the idea is that we get something that we can show to the kids and have the kids watch at home. It’s something that I grew up loving, watching as a kid.”
Winn hopes that this project will inspire the next generation of Cherokee-speaking youth.
“I think giving kids this kind of empowers them to be like, ‘Oh, we can do this in Cherokee.’ We can have whatever show that they’re into in Cherokee and everything. They’re not just limited to the older stories or stories that are meant for an older group of people.”
Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. attended the premiere and encouraged students to continue learning their language.
“I really think this is exciting because our language program, the adults in this room, every one of them love you and wants you to grow up and be Cherokee speakers and you’re on your way to doing it.” Hoskin said to students before the premiere. “One of these days, I know it’s a long way from now, you all are going to be running this place speaking Cherokee and as chief, well, that just makes me very, very happy about the future.”
The Cherokee speaking cast includes:
Hondo Kirk as Hiccup
Brad Jones as Stoick
Steve Daugherty as Gobber
Kendra Mouse as Astrid
Ethan Winn as Snotlout
Leonte Mayhew as Fishlegs
Elisha Bird as Tuffnut
Paloma Angelina Lopez as Ruffnut
Larry Carney as Ack
Harry Oosahwee as Starkard
Mike McCoy as Hoark the Harrgard
Billie Jean Teehee as Plegma the Fierce
Patrick Del Percio as Spitelout