Kung Fu Panda

[ShyViolet]

LA cover story with Jennifer Yuh Nelson!


http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film ... ation.html

[Randall]

Watched this last night with the family. I found it to be very solid, and a worthy sequel, though I didn't feel the magic like I did in the first (which blew me away). Maybe my expectations were higher the second time around. Nevertheless, I didn't think KFP2 had any major missteps, and did enjoy it. Great action, good emotional arc, great character design, and a terrific use of the wonders of China's geography. It was all really well done, though I don't know if I'd be cheering for it at Oscar time necessarily.

[Ben]

My copy came just before Christmas but only just opened it. It's on the cards for tonight and I have to say I'm looking forward to it!

[Macaluso]

Watched this last night with the family. I found it to be very solid, and a worthy sequel, though I didn't feel the magic like I did in the first (which blew me away). Maybe my expectations were higher the second time around. Nevertheless, I didn't think KFP2 had any major missteps, and did enjoy it. Great action, good emotional arc, great character design, and a terrific use of the wonders of China's geography. It was all really well done, though I don't know if I'd be cheering for it at Oscar time necessarily.

I actually liked it more than the first one. I thought the villain was way more compelling (I'm sure helped by Gary Oldman's fantastic voice work) and that raindrop scene with Po is just so unbelievably good. I don't think it'll win best animated film (I think that will go to Rango), but I wish it would win because while I did love Rango, I thought KFP2 was way better, and felt Dreamworks actually deserves it (this time).

[ShyViolet]

Kung Fu Panda 3 begins production in August:

http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kun ... gin-569896

I'm very happy about this. The first one is now my fave DW film. Liked the second one a lot (though not as much as the first) and the ending was just so powerful; can't wait to see what happens!

[ShyViolet]

Article briefly discusses KFP 3; script is already finished and incorporates many aspects of Chinese culture
Should be released in 2015 (one year ahead of schedule) and is a co-venture between DWA and OWA (Oriental DreaWorks)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china ... 536814.htm

[ShyViolet]

More news on Oriental DreamWorks:

http://variety.com/2013/film/news/orien ... 200601504/

[ShyViolet]

Very cool JK profile, description of plans for Asia:

http://entertainment.inquirer.net/12390 ... nal-market

[LotsoA113]

The first trailer for Kung Fu Panda 3 is here!

[ShyViolet]

I'm really impressed with the artistic style as well as the fact that JK Simmons voices the villain! Mega-cool! I think/hope this will be a turning point for the studio. It really looks like the film will at the very least get an Oscar nom, even if it doesn't perform ideally at the box office.

[Dacey]

January release might mean the Academy forgets about it come Oscar time, unfortunately.

[ShyViolet]

On the one hand I really like the new poster (great to see Po again) but on the other hand I am concerned about the potential "wackiness" conveyed by the different Pandas Po has to train. The thing is that this is a lot like the ogers in Shrek 4!

[Dacey]

Well, it is still a comedy, Vi (even with the dramatic elements), so it does make sense for them to try to get that across in the marketing.

[ShyViolet]

I just hope they don't repeat the same elements that they've used so often now (ragtag "losers" become heroes). We've seen it in the Shreks, Monsters vs. Aliens, SharkTale, even (much as I love it) Over the Hedge.

Yes, this is a comedy, but I really hope the drama outweighs the "hijinks" this time around!

[EricJ]

I just hope they don't repeat the same elements that they've used so often now (ragtag "losers" become heroes). We've seen it in the Shreks, Monsters vs. Aliens, SharkTale, even (much as I love it) Over the Hedge.

I think they literally don't know the difference anymore. It's about finding the concept to market, not the story, so it's not occurred to them at any point that the idea might be repetitive, or even not working.

(I sort of had the experience watching the full trailer to Pixar's Good Dinosaur, where our hero seems to be another bottom-rung bumbler, although Pixar is usually much more sensitive to them than DWA was to Megamind or Turbo, or even Po for that matter.
It struck me that Pixar rarely uses "lovable losers" as their heroes unless they're severely out of ideas, and when they do, there's some degree of integrity to them--Nobody understood "A Bug's Life"'s Flik, but he had good ideas, Wall-E cared about the junk he collected, "Ratatouille"'s Remy knew his way around a kitchen, even if he couldn't explain it to anyone else, and Linguini was probably the closest Pixar ever did come to a "lovable loser", and he wasn't even that bad.
In the very first story drafts of Monsters Inc., Mike didn't appear, and Sulley was just a low-level loser at the company who dreamed of someday being a #1 scarer just like his ace-company-man best "friend" Randall. Suffice to say, they did not go with that storyline, and the results were a little more original.)