Now that Bee Movie is in cinemas, DreamWorks Animation can turn their attention to their next flick, Kung Fu Panda, which stars the voices of Jack Black, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie. After a publicity misfire, which saw another trailer getting leaked online, DreamWorks Animation has officially unleashed the first teaser for this film online, and is also showing it in front of Bee Movie in theatres.
Kung Fu Panda Trailer Visually Stunning
As is usual for DreamWorks Animation, the Kung Fu Panda trailer looks incredible. It features Master Crane (voiced by David Cross), Master Tigress (Jolie), Master Viper (Lucy Liu), Master Monkey (Jackie Chan), and Master Mantis (Seth Rogen) all strutting their martial arts stuff. You can tell DreamWorks' animators sat down with several martial artists to see how they went through their moves and then adapted them for the characters. Very nicely done.
Not surprisingly, DreamWorks couldn't resist dropping Carl Douglas' disco-era hit "Kung Fu Fighting" into the soundtrack.
Of course all this visual extravaganza in the trailer is nothing more than an elaborate set up to showcase Po (Black) the Panda's finest ability: stuffing his face. The rest of the trailer establishes the central conceit: the aforementioned martial arts masters must turn Po into a martial arts phenom so he can take down the villainous Tai Lung (McShane). And it will be no easy task.
If Kung Fu Panda lives up to the goodwill generated by this trailer, this flick could be a good animated time at the movies.
Click Your Favourite Links
You can check out the Kung Fu Panda teaser trailer in QuickTime 6 by clicking here, here, here, or here. Real Media 8 fans can get into the flick by clicking these links, while Windows Media 9 junkies can get their fix on Route 66 over here. You can also find the Kung Fu Panda trailer in HD MPEG-4 AVC format by clicking around these links. Or you can download a ZIP file of the trailer, and grab it for your iPod or PSP.
Kung Fu Panda opens June 6, 2008.
Fun Fact: "Kung Fu Fighting" was originally written by Carl Douglas after he (a) saw a kung fu movie, (b) caught a concert by Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson and (c) injured his foot playing football (Douglas was on painkillers at the time). It caught the end of the kung fu movie craze, and swiftly hit the top of the charts in 1974. It would prove to be Douglas' only Top Twenty hit.
"Kung Fu Fighting" gets play in just about every flick that has anything to do with Oriental martial arts, hitting the soundtracks to such films as Beverly Hills Ninja, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Shaolin Soccer (the English dub), Epic Movie and Rush Hour 3. It also was featured in a memorable advertisement for Mott's Clamato juice.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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