A while back DreamWorks released a first teaser trailer for its upcoming and highly anticipated Kung Fu Panda 3. The teaser was kind of underwhelming after the epic Chinese trailer that leaked a week earlier and most fans of the series were left wanting to see more. Today, Entertainment Weekly published an article about the film’s look that features five beautiful new concept art pieces of the panda village where Po will meet the remaining few of his kind.
The design of the panda village was heavily inspired by a 10-day trip to Sichuan, a region in the west of China, where some of the filmmakers got to study real life panda’s and Mount Qingcheng. It was, according to the film’s production designer Raymond Zibach, at the time covered in mist with beautiful, rustic architecture. Zibach also adds that the village was inspired by the idea of a Shangri-La where the pandas are hidden from the rest of the world.
There is a reason why the village has a earthy and very natural feel to it Zibach explains.“We try to experience this through Po’s eyes, so we want to make it really special for him,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “The fact that he comes back to other pandas and is going to learn their way of life was kind of magical to him because he thought none of this ever existed.”
In this film we’ll be able to see Po interact with other panda’s for the first time ever. “It’s a really great opportunity because you get to see what makes Po, Po, what makes him different, what makes him the same, and [we get to] really explore this entire world of pandas,” revealed co-director Jennifer Yuh Nelson to EW.
Co-director Alessandro Carloni continues, “From a cinematic point of view, it was interesting because we used to cut from a panda to a duck to a tigress to a snake, and now we’re cutting from panda to panda.” Because the designs of all the panda’s in the village had to be very distinctive and unique, Zibach and his team designed nearly 30 different variants of pandas between the kids and adults in the movie.
When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible-learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas.
Kung Fu Panda 3 opens in theaters January 29, 2016.
Which new piece of Kung Fu Panda 3 concept art is your favorite?
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes