'Kung Fu Panda 4' Director Mike Mitchell and Head of Character Animation Sean Sexton Discuss The New Sequel
Dreamworks has added another impressive sequel to their beloved franchise with kung fu panda 4, a sequel that continues to entertain and evolve the dragon warrior.
With Kung Fu Panda 4 hitting home video on May 28th, FilmSpeak had the amazing opportunity to talk to director Mike Mitchell and Head of Character Animation Sean Sexton about the long-awaited new instalment in the revered animated franchise. Mitchell is no stranger to helming an animated feature, having previously directed hits like Shrek Forever After, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, and Trolls to name a few, while Sexton has worked on Kung Fu Panda 3, Monsters vs. Aliens, and How To Train Your Dragon among many other gems in the genre.
FilmSpeak covered a considerable amount of ground in their discussion with the dynamic duo, including their unique approach to the fight sequences in the sequel, which included the use of live-action stunt performers such as Don Tai Fiorada. Speaking on the subject, Sexton explained, “Yes, so his name was Don Tai Fiorada, and he's worked with a lot of live action films. He worked on The Gray Man, he's worked with like Jean Claude. He goes on to explain, “It was so cool getting to work with him, cause we would send him like our animatic of like a fight scene. He and his team were in, I think they were in Atlanta, and they would shoot all this amazing footage. We would launch them on kind of what we were looking for. And then the footage that came back was like insane. It was slow motion, with like real martial artists.”
The conversation also covered the sequel’s new villain named The Chameleon, voiced by Viola Davis, and the design and look of the character. When asked if the visual look and aesthetic of the character was determined beforehand or after Davis delivered her terrific voice work, Mitchell said, “she added, a certain like, I know this is a nerdy word, but a gravitas we didn't even anticipate. We thought there would be some humor to this character being small.” Their creative choice paid off, the juxtaposition between Davis’ steely, intimidating voice and her small appearance creating one of the franchise’s most memorable foes.
Po’s evolution as a character was also a fun topic of conversation, his movements and animation making him appear to walk, act, and fight more confidently than ever before. When asked if this was intentional, Sexton had some great insights on the subject. He stated, “Well, thank you for saying that. Yeah, that was definitely something that we we wanted to infuse with the character. We're like, okay, it's the fourth film, how has Po changed? And we went back and we watched the first 3, and we were like, well, if he's like a perfect ninja warrior right, if he's like impeccable, and he doesn't make any mistakes, it still doesn't feel like Po. So we wanted to make him definitely a lot better, but we still wanted to keep that charm of he's still a little bumbling here and there…”.
Mitchell’s strong, assured direction coupled with Sexton and his team’s inspired animation work proved to be a match made in heaven in Kung Fu Panda 4, a sequel that not only continues to showcase a wonderful blend of humor, heart, and stylistic action, but explores Po even further as a character as he must pass on the title of The Dragon Warrior to a new successor and discover who he is outside of that title, to uncover what truly makes him special.
kung fu panda 4 is currently available on vod and will hit 4k, blu-ray and dvd on may 28th.
The full interview is available to watch below.
