All the final battles were challenging because there were so many characters on screen, including a pack of ferocious wolves. Guenoden admits that it took a lot of rendering and calculation to accomplish these complicated shots. "And I had to give sketches and thumbnails to 20 animators. So that was very challenging for me but also for them because they had to deal with so many different elements -- the boats, the special effects -- but we managed."

But it's the pathos that most affected the animation supervisor. Guenoden was also in charge of the 2D sequences, which are more plentiful in Kung Fu Panda 2. "Jen wanted the dreams and flashbacks that Po has to be translated from a different visual standpoint," he says. "She wanted us to explore that a bit more. And compared to the original, which was more fantasy, this one has more of his actual memories, which is very dramatic."

Although the shadow puppet cut-out look was done in After Effects, "we actually had to enhance the movement of the animation to simulate the effect of somebody holding it and the hand gestures. It was pretty neat to add mistakes to some perfect curves."

Speaking of pathos, that is what attracted Guillermo del Toro to DreamWorks Animation, where he has been consulting and nurturing his own projects. On Kung Fu Panda 2, he even serves as exec producer.

"He was there for every screening as it evolved and was another person to keep us focused on the story," Guenoden adds. "If there was something we were trying to explore in the story or with the characters, he would always be there to check that we were on the same track and on the same goals. He's so frank and so straightforward. There's no mask. If he doesn't like something, he'll tell you. And it's very valuable because it makes the process so much quicker. He would also go on and an on about the things that he loves. He's brilliant. I hope I get to work with him on one of his shows."

Bill Desowitz is senior editor of AWN & VFXWorld.