While not part of the official selections at Cannes, someone at Paramount studios must figured that if you have to have the stars of “Kung Fu Panda 2″ meet the press, well, why not do it in the South of France? Especially since the first “Panda” played there out-of-competition back in 2008 — and also probably in no small part because Angelina Jolie probably had family plans to travel with “Tree of Life” star Brad Pitt …
Sitting with Jack Black and Jolie, the voices of Po the Panda and Tigress, I asked exactly to what degree either of them acted out while in the recording booth; does the kung-fu spirit move them to move? Jolie thought so: “It can get pretty physical.” Black, renowned for his distinctive physicality on-screen, was even more sure: “I do like to mimic any of the moves that Panda’s going to do. I like to do it, too, so I get the vocalizations just right.”
As a sequel, “Kung Fu Panda 2″ is also in 3D — so, I asked Jolie, how did everyone involved make sure that the film wasn’t just bigger but also better? “Why it stands out is because so many animated films are great, but (‘Panda 2′) does stand on its own in that it’s an ancient story, it’s a classic, and it feels like a classic with kung fu and animals and fun.” Jolie explained that many of the merits of “Kung Fu Panda 2″ were revealed to her in the making of it.”It has a beautiful message in it. We knew that — (but) I didn’t know exactly which ones, and then we discovered that they were about family and inner peace and coming to terms with who you are and friendship and loyalty. It was what we’d hoped for, and better than I imagined.”
With Black, his excitement about the sequel was a little more down to earth — and all about Gary Oldman’s bad guy, an albino peacock named Lord Shen. “I love that it had a great new villain with a very evil and intriguing plan. At the same time, Po had this inner journey that he was going to take to find out who he really is — and to find inner peace is the only way to truly kick ass. It seemed like a really good, fun movie.”
As Po, Black has a mix of enthusiasm and observational irony; how hard is it, I wondered, for him to get into that headspace? “It’s pretty easy. It’s basically me in my teen years — that’s how I think of it. The first movie, Po was me when I was 10 years old, and this one’s me when I was 13, 14. The next one will probably be …” ‘Kung Fu College,’ I asked? ” Black shrugged: “Who knows? I didn’t know where that was going. It might be a prequel. We might go back — before I was born. Haley Joel Osment will take over.”
With animation, having a great actor as the new villain is all well and good — until you realize that you may never be in the same room with him. So did Jolie and Black feel mixed emotions about having Oldman join the cast but not necessarily them? Jolie nodded: “Absolutely. We think, ‘I’m finally doing a movie with Gary Oldman — but he’s a peacock and I’m a tiger and we’re not on the same team.’ The other side of it is … who cares? I just get to do a movie with Gary Oldman. ” Black also felt that having someone with bad guy experience was imperative: “Yeah, he’s always been one of my favorites. He’s done so many great ones over the years. That was the big question: ‘Who’s going to be the peacock? Who’s going to be the villain?’ When I heard Gary Oldman’s name, my heart’s like, ‘Come on … please come true.’”
–From my article at The Rundown
