It’s the biggest, most action-packed ‘Kung Fu Panda’ movie ever seen! Watch director Mike Mitchell, co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, and their team talk paint splashes; all-new character designs; creepy, supernatural shape-shifting transformations; terrifying kid bunnies with no social inhibitors; and a Chameleon rig with 8,130 controls! DreamWorks Animation's gorgeous new film hits theaters March 8, 2024.
DreamWorks Animation has just shared with AWN this exclusive Kung Fu Panda 4 featurette! Go behind the animation of the biggest, most action-packed Kung Fu Panda movie anyone has ever seen! Director Mike Mitchell, co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, and their creative team talk paint splashes; all-new character designs; creepy, supernatural shape-shifting transformations; thousands of fox drawings; terrifying kid bunnies with no social inhibitors; an expansive Juniper City, lots of new camera angles – think GoPro – and a Chameleon rig with 8,130 controls!
See how the magic is made! See how Po, Shifu, Zhen, and evil nemesis Chameleon come to life! Plus dim sum! Mitchell and his team have pulled out all the visual and comedic stops!
Coming to theaters March 8, 2024, back after almost a decade, Jack Black returns as Po, the world’s most unlikely kung fu master, in what promises to be a hilarious, butt-kicking, snack-appreciating new chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s famed action-comedy franchise: Kung Fu Panda 4.
In the film, Po, the Dragon Warrior, ever unsure about his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, is called upon by destiny to … consider a meal at the absolute worst possible moment. But also, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.
Problematic, yes. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet (yes, that’s in the One-Sheet). Second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.
But trouble lies ahead because this is a movie. There’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.
Po’s going to need some help because this is a movie. He finds it, albeit not easily, in a crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who 'really gets under Po’s fur' but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places. Because movies need heroes!
Check out these brand new clips!
The film features the returning voice talent of Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman as Kung Fu master, Shifu; James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Po’s adoptive father, Mr. Ping; Academy Award nominee Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father, Li, and Emmy Award nominee Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis. Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) joins the ensemble as a new character, Han, the leader of the Den of Thieves.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is directed by Mitchell (DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, Shrek Forever After) and produced by Rebecca Huntley (DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys). The film’s co-director is Stephanie Ma Stine (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power).
Source: NBCUniversal
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
