So I just got back from an incredible trip to Hangzhou China where I was a guest at the China International Cartoon and Animation Festival and I had an incredible time.  It was amazing to finally be able to visit the land that I’ve been researching, studying and Googling for so many years now.  It was such a treat, I loved seeing some of the architecture and landscapes that inspired the film.  Very cool.

But the highlight had to be the elaborate opening ceremony that involved many dancing pandas and some real kung fu wire work to make it all extra spectacular.  I’m hoping to get the whole video to post soon, but for now below is some footage I managed to capture from the audience.

I’ll be posting much more about this trip very soon so stay tuned.  Here’s a picture to tide you over:

Here’s a local article about the festival HERE:

You can read more about the festival HERE:

The official site for the festival is HERE:

Wow!

What an amazing and surprising night! We went in with very low expectations and were amazed to come away with a lot of awards. The Annies, if you’ve never heard of them, are Awards for Animation.

For a full list of the Kung Fu Panda’s Annie Award, keep reading.

And the winner is…

Keep Reading…

As published in Daily Variety, “For Tyro or Vet, Noms Still a Thrill,” 01-23-2009 :

“I was trying to get the results on the Internet, when my dad called from the East Coast, he was watching it live. He’s so excited. As I was talking to him his phone was ringing off the hook, so he had a busy morning. It’s truly incredible and bizarre and an incredible honor. For me it’s particularly great because I was nominated for my short 10 years ago.”

As published in The Hollywood Reporter, 01/23/09 :

Mark Osborne and John Stevenson, co-directors of “Kung Fu Panda,” sounded excited. Osborne said he was thrilled for the animated feature nom, which he called “an amazing validation for the entire crew.” Previously nominated in 1998 for his stop-motion work on the animated short “MORE,” Osborne hopes to go back to stop-motion with a dream project he is trying to get off the ground after writing a script with his friend. “I thought, it’s time to do something crazy- get back to stop-motion,” he said.

“Panda Clobbers Competition at Annie’s,” at AWN.com, click HERE

Osborne, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Melissa Cobb, John Stevenson, Dustin Hoffman from behind!

This is one of the only images from the Cannes Film Festival photo call that showed all of us together.  It’s my favorite pic of Dustin, who is quite hilarious in these types of situations.  Look at all those cameras behind us!  And there’s like 20 more in front of us… crazy.

In my opinion, the coolest trailer ever made for Kung Fu Panda comes from Japan.  It is  true to the spirit of the movie, packed with action and makes the movie look like a real kung fu movie, something some of the ads stateside didn’t do really well.

So what can I say about the massive experience of co-directing one of the biggest box office hits of 2008? It was a somewhat surreal and fantastic experience I’d have to say.  I had an incredible time collaborating with all the amazing artists at DreamWorks to create what became the biggest non-sequel film the studio has ever released.  It was my first time working in CG, my first time working with a big studio like that and my first time directing an animated feature so it was quite an adventure. The entire team was amazingly talented and I was very lucky to have such close collaboration with so many smart and creative folks.  If you have any specific questions send them along and I’ll try to answer them.  I’ll also update soon with some posts that are specific to the experience, but for now, enjoy this cool trailer!

Check out all of the Kung Fu Panda (KFP) content on HappyProduct.com HERE

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For an EXCLUSIVE interview with Mark about his KFP experience, click HERE

For KFP Review on Rotten Tomatoes (Top Critics Rating – 88%), click HERE

For all KFP reviews on HappyProduct.com, click HERE

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For DreamWorks official Kung Fu Panda website, click HERE

For KFP on IMDB.com, click HERE

For KFP on Wikipedia.com, click HERE

“At once fuzzy-wuzzy, and industrial strength, the tacky-sounding “Kung Fu Panda,” is high concept with a heart… fluidly integrates gorgeous, impressionistic flourishes with the kind of hyper-real details one has come to expect from computer-generated imagery: photorealistically textured stone steps, for instance, and fur so invitingly tactile you want to run your  fingers through it.”

The New York Times, “Movie Review – Kung Fu Panda,” at moviesnytimes.com, click HERE

“Po’s total lack of skill is quite funny — he’s such a flabby compendium of wrong moves that even his screwups have a bass-ackwards logic that is nearly balletic…  Kung Fu Panda is light and goofy, yet the fight scenes, which are the heart of the film, are lickety-split mad fun.”

Entertainment Weekly, “Movie Review – Kung Fu Panda,” at EW.com, click HERE

“My guess is it’s a ploy to have us all get in touch with our inner Asians; what with this movie and the excitement of the Games, in a week or two we’ll be waving chopsticks in the air in one big surge of solidarity…”

The Japan Times, Kung Fu Panda Review, “Flabby is the new cool,” at japantimes.co.jp, click HERE