Comedian Craig Ferguson suggested the idea to have the character he voiced coming out of the closet.
- May 17, 2014
AceShowbiz - "How to Train Your Dragon 2" will have a little surprise for the audience when it hits theaters June 13. A character from the 2010 animation "How to Train Your Dragon" will come out as gay, subtly.
[Spoiler ahead] Gobber, the rough and tough right-hand man of chief Stoick voice by comedian Craig Ferguson, will be the one coming out of the closet in a scene where he watches a man and his wife bickering. He says it is the reason why he never gets married and "one other reason."
The idea to have Gobber as a homosexual came from Ferguson and was approved by writer and director Dean DeBlois, who is openly gay. "When we were recording Craig Ferguson, I had written the line, 'This is why I never got married,' and he, as he often does, added it as an ad-lib and he said, 'Yup, Gobber is coming out of the closet'," DeBlois told E! Online. "I think that's a really fun [and] daring move to put in. I love the idea that Gobber is Berk's resident gay."
Although rare, a gay character in a mainstream animated film has popped up in Universal Pictures' 2012 animation "ParaNorman".