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Kung Fu Kicks Back
“Since the release of Kung Fu Panda , there has been one burning question that people are desperate to answer,” says Panda 2's director Jennifer Yuh Nelson. “The question that defies explanation is: Why is Po’s dad a goose?”
It’s a head-scratcher, to be sure, especially since the Po in question is that film's eponymous panda. An irksome conundrum, and a fittingly oddball one for a film that came out of nowhere and surprised even the most ardent Pixar fans with its creative animation and winsome storyline.
Released in 2008, Kung Fu Panda amassed a colossal $633m worldwide, garnered warm reviews (“A master [ course ] in cunning visual art and ultra-satisfying entertainment,” said TIME ) and landed an Oscar nom in the Best Animated Feature Film category.
A return trip to ancient China and the world of Po (Jack Black) was pretty much a sure thing – and the seeds of a sequel had already been sewn in that paternity mystery.
“For Po, the Dragon Warrior, it was logical for him to finally realise his father is not his biological father and to seek his origin,” agrees Nelson. Adds producer Melissa Cobb: “We always imagined we had more story to tell with the continuation of Po and his journey...”
Moving On
Nelson was adamant about one thing – she didn’t want a sequel to stand still (even in a crane pose). And the new director had very definite ideas of what a follow-up to Kung Fu Panda should involve.
“In the first film,” she says, “we learned that heroes come in all shapes and sizes as Po fulfilled his destiny and became the Dragon Warrior.
“In the sequel, we learn that fate leads us to our destiny – bringing people into our lives that protect us and those that challenge us... allowing us to realise our full potential.”
Producer Cobb felt the same, knowing that the key to making a good sequel would be making it “timeless”, not to mention respectful to the kung fu genre that spawned it.
“We knew when we made the first film that we created a character with a lot of depth and levels of story we weren’t able to touch on,” Cobb says. “What we have in the sequel is the evolution of a hero - which isn’t a straight path, or a standard arc. And evolution takes time, so we’re committed to going with Po on his journey.
“When Kung Fu Panda 2 started to take shape, it was an organic extension of the story that we began.” Time to get the writers in...
Writers Return
Screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger both returned to help Nelson continue the story of Po and his comrades, and were thrilled at the prospect of diving into Po’s origins.
“Working on the first, it was fantastic, a giant collaboration,” enthuses Aibel. “I think the best thing we can say about the group of people working on the first movie is that they all wanted to be a part of the second movie.
“That’s pretty rare in Hollywood. I mean, the heads of nearly every department on this movie were in the same job on the first movie. People say once they started working for Po, they didn’t want to leave."
Po Faced
Jack Black voiced lovable panda Po in the first Kung Fu Panda , a film that saw the big bear evolve from klutz-y nobody to fierce fighter. And nobody was more pleased with Panda 1 than Black.
“When I finally saw the whole thing put together it was one of the proudest moments of my career,” he reveals.
“It takes many years to make one of these movies - a lot longer than a regular live-action film. There’s much more work that goes into it - story development, artwork, particularly the way the DreamWorks Animation filmmakers work on their films.”
Black got confirmation of Po’s importance to everybody else when he recently visited the Atlanta Zoo.
Po Ponders
“Now, Po is having flashbacks of his childhood, before he lived with his father, who’s a goose,” Black says.
“So he comes to realise that he’s actually adopted, and he doesn’t know where his birth parents are or what happened to the other pandas. Why did they give him up? So in addition to this being a hero’s journey to save the day, it’s also a journey of self-discovery.”
Kung Fu Panda 2 is careful not to trample on anybody’s toes, though, approaching the tricky topic of parenting in a typically candid, heartfelt way.
“Once Po suspects that he’s adopted, he confronts his father, who admits that he found him when he was a baby,” says Black. “But he raised him as his son, and he considers him his son.
Kick Him In The Shen
How do you top a villain like Tai Lung, the antagonistic snow leopard from Panda 1 ? Well, you don’t. You do the complete opposite. Where Panda 1 had super-powerful fighter Tai Lung, Panda 2 sees Po facing a foe with serious brainpower .
“We felt we couldn’t top Tai Lung if we tried to come up with an even stronger villain,” explains co-writer Aibel, “so we thought, ‘What if we tried to make this villain more threatening in an intellectual and an emotional way?’ So that’s how we came up with the character of the albino peacock, Lord Shen.”
As Nelson reveals, Po “learns his past is tied to Lord Shen. The peacock’s challenge is not random, it is the working of fate - something that figures prominently in martial arts films. And it is only when he learns the truth about who he is that Po is able to confront Shen and his army.”
Who to voice such a cunning, evil genius? Only one man fit the bill. “I love the challenge of conveying a character fully just using the voice,” says Gary Oldman. “And Shen is a particularly interesting character. I think he fits very nicely in the gallery of Oldman villains.”
