Po the Panda received the hearts of your complete world when he made his debut in 2008’s Kung Fu Panda, and his adventures proceed on Netflix within the new sequence Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. The sequence debuted on the streamer in the summertime of 2022, with season 2 having simply been launched. Under showrunner Peter Hastings, Jack Black returns to voice the ever-upbeat Dragon Warrior Po, with many new characters becoming a member of the Kung Fu Panda mythos.
In Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight season 2, Po continues his journey outdoors of China and encounters new challenges alongside the way in which. With thrilling allies like Wandering Blade (Rita Ora) and extra, Po brings all of the comedic kung fu motion the world is aware of and loves him for to save lots of the day once more in Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.
Screen Rant spoke to Peter Hastings about Kung Fu Panda: Dragon Knight season 2, the place the story takes Po and his allies, and the place the sequence may go sooner or later.
Screen Rant: With season 2 of Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight now on Netflix, may you share a bit concerning the present’s manufacturing timeline? Were the seasons produced back-to-back, or had been they simply very shut collectively?
Peter Hastings: Yeah, we did not actually take a break a lot, in order quickly as we discovered we had been doing a season 2, we had been on it, and we simply attempt to roll on with the manufacturing and maintain going. In phrases of the writing, there’s all kinds of questions that we have arrange for the second season, so we need to get on that as we transfer ahead. So, it has been occurring for some time, and naturally, it takes fairly some time to provide a half hour of animation.
There are quite a few unresolved questions and story components going into season 2. Which had been a few of your favorites to sort out?
Peter Hastings: Well, clearly, a extremely huge one is Po leaving China and going out into the world and into India. The time interval is just a little imprecise about when every thing is occurring, so a whole lot of the actually enjoyable issues are the design work that we get to do, then we get just a little extra fish out of water stuff from Po when he goes to a brand new nation with totally different traditions and stuff like that. In the story and design, we now have consultants after we go one other nation, together with China, so we received actually specific about structure and meals and wedding ceremony ceremonies and issues like that, each to be genuine and respectful, and in addition only for the enjoyable of it.
We additionally labored with an animation studio in India, and so they received very excited once they discovered we had been going to India. And then, we have form of posed a whole lot of questions as Po and Wandering Blade are in pursuit of the villains and these weapons, and we do not actually know the entire story about them, and we get to disclose an increasing number of about them. So, it is enjoyable to see when new surprises come up, it is the form of factor when anyone says ‘Oh, I really like that episode!’, and I’m considering, ‘Oh, wait until you get to this one later down, as a result of there’s this nice shock taking place in there!’
In the Kung Fu Panda motion pictures, we noticed Po’s journey because the Dragon Warrior combating alongside the Furious Five. How would you say is Po’s start line in The Dragon Knight is totally different from the place he started within the motion pictures?
Peter Hastings: Well, clearly, a extremely huge one is Po leaving China and going out into the world and into India. The time interval is just a little imprecise about when every thing is occurring, so a whole lot of the actually enjoyable issues are the design work that we get to do, then we get just a little extra fish out of water stuff from Po when he goes to a brand new nation with totally different traditions and stuff like that. In the story and design, we now have consultants after we go one other nation, together with China, so we received actually specific about structure and meals and wedding ceremony ceremonies and issues like that, each to be genuine and respectful, and in addition only for the enjoyable of it.
We additionally labored with an animation studio in India, and so they received very excited once they discovered we had been going to India. And then, we have form of posed a whole lot of questions as Po and Wandering Blade are in pursuit of the villains and these weapons, and we do not actually know the entire story about them, and we get to disclose an increasing number of about them. So, it is enjoyable to see when new surprises come up, it is the form of factor when anyone says ‘Oh, I really like that episode!’, and I’m considering, ‘Oh, wait until you get to this one later down, as a result of there’s this nice shock taking place in there!’
Speaking of Jack Black, he is nearly like a real-life Po. Anytime you see him in something, he is very animated and full of life and brings a lot vitality to every thing. What is his course of like by way of bringing Po to life within the voice sales space, and what’s that prefer to see unfold?
As showrunner, who’ve been a few of your favourite new characters who’ve been launched on the present?
You talked about the present partially happening in India. In the historical past of martial arts, the lineage of kung fu is traced again to India from Bodhidharma visiting the Shaolin Temple. Is that historical past one thing you are actually making an attempt to faucet into on The Dragon Knight or perhaps put a little bit of a Kung Fu Panda spin on?