Ever since Shrek hit it big, DreamWorks Animation hasn’t exactly been shy in finding ways to utilise its successful characters. The green ogre has already had one Christmas special, with a Halloween tale currently titled** Scared Shrekless set for October 28 in the US, following on from last year’s Monsters Vs Aliens adventure. And now Kung fu Panda is getting the tinsel treatment.
Bleeding Cool reports on a member of the Animation Guild, who attended a screening of the special at the DreamWorks HQ. With Jeffrey Katzenberg leading the 3D charge, it’s no surprise to learn that the footage will be making full use of the technology that TV and Blu-Ray makers hope will be standard within a couple of years. The special is set to air across the pond on November 24, along with a repeat of Merry Madagascar.
“I'll say what I've said before: DWA creates kick-ass dimensional cinema. The cuts and transitions were witty, making vivid use of the technology, and the gags played like gangbusters,” says Guild business rep Steve Hulett. “The original voice cast was in place.” Which presumably means the likes of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen and even Dustin Hoffman will be on board for duty.
The Panda crew, of course, is already hard at work on both a sequel (The Kaboom of Doom, due in May next year) and a likely TV show, though there hasn’t been a lot of news about that one since last year.
From the looks of it, we’ll be getting DreamWorks specials for most of the big holidays (well, the American ones – where’s the love for Shrove Tuesday, eh, people?) for a while to come. Assuming everyone rushes out to buy 3D TVs, that is…