Arriving in UK cinemas today isKung Fu Panda 2, the impressive sequel to the 2008 original.
Its a rare beast, improving as it does on the original.
Is that the tight scripting of animation?
Because you cant properly test it?
Well, we do have a script, and we do rough passes of the movie.
We have a rough animatic, and we board everything.
And because its such a labour intensive process, we have to plan everything ridiculously.
Theyre tested on us.
Yeah, we do preview screenings.
On this one we did one when it was 50% animated, 50% boards.
Those screenings are a very, very big help for fine-tuning jokes.
Presumably, you find that even a half second edit can make the world of difference?
And there have been many times when that happened.
What happened to the subtitle, The Kaboom of Doom?
I thought that was a lovely title.
It could have been the Electric Boogaloo for a new generation!
[Laughs] I loved that title!
Because there were some straight-to-DVD releases, I guess.
And they didnt want people asking if it was one of those.
If you could feed that back for us.
[Laughs]
Professionally, youve taken a very unusual route to get here.
Yeah, that was very early!
It was a huge education, because those were my first jobs.
I was a clean-up assistant.
Its not like you get cubby holed into some department, and thats all you ever do.
You get to see exactly what it takes to make a production.
That was such a great education, that I could carry that into other things that I did.
Im very grateful that I started in the studios, where I could see every step like that.
The first jobs I had were all like that.
The principles, though, are, presumably, not far removed?
There arent massively removed.
It went right into my personal taste, because I love those pushed visual fantastical movies.
I find them an escape.
To be an illustrator on that was really fun.
I could come up with sets that were just really bizarre.
And all these crazy ideas for blocks that were twisting all over the place.
It was really fun.
In terms of how your career progressed, youve seen DreamWorks go through a lot.
Yes, Ive been there for fourteen years.
And its fourteen years of a very young studio.
Youve seen its key transitional period.
It was a lovely film.
They were still trying to figure out who they were.
And what was really exciting about it was that it was all new.
Nobody knew what the rules were.
All these movies were coming out, and they were all disparate with each other.
SpiritfollowedThe Road To El Dorado, didnt it?
There wereSpirit,The Prince Of Egypt,El Dorado,Sinbad.
They couldnt be more different from each other.
And that was really cool was you get to see the process.
You get to see what it takes to make all these different movies.
I got to see the company go throughShrek, and get into that tone.
And that really broke ground on what a broken fairy tale is.
Then trying to reinvent itself after that.
And that was when you were at your then most senior position on a movie.
And then it came out againstLegally BlondeandTerminatorsequels.
Was that the low point?
But one thing that was great about that company is that it reinvents itself.
If something doesnt work, it tries something else.
They keep going, and it shows in the movies that they make.
Every single one is different, even now.
Even after all these movies, they dont stick to the same thing.
They are able to makePanda, andDragon, andShrek.
Theyre very different from each other, and there isnt a house style.
As a filmmaker, you are allowed to do whatever you want to do.
Is that really still the case?
Totally.Panda 2is extremely divergent of stylistic choice thanDragonorShrek.
You couldnt design more different looking movies, and we were completely allowed to do that.
The thing withPandais that its an ambitious sequel, Id say.
There were far more obvious avenues to go down.
The one you went down actually could have been something the first film was about.
Yet, it worked.
You storyboarded this one pretty soon after the first.
Yep, we just picked right up.
So, was there only one way, in your mind, that this film could go?
There was only one way.
When I got onto this movie, there were several ideas being banded about.
And they had this great idea for technology coming.
But the big question everyone had was why is Pos dad a goose.
And the one thing that Po needed was to find out who it is.
Its teased at in the first film.
When I first heard whatPanda 2was to be about, my heart sank a little.
Because I loved the fact that the goose was never explained.
That was the risk?
We dont want to screw up the world, because its such a beloved world amongst us.
But that was what the character needed.
And if youre going to do it, you better do it right.
You cant just do it in an obvious way.
Its got to be worth it.
This is a film, probably more than any other, thats at the two extremes of animation trends.
Because youve got the hand-drawn material, which I loved.
And the 3D, at the other end.
But how do you balance them all?
It must be even more delicate than usual.
Its very delicate a process.
Thats the language of his brain, so we had to carry that through.
It had to happen, and we love the 2D look of it.
But the balance of how much to put in was something we were playing with while making it.
That rough story reel I was telling you about, we would put many different flashbacks in there.
[laughs]
Its almost as if, because the process is so prolonged, youve lost your film.
Thats how its perceived.
How do you win it back?
Some films never get it back.
But it is tough, because at the beginning you have the energy and the euphoria and everybodys fresh.
Then at the end youre seeing results of the hard work.
But in the middle, you dont get results.
None of the footage is in yet, everyone is complaining and tired, their weekends have been shot.
And thats when you really start to second guess what was good in the first place.
The thing with this one was it was such a simple idea.
When everyone was pitched the idea, there was a visceral reaction.
We tried very hard to hold on to that feeling.
At one point, everybody got to a point where they were tired.
But in our particular case, we had Guillermo del Toro come in.
And he came in and said, Youre second guessing yourself!
He gave us that boost of confidence to stop doubting the vision of the movie.
Trust the idea, trust the movie youre making.
His enthusiasm, energy and geek joy made everybody go, Okay, were making a good movie.
He gave that big boost of confidence.
Its your job to turn three hundred peoples heads round.
Exactly, and thats a great deal of trust.
Because these people are all my friends.
But then Guillermo del Toro bolstered me and my mind.
And told me to trust I had a good movie, and fight for it.
Everything will be fine.
When did you actually start animating the film?
We started about a year after the first film.
Thats about the time you oughta put together a story reel, and the animation usually starts there.
It depends on the schedule, because usually the animation starts slow.
A huge amount happens in the last year.
Ive got to ask you a question that my 7-year-old was curious about.
It really comes down to the animators.
We have fabulous animators, and this was the difference between animating a film, and mo-capping a film.
Because with mo-cap, you have a human being.
In this film, we have animals.
And the animals can do things no human being could ever do with their bodies.
It takes imagination to figure that out.
Finally, you got Jean-Claude Van Damme into the movie.
Was that down to you?
Yeah [laughs].
Jean-Claude Van Damme, I was like, Ive got to have him in the movie somehow!
I got to meet him and take my photograph with him!
[laughs]
Do you have a wish list of action stars?
Yeah, its my bucket list!
Hes an amazing guy.
It was great to meet him after going to his movies since I was a kid!
Whats the best Van Damme movie?
But I likeCyborg, too!
Jennifer Yuh, thank you very much!
Kung Fu Panda 2 is out in UK cinemas today.