Adds Nelson: “He’s sinister and scary in his own way.” Sounds like Po’s going to need back-up...
Furious Five
As any decent filmmaker will tell you, the good thing about a sequel is that all the groundwork has already been laid, meaning there’s more room to explore the established universe.
For the minds behind Kung Fu Panda 2, that exploration meant more screen time for the Furious Five. The most skilled fighters in China, they take their names from the five Chinese martial arts - Crane, Snake, Monkey, Praying Mantis and Tiger.
“In the first film, we were busy telling the story of Po’s training with Shifu,” says co-writer Berger, “so we didn’t get as much time as we wanted to with the Furious Five.
“But now, we have the great opportunity to have them along on this journey with Po and have them in more scenes, which meant more time to write for [ them ].
Familiar Faces
This being a DreamWorks animation, the voices of the Furious Five are all provided by some very big Hollywood names. Among them is Dustin Hoffman, who returns to voice Master Shifu.
For Hoffman, coming back for Panda 2 was no challenge whatsoever. “Providing the voice of Shifu again was like slipping into a comfortable robe, assuming a meditative pose and settling into a tranquil state of mind,” he says.
Tame The Tiger
Only one actress could possibly embody both the sultry demeanour of Tigress as well as her kick-ass, ball-busting action (for lack of a better word) kahunas. And that actress is Angelina Jolie, who returns to play the South China tiger.
“First and foremost, Tigress is a fighter, and she’s out to get the bad guy,” Jolie says of her character. “But what’s nice about this story is that she has a bit of a breakthrough and learns to be nicer.
“Her pride was wounded when she was not chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, and it took her a while to get over being angry at Po and the universe, in general.”
For co-writers Aibel and Berger, Panda 2 gave them the chance to find new avenues through which to explore Tigress.
“What if Tigress had this softer side to her?” asks Abiel. “To be able to give that to Angelina and see what she did with it was great to witness.
Can We Get A Training Montage?
Kung Fu Panda and its sequel may be animated movies that merely require an actor's voice (and an army of animators), but Jack Black reveals that didn’t keep him from signing up for a few kung fu lessons.
“Yes, I did some training in kung fu, for both films,” Black admits. “It wasn’t just for research purposes, it was also to kind of get in shape.
“What really drew me is that there’s a combination of exercise and self-defence, along with a third, sort of unseen, component: a spiritual one.
“When you’re really practicing kung fu, living it and feeling it, there’s a meditative quality that seeps in. It feels almost religious. It’s an art form, really. Oh, well, duh, it’s called martial arts.”
Action!
On top of tunnelling deeper into its characters, Panda 2 faced a particularly difficult challenge where the action was concerned.
“The effects that we can accomplish now are much more advanced than just a couple of years ago, particularly with the added layer of 3D,” she says. “So we were able to go pretty much where we wanted to with the action.” Yes, she did just say 3D...
3D
With 3D all the rage, Panda 2 was always going to be a part of that most eye-popping of mediums.
Editor Clare Knight welcomed the new challenges 3D posed, embracing the expanded canvas that the format offered Panda 2 .
“The thing about 3D, I find, is that it’s substantially more immersive,” Knight says. “For me, editing in 3D, I have to look at so much more within the screen. Moviegoers will get to see a whole lot more. So now, even more care is taken.
“I have to really look at how the eye is informed across the cut. Too much, too fast, the classic headache and eye fatigue. It really is a much bigger challenge, but that makes it all the more exciting to work on.
“And in this world, it’s beautiful, and it serves both the action and the incredible environments we’ve built. It’s the ultimate, and very exciting for the storytelling process.”
Adding to the richness of the movie, Nelson and her crew actually visited China in order to soak up the culture. There, she visited the ancient walled city of Pingyao as well as Beijing, and feels it benefited the film massively.
“Being in China was amazing,” she says, “because there’s a certain level of tactile knowledge of a place that you’ll never get from a book.
Kung Fu Fighting
Kung Fu Panda 2 smashes its way into cinemas this Friday (10 June 2011). It has already been playing in the US for just over a week, and has earned massively favourable reviews. Though it opened at number two at the box office, it has already nabbed $100m in ticket receipts.
So what is it about Kung Fu Panda that has so many people – and not just kids – demanding more?
“The movie was so fun and cool and hip, but it also had a sense of history and culture,” muses Jolie. “It was also this moral tale of how to behave, how to treat your friends, which makes it more like a classic animated film.
“But mostly, it has Jack Black, which I feel is the main reason people went to see it - it would be my reason! He’s so funny, and the dynamic between him and the Five, it’s almost a classic dysfunctional family.”
