It's been four years since the last "Kung Fu Panda" film but DreamWorks Animation is moving forward with a third film in the franchise, and it's all about bringing Po back to the Panda community long thought to be dead, a community that is also home to his mother and father.
According to an interview with USA Today, actor Jack Black, who voices the titular panda Po, stated that "Kung Fu Panda 3" will follow Po as he heads to the secret village where the pandas, including his parents, have been hiding and living all these years.
The village was briefly shown at the ending of "Kung Fu Panda 2." In the second film, it was believed that the villain Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) had killed every single panda, leaving Po as the sole survivor because he was saved by his mother before she, too, was caught and killed.
The village is littered with thriving panda families and this includes young, baby pandas. In order to accurately capture the behaviour of young pandas as well as how they mate and live together, director Jennifer Yuh Nelson visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan, China.
In this remote village, Po finally gets to meet his real father, Li, who is now confirmed to be voiced by Bryan Cranston. Rebel Wilson will also be in the film, voicing a ribbon dancing panda named Mei Mei who gets entangled with an arranged marriage with Po. Mads Mikkelsen was also cast but had to leave due to scheduling conflicts.
Cranston is most famous for his roles in "Breaking Bad" and the 2014 "Godzilla," while Wilson has made a strong impression thus far in the "Pitch Perfect" franchise.
The villain of "Kung Fu Panda 3" is known as Kai but no voice actor has been confirmed for the role at this point.
"Kung Fu Panda 3" opens in theaters on Jan. 29, 2016.
