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Kung Fu Panda takes to TV
By Wang Jie |
August 14, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RANDY Dormans, the supervising producer of "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness," a television series produced by Nickelodeon in collaboration with DreamWorks, was recently in town for the China International Comics and Games Expo.
Dorman's love of drawings and animation brought him to California Institute of the Arts in the mid-1990s to study animation. Since then, he has worked for a number of studios including Warner Bros, Dreamworks, Film Roman and Nickelodeon. He started his career as a traditional artist but switched to 3D as an animator on "Shrek 2."
Q: When the Kung Fu Panda movies are already a great hit around the world, what's the point in making an animation television series featuring the same character?
A: Po is such an interesting character that audiences have a desire to see more. A television series allows us to expand the KFP world, tell more stories and introduce new characters. Having a series also allows us to expand the characters of the Furious Five.
Q: Is this a project in collaboration with DreamWorks? How many episodes will there be?
A: It is collaboration; we get a lot of support from DreamWorks, particularly in the beginning with the design and look of the show. They had developed a very specific design language for the films and took time to explain it to us knowing that we would be expanding the KFP world to include new locations and characters. We currently have an order for 52 episodes.
Q: What about its scenario? Will the story line run parallel with the movies?
A: The story line is very much in tune with the films. Our series starts sometime after the first film when Po has become the Dragon Warrior and is moving into the Jade Palace to train with the Furious Five. We are striving to make each of the episodes in our series a mini movie.
Q: Do you feel great pressure in producing an animation television version after the huge success of the movie releases?
A: Yes, particularly since we are trying to get as close to the features as possible both in look and in storytelling. The biggest challenge of course is time; we currently have up to 30 episodes in production at any given moment which equates to 11 hours of material.
Q: What's your favorite animation movie?
A: Some of the early Disney movies are my favorites. At the top of the list for me is "The Jungle Book." It's a simple story with really appealing characters and amazing animation. Some more recent films that are among my favorites are the first "Kung Fu Panda" and Pixar's "The Incredibles."
Q: As a father of three kids, do you listen to their suggestions?
A: I do often bring work home to show to them. While they don't necessarily offer suggestions, they do let me know if something is interesting to them or not.
Dorman's love of drawings and animation brought him to California Institute of the Arts in the mid-1990s to study animation. Since then, he has worked for a number of studios including Warner Bros, Dreamworks, Film Roman and Nickelodeon. He started his career as a traditional artist but switched to 3D as an animator on "Shrek 2."
Q: When the Kung Fu Panda movies are already a great hit around the world, what's the point in making an animation television series featuring the same character?
A: Po is such an interesting character that audiences have a desire to see more. A television series allows us to expand the KFP world, tell more stories and introduce new characters. Having a series also allows us to expand the characters of the Furious Five.
Q: Is this a project in collaboration with DreamWorks? How many episodes will there be?
A: It is collaboration; we get a lot of support from DreamWorks, particularly in the beginning with the design and look of the show. They had developed a very specific design language for the films and took time to explain it to us knowing that we would be expanding the KFP world to include new locations and characters. We currently have an order for 52 episodes.
Q: What about its scenario? Will the story line run parallel with the movies?
A: The story line is very much in tune with the films. Our series starts sometime after the first film when Po has become the Dragon Warrior and is moving into the Jade Palace to train with the Furious Five. We are striving to make each of the episodes in our series a mini movie.
Q: Do you feel great pressure in producing an animation television version after the huge success of the movie releases?
A: Yes, particularly since we are trying to get as close to the features as possible both in look and in storytelling. The biggest challenge of course is time; we currently have up to 30 episodes in production at any given moment which equates to 11 hours of material.
Q: What's your favorite animation movie?
A: Some of the early Disney movies are my favorites. At the top of the list for me is "The Jungle Book." It's a simple story with really appealing characters and amazing animation. Some more recent films that are among my favorites are the first "Kung Fu Panda" and Pixar's "The Incredibles."
Q: As a father of three kids, do you listen to their suggestions?
A: I do often bring work home to show to them. While they don't necessarily offer suggestions, they do let me know if something is interesting to them or not.
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