Commission for Ubisoft Entertainment, for their 2001 computer game ‘Dragon riders: chronicles of Pern’ (working title ‘Dragonflight’), based upon the ‘Dragonriders of Pern’ series of novels (25 and counting) by Anne McCaffrey.

This series of pencil drawings were turned into the introductory ‘animated’ prologue to the game.  A cheat animation, achieved by panning and zooming though the different frames, it is an effect I have reproduced here, although without the benefit of a spoken narration.

double-click the image to play my dragonflight ‘toon.

single-click to pause.

Plot: The young people of the tribe are summoned to the dragon hatchery, a huge cavern, to see which of them will bond with the new-born dragons, thereby (eventually) becoming a Dragonrider, part of the elite caste.

amongst the youngsters are the teenage Hero of the game, and his best friend, the tribal Chief’s Son and heir - expected to become a dragonrider like his dad.

When the dragon hatches from it’s egg, it rejects the Chief’s Son and bonds with the young Hero, thereby causing the Chief to turn his back on his son.

Years later, in game time, the new young Chief, bitter with shame for his failure, will plot and scheme at every turn against the game’s Hero, perceiving that his former friend has stolen the young Chief’s birthright.