It’s no secret that Disney and Pixar still have a stranglehold on the animation industry. Franchises and films have come close, but it is the reason for excitement for both viewers and Disney when a Disney picture, especially one featuring Pixar, hits theatres.
Because of their appeal, everything in sight gets obliterated, and I have a feeling ‘Toy Story 4′ will do the same.
Independent of Disney’s brand value, animation films are successful and bring large audiences to theatres: the fundamental reason, I think, is because they appeal to the whole family, regardless of theme or characters.
The only other notable animation properties I believe have come close to challenging Disney are Universal and Illumination’s extremely profitable Minions and Dreamworks’ ‘Kung Fu Panda,’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ and ‘Shrek’ franchises, with the first losing a lot of steam and character following ‘Kung Fu Panda 3′, which was also the franchise’s lowest-grossing film.’
The trilogy, however, has been nothing short of success when regarded as a whole, collecting more than $1.7 billion at the global box office.
There are currently no other animated Wuxia films in development, and with Jack Black’s proven success mantra, silly charm, and passion as Po, the Panda Dragon Warrior, neither the producers nor I will rule out a fourth.
While I’m sure there’s a lot of thought going on behind the scenes, the studio and creators have been remarkably quiet on the subject, with little to no news on the development of a sequel, except for Dreamworks Animation’s C.E.O., Jeffrey Katzenberg, who stated that the series could have three more sequels. What we now know about the rumoured sequel is as follows.
Release Date for Kung Fu Panda 4
“After Kung Fu Panda 3, the series is projected to see three more sequels, increasing the total to six features,” DreamWorks Animation C.E.O. Jeffrey Katzenberg stated.
Kung Fu Panda 4 is expected to hit theatres soon. However, neither the year nor the month of its release has been indicated by the creators. All we know for now is that Kung Fu Panda 4 will be divided into six parts. That’s the limit of our capabilities.
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We do, however, have some tentative premiere dates for the film. The exact release date for Kung Fu Panda 4 has been announced, it is expected as released on August 10, 2022.
Plot of Kung Fu Panda 4
While the second film in the franchise, which is also my favourite, teased the events of the third by showing Po’s father still alive and living in a hidden Panda village, while the third film does not tease anything about the future and instead brings Po’s storey full circle as a soldier and a teacher, there is a lot to look forward to in the fourth, making a fourth all the more necessary.
Po returns to the valley after fighting Kai and gaining the ability to harness and wield Chi, as well as the mystical yin-yang staff given to him by teacher Oogway from the spirit realm, in the third film.
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From here, the dragon warrior’s storey, the Furious Five’s storey, the panda village’s storey, and the valley’s storey will be smoothly integrated into one with a common path and destiny.
Nonetheless, I anticipate it to go the franchise’s pretty traditional approach of presenting a single, all-powerful enemy from China’s rich cultural (and fictitious) past and putting him against Po, as well as revealing more about Po’s buried beginnings.
All of this will be served up with a big helping of the film’s signature humour and stunning, vivid animation. It’s currently hard to foresee how it will play out over the course of three films.
The currently airing television series ‘Kung Fu Panda: Paws of Destiny,’ which can be purchased on Amazon Prime, gives a good indicator of where the fourth one is heading.
Po mentors a group of four panda children from the village who stumble upon a mystical cave beneath the village and end up accidentally absorbing the chis of four powerful and ancient Kung Fu warriors known as the Four Constellations, namely the Blue Dragon, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, and Red Phoenix.
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Furthermore, the narrative contains a larger threat that the saviour children must now confront, leaving Po with the responsibility of teaching them how to utilise their abilities.
There is no better way to demonstrate Po’s desire to become a teacher than if and when the fourth one happens as the third did. Given the film’s larger popularity than the television series, the producers will need to figure out a way to include the four fighter kid pandas into the plot.