One of the most successful animated movie series is coming back to the big screen this weekend. That’s right, the ever lovable Po from Kung Fu Panda is back! And this time he’s transforming from student to teacher in the most recent installment, Kung Fu Panda 3.
Ecstatic when his biological father shows up, Po finds himself drawn to a secret panda village in a lush oasis where is father promises to teach him how to live like a panda. As he struggles to learn panda ways and balance his relationships between his father who raised him and his biological father, he learns of a supernatural force that is destroying all he’s ever known. Po soon realizes that he must become the teacher and lead his somewhat clumsy panda brethren to conquer a foe greater than they could ever imagine.
With an all star cast – Jack Black as Po, Bryan Cranston as Li, Dustin Hoffman as Shifu, and Angelina Jolie as Tigress, just to name a few – this film shines in the theaters. Like all the Kung Fu Panda movies before it, the animation is stellar, but this movie is more than just animation, it has a solid messages (for both kids and adults) behind it. Parents will identify with Mr. Ping (Po’s father who raised him) as a parent who is struggling to watch over and protect Po as he is drawn to his peers in the secret panda village; while kids will identify with the clumsy and goofy Po who is learning to harness his best qualities to overcome obstacles. Kung Fu Panda 3 also develops strong female roles in both Tigress and Mei Mei, which is refreshing to see in a movie geared towards a younger audience.
This movie simply captivated my children. They laughed at the jokes (and there were many), loved the pandas in the panda village, and the action scenes kept them on the edge of their seats. This movie is easy for even the youngest viewers, but will be enjoyed by older kids and adults as well. It will draw you in for 95 minutes of panda fun, which is he perfect length for a kids movie if you ask me. My kids actually enjoyed it so much that my older daughter has named Kung Fu Panda her new favorite movie!
I was lucky enough to not only get a sneak peek at this movie during the Miami premiere, but also interview the incredibly talented co-directors, Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh. Here are just some of the questions I was able to ask them during our round table discussion.
Q: What are some of the technical advances to the production since the first Kung Fu Panda?
Jennifer: There were a lot. Simply because of the server power (computer crunching power), we had the ability to create entire sets instead of just a couple of building. In the first KFP we had to reuse two rooftops, this time we were able to make entire sets. The entire Panda Village was practical, you could wander inside and outside of all the buildings as a virtual set. There was more freedom with the choreography, fight scenes and story telling because of this.
Alessandro: With the new software we were able to almost touch the virtual character, almost like painting a shape.
Q: Where did the inspiration come from in creating Kai?
JY: Because we’ve already had two villains before, we wanted to make sure he was different and a step even more extreme. We wanted him to be bigger physically and supernatural. He has that chi sucking ability.
AC: : We created him to be a little bit insecure too. He becomes petty and bitter when no one recognizes his name, he is relate-able as a broken character.
Q: What kind of research was done for the set locations?
JY: The Panda Village is based on a place in China. There is this beautiful green mountain, and you are going through a muddy path, and layers of mist, you see these shelters that look like they are made of organic wood and covered in moss. As we walked through this mist wall, the mist cleared and we saw the main buildings at the top of the mountain. Those are the same shots we put in the film.
AC: The spirit realm. In the first KFP movie Po becomes a Dragon Warrior, so the spirit realm visualization came from this reference point in his dream.
Q: How many people did it take to create the movie?
AC: The entire crew is over 600 people. It all starts from paintings. It’s all very labor intensive.
JY: It feels real but its not realistic, which is a lot harder than doing a realistic film.
Q: Did you anticipate the way that the KFP franchise has caught on?
JY: We have to believe in it ourselves and if its exciting for us, its helpful. But we never know how audiences will respond. You just hope that people will like the characters.
AC: I think we knew we had something special with Po – his charm, his naivety, and childlike enthusiasm make him a lovable character.
Q: When did you find the inspiration of “being the best you” to take on the 3rd film?
AC: We took a mental break by working on some other projects. The concept of being the best you is an underlying thread throughout all the movies. Po becomes a better version of himself as he grows through the movies. The plot element of the student becoming the teacher came on a bit later in the process.
JY: Once we got the idea about 4 years ago, we started on it.
Q: Some of your biggest fans are adults. What role does that play in your story lines? What percentage is written for adults vs kids?
JY: I think its even split. There are jokes that work for a five-year old and some that work for a 40-year-old. They are sprinkled throughout the movies fairly evenly. We are making the movie to entertain everyone – we want to make ourselves laugh. Although having the mental age of a five-year old does help us.
AC: Some of us in this business are not mentally mature. I still have the mind of a 12-year-old and I still get geeky. Hopefully the mindset among the adults that like this franchise are accepting that deep down they are still big kids. And those that are not are just denying it.
JY: Po as a character truly embodies the sense of wanting to grow up but never letting go of his childlike love for things. Po represents both the actual child and the adult that doesn’t want to grow up.
Q: Do you consider yourself a role model for young girls?
JY: It’s weird because I didn’t think so, because doing the job is just that. It only recently hit me when I started visiting schools and seeing how much it affects girls. They don’t see anyone doing this job that looks like them, only 1% of directors are women.
Q: What made you bring in a second strong female character and do you see a spin-off coming?
JY: This is the first time Po gets to meet a girl panda. Shes fun and fully confident, she doesn’t need Po to like her. We wanted a character that girls would say I want to be like her. It really depends on how much people like her and clamor for her.
AC: She’s extremely confident and sure of herself, but she’s not obnoxious. Shes truly likable.
Q: KFP 1 and 2 were nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. What was put into Kung Fu Panda 3 that will bring home the award?
AC: Baby pandas?
Now that you know a little more about this movie, go see it in theaters! Your kids are going to LOVE it!
