Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a 2016 3D American-Chinese^[5] computer-animatedaction comedy martial arts film, produced by DreamWorks Animation andOriental DreamWorks,^[6] and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni. The film was written byJonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, produced by Melissa Cobb, and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro. It is a sequel to the 2011 film Kung Fu Panda 2 and the third installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. The film features the voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, J. K. Simmons,Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Bryan Cranston, Kate Hudson, and James Hong. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Randall Duk Kimreprise their roles as Master Croc and Oogway from the previous two films.

The film received a limited release in China on January 23 for a special three-hour sneak preview and was released day and date starting from January 28 in South Korea and Russia and on January 29 in the United States andCanada in 3D with other markets scheduled to be released in March and April.

The film, like its predecessors, received generally positive reviews from critics and the public. It had a bigger opening weekend in China than in the U.S. andCanada and in the latter market recorded the lowest opening among the franchise. As of March 15, 2016, it has grossed over $359 million worldwide.

Cast

Main article: List of Kung Fu Panda characters

• Jack Black as Po^[7]
• Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress^[7]
• Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu^[8]
• J.K. Simmons as Kai, a yak, the main antagonist and a powerful and vicious spirit warrior who was the former brother-in-arms of Oogway and has a supernatural ability to steal other warriors' chi.^[9]
• Lucy Liu as Master Viper^[8]
• Jackie Chan as Master Monkey^[8]
• Seth Rogen as Master Mantis^[8]
• David Cross as Master Crane^[8]
• Bryan Cranston as Li Shan, Po's biological father and the uncle of Dim and Sum^[7][10][11]
• Kate Hudson as Mei Mei^[7][10][12]
• James Hong as Mr. Ping^[13]
• Randall Duk Kim as Grand Master Oogway^[8]
• Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Croc
• Fred Tatasciore as Master Bear
• Stephen Kearin as Master Chicken
• Steele Gagnon as Bao^[14]
• Barbara Dirikson as Grandma Sarah, an elderly giant panda.
• Al Roker as Dim, the twin brother of Sum who is the nephew of Li Shan and the cousin of Po.
• Willie Geist as Sum, the twin brother of Dim who is the nephew of Li Shan and the cousin of Po.
• Radzi Chinyanganya as Mi
• Pax Jolie-Pitt as Yoo
• Knox Jolie-Pitt as Ku Ku
• Zahara Jolie-Pitt as Meng Meng
• Shiloh Jolie-Pitt as Shuai Shuai
• Liam Knight as Lei Lei
• Lindsey Russell as Peony

Production

Development

In 2010, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that the Kung Fu Panda franchise was planned to have six movies, or "chapters", altogether.^[15] In July 2012, Kung Fu Panda 3 was officially confirmed by Bill Damaschke, DWA's chief creative officer.^[16]

The film was made as a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks, a Shanghai-based studio, founded in 2012 as a partnership between DreamWorks Animation and Chinese companies. One third of the film was made in China, and the rest in the United States, at DWA.^[17][18] This was the first time that any major American animated feature film had been co-produced with a Chinese firm.^[6] The filmmakers worked closely with SAPPRFT to ensure the film's release in China.^[19] The film's co-production status in China allowed the production companies to circumvent the country's strict import quota and take a greater share of box-office revenue than imported films.^[18][20] To ensure the film's success in China, in addition to the English version, the Chinese version of the film was also fully animated, making them the only versions that will have the characters' lips synchronized with their voices.^[21]

Casting

Kung Fu Panda 3 saw the crew from the second film reunite, including director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, producer Melissa Cobb, screenplay writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and Guillermo del Toro as executive producer.^[22] Initially, Nelson was directing the film alone, but by February 2015, Alessandro Carloni had joined her as a co-director. According to the report, Carloni, who was an animation supervisor on the first film and a story artist on the second, joined Nelson following her request to strengthen "the director's bench" to ensure that the film is completed in a timely manner.^[23] Dennis Haysbert and Michelle Yeoh were supposed to return to voice as Master Ox and Soothsayer in the third film, but ultimately did not.

On April 9, 2013, DreamWorks Animation announced that Rebel Wilson, Bryan Cranston, and Mads Mikkelsen had joined the cast of the film.^[7] By April 2015, J.K. Simmons had replaced Mikkelsen, whose character had been rewritten.^[24] Five months later, Wilson was replaced by Kate Hudson due to an extended production schedule.^[12] The studio had to reanimate previously completed scenes to reflect Hudson's interpretation of the character.^[12]

The film's antagonist, Kai, is the first supernatural villain of the Kung Fu Panda series.^[25] Described by del Toro as "the most formidable villain yet,"^[26] the creators wanted him to stand apart from his predecessors.^[25] Nelson reasoned: "You can't go brawler because Tai Lung was brawler. You can't go smarter because Shen was smarter. Where can you go? You have to go supernatural, bigger, and even more intimidating."^[25]

Music

On July 25, 2014, it was announced that Hans Zimmer would return to score the film.^[1] The score includes performances from renowned Asian musicians such as Chinese pianist Lang Lang, Chinese cellist Jian Wang, Erhu virtuoso Karen Hua-Qi Ottosson returned for her 3rd time on Kung Fu Panda 3. This time not only on Erhu but also Zhong Hu and Gao Hu, erhumusician Guo Gan, and Taiwanese pop singer Jay Chou and Canadian-Taiwanese young singer Patrick Brasca. The soundtrack album was released on January 22, 2016.^[27] John Powell, who collaborated with Zimmer on the first two films, did not return for the third installment because of his work on Pan and Ice Age: Collision Course. A portion of the score includes a melody from the song "I'm So Sorry" by the rock band Imagine Dragons. The Vamps recorded the song "Kung Fu Fighting" for the soundtrack.

Release

In September 2012, it was announced that Kung Fu Panda 3 would be released on March 18, 2016.^[22] On April 9, 2013, the film's release date was moved back to December 23, 2015.^[7] In December 2014, the film was moved forward to its original release date of March 18, 2016, to avoid competition with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.^[28] In April 2015, the release date was once again shifted, this time to January 29, 2016.^[29] AMC Theatres partnered with Fox and DWA to play the movie in Mandarin at seven theaters and in Spanish at 14 locations in the U.S and Canada meaning there will be a mix of subtitled and dubbed formats of Kung Fu Panda 3. This will mark the first time that AMC is playing a major theatrical release in dubbed/subtitled Mandarin.^[30] The film had a day-and-date release starting from January 28 in China,Russia, Ukraine, Jamaica and Puerto Rico and South Korea and the U.S. and Canada on January 29, 2016. Other markets will follow on March and April.^[31][32] According to Deadline.com, the strategy behind such a staggered release was to take advantage of certain opportunistic dates which presented themselves such as the Chinese New Year in February for China.^[31]