When it comes to Dreamworks Animation a number of popular and everlasting projects have been created, either on their own or in collaboration. Movies and shows such as How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, Shrek, Trolls, The Cat in the Hat, Shark Tale, and Kung Fu Panda.
As far as the latter goes, it doesn't seem like the franchise has any plans to slow down anytime soon. In fact, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight was just released on Netflix at the end of last week.
We were interested in learning more about this project and how it ties together with the overall franchise, so we spoke with the two executive producers. Shaunt Nigoghossian and Peter Hastings took the time to chat with us, and we learned a lot.
Peter Hastings: My involvement goes back to a prior series, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, which I ran a while ago. That actually was between the first and second movies. And then I did a bunch of other stuff and had a great relationship with Dreamworks and I had done other shows there. And then they asked me if I wanted to come and work, and for me, that means working with Po, which is really fun.
They had this original idea of a buddy comedy between Po and this knight from England. That was about the whole idea that they had. So I sort of worked alone and came up with a bunch of stuff, most of which got thrown away. And write the pilot script and right as we started to bring the team together, that's when I met Shaunt and pitched to him the show. He didn't actually start until we had all gone home.
The production has been completely virtual, even though I did not stop working for a day. But for me, basically, it was exciting and fun because the characters were so interesting, and this was before Jack Black was even involved. So I was drawing from the strength of the character.
What do you guys think of these comments from Peter Hastings? Will you be checking out the newest chapter in the Kung Fu Panda franchise on Netflix?
Make sure to check out the full video interview with him and Shaunt Nigoghossian below and don't forget to share your thoughts in the usual spot!
This exclusive chat features Shaunt Nigohossian and Peter Hastings, the producers behind the newest Kung Fu Panda project - The Dragon Knight. The two producers have plenty of experience under their belt, having brought to screen projects such as Blood of Zeus, Kung Fu Panda: Legend of Awesomeness, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, The Killing Joke, and more. We spoke extensively about what each of them contributed as well as how this project connects and parallels to the original film, as well as Jack Black and the cast staying on as their characters.
Peter, Shaunt, and I had a thrilling chat, and I'm sure you guys will enjoy it as well! Check out the audio version on the Inner Child Podcast, and look out for the article with the interview transcript over on Toonado and Comic Book Movie! Don't forget to check out Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight on Netflix!
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is currently streaming on Netflix.