Chinese Help on Kung Fu Panda 3

by+Li+Dongran

On January 29， 2016， Kung Fu Panda 3 premiered in both China and the United States. In only three days， it took in over 400 million yuan at the Chinese box office and was equally well received in North America. The first Kung Fu Panda arrived in 2008 and introduced Po， a charmingly na？ve， plump panda. He is skillful with chopsticks， loves steamed buns， and most importantly， is expert in Chinese kung fu， despite his optimistically American heart. The movie was a hit in China and the United States as well as much of the rest of the world. Far Eastern culture is no longer as inaccessible to Western filmmakers as Ang Lees Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. In the Panda movies， some of the strongest Eastern icons are fully interpreted by Hollywood.

The third film in the series took nearly four years to complete， during which time Director Jennifer Yuh， a Korean American， visited Chengdu， China， almost every year. Chengdu is home to a panda breeding center where visitors can closely observe tendencies and personality traits of real live giant pandas. Yuhs investigations were translated in the film to Pos emotions and personality and scenes like panda cubs becoming drowsy and quickly falling asleep upon being embraced.

“All of my investigations and research were injected into my movie，” grins Yuh.“We already did a bunch of research in preparation for the first movie， hoping to present Chinese culture and kung fu as authentically as possible. It was a progressive process. While making the second movie， we came to China not only to get close to pandas but also to soak up the atmosphere and bring the original look of Chengdus Kuanzhai Xiangzi （Wide and Narrow Lanes） and Mt. Qingcheng to the screen.”

Raman Hui， the Chinese American director of Monster Hunt， the top-grossing movie in China in 2015， serves as chief inspector and creative director of Oriental DreamWorks. “Kung Fu Panda 3 is a complete Chinese movie， compared to the previous two，” illustrates Hui. “Not only because it features an all-star voice-over cast including Jackie Chan and Jay Chou， but animators even synced the mouths for the Chinese version. Po speaks Mandarin from beginning to end， making it more easily accessible without reading subtitles.

“All dialogue was edited in Chinese rather than as English translations，” Hui explains. “We actually made two movies， an English and a Chinese version， which vary in rhythm and details.”

Kung Fu Panda 3 is Oriental DreamWorks first production as well as the first animation collaboration between China and the United States. Jeffrey Katzenberg， CEO of DreamWorks Animation， served as chairman of the Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994， becoming an iconic figure in American animation.

Katzenberg was one of the first Hollywood giants to turn his eyes to the East. Back in 2012， Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co.， Ltd. or Oriental DreamWorks for short， the biggest Sino-foreign cultural joint venture ever in the country， was founded. Its investors include DreamWorks Animation and three Chinese companies， namely China Media Capital， Shanghai Media Group， and Shanghai Alliance Investment. DreamWorks retains a 45-percent ownership stake in Oriental DreamWorks， and the Chinese partners hold 55 percent. The group is expected to develop animation technology， make animation movies and television， protect copyrights， produce derivative products， launch entertainment campaigns， provide digital games， and build theme parks.

Director Jennifer Yuh is acutely aware of how Oriental DreamWorks has completely changed the production mode of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. “Most of the preparation for the first two films were done through the internet and site investigations； the third was produced through joint efforts of Chinese and American teams.”

The animation team that created Kung Fu Panda 3 is composed of 300 from the United States and 200 from China. Oriental DreamWorks completed about a third of the total work.

Young animators have become a new strength in the Chinese animation industry， and their growth will help DreamWorks raise the bar for future competition.

“It makes no difference where an animator is from，” notes Raman Hui. “The only difference is the language they speak. Young people from China are more likely to follow instructions. However， they do contribute more creative ideas upon realizing that their creativity and judgment are truly needed.”

Oriental DreamWorks gave Kung Fu Panda 3 the identity of a Sino-American joint production and the creative power of Chinese locals， qualifying it to be treated like a domestic Chinese movie – DreamWorks and its Chinese partner receive 43 percent of its domestic Chinese box office revenue.

Jeffrey Katzenberg describes his partnership with China as art， revealing ambition to see Oriental DreamWorks seize its bright prospects in China.