Despite already being tremendously successful, the Kung Fu Panda franchise doesn’t seem to want to stop anytime soon. Set to be released in March this year, Kung Fu Panda 4 is all set to be the next addition to the star-studded trilogy, and each new update about the film garners a little more fan attention than before. Just like the most recent one, which has gotten all anime fans listening.
Unlike its previous three installments, the upcoming fourth installment of the saga would notably be considerably different and more tilted towards the ‘unique’ side. This is because it is more influenced by anime than any of the previous movies, all because anime is currently raging as the latest trend in the industry, leading to its new big resurgence.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is More Influenced by Anime, says Director
While each new story shown in the Kung Fu Panda universe was as distinctive and interesting as ever, the most recent addition to the saga is all set to seemingly encompass all those distinctions.
As Mike Mitchell, the director of the upcoming fourth installment, shared during an interview with Collider, Kung Fu Panda 4 will notably have even “more anime” because this one is more influenced by it than all the others before it.
Why, one may ask? Because of the “new big resurgence trend of anime“ in the industry. According to what Mitchell believes:
“[Anime has] always been around, but there’s a new big resurgence trend of anime, and so this film has more anime. I don’t remember any of the past three movies really embracing anime as much as this one has.”
Well, it is only true: The demand for anime has increased significantly more in recent years, calling truly for its “new big resurgence trend”, and the increased production and release of multiple animes only proves this further.
However, as many would have the question, more anime content doesn’t mean cutting down on the furry stuff, no. Even though Mike Mitchell has made sure to incorporate as much anime into this particular film as possible, it does not tone down on its original soft and furry themes.
As Mitchell clarified it during the interview with Collider:
“It looks like a Kung Fu Panda movie, we didn’t want to change that. We wanted to keep it furry and animals, and we’re in a fantasy Chinese world, but with the technology, we incorporated all that stuff into this film.”
Thus, even though there are “a bunch of young new filmmakers working on this film” and it has enough anime-incorporated content to truly capture the attention of anime lovers, Kung Fu Panda 4 would still continue to please its fans as much as before, if not more.
Because of More Anime Influence, Kung Fu Panda 4 Sports Better Fight Scenes
Previously, Mike Mitchell had also talked about all the fighting in Kung Fu Panda 4 and how they are more developed and evolved than before. Reason? Because the film is more influenced by anime, and because they also made sure to keep up with the technology.
Talking with Collider, the filmmaker said:
“Well, here’s the thing, they’ve evolved quite a bit. Like I said, all the technology has come to pass where we could do so much more than we ever could. Just the camerawork alone, like just thinking of the GoPro camera and mounting the camera on stuff and getting the camera into art. In live-action that’s been happening. They’ve never quite incorporated that into a Kung Fu Panda animated film.”
Continuing, he also talked about how “even fighting styles have evolved” over the years in Kung Fu fighting since the last film, Kung Fu Panda 3, which was released back in 2016 — almost a decade ago. Thus, they got a move on too and added all the latest fighting styles into this film as well.
Because of all of these reasons, Kung Fu Panda 4 would be much more unique and exceptional than all its predecessors — but only in a good way!
Kung Fu Panda 4 is set to hit the theatres on the 8th of March, 2024.
