Kung Fu Panda 4 co-director Stephanie Stine recently revealed just how The Furious Five made their way into Kung Fu Panda 4.
In a recent Discord Q&A, Stine was asked about The Furious Five, who were important parts of the original three Kung Fu Panda films, but only make a brief cameo in the fourth. According to Stine, the original idea was to not feature the group at all despite some writers and animators lobbying for their inclusion.
It wasn’t until the Marketing department for the film essentially “ordered” them to be included, however, that they were.
“Lord Shen, Crane—in fact all of the Furious 5… they were last-minute additions,” said Stine. “Our Head of Story Calvin Tsang and our Head of Character Animation Sean Sexton were the biggest and most vocal advocates for bringing back the Furious 5, but it was only when Marketing stepped in and said that we need to bring in the Furious 5, that they were added—in the end credits scene. So their models were also made of sticks and glue.”
Why weren’t The Furious Five in Kung Fu Panda 4 more?
Stine would go on to reveal that the reason for The Furious Five not appearing in the film more simply boiled down to the high cost of bringing back their star-studded cast. In the original trilogy, the group is voiced several A-list actors, including Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Jackie Chan (Monkey), Lucy Liu (Viper), David Cross (Crane), and Seth Rogen (Mantis).
“As I said, I was one of the people who was very vocal about bringing back the Furious 5. But once our producers let me know that ‘one line from Angelina Jolie would cost us $20 million’ (I’m not sure if that was hyperbole or not), I backed down,” explained Stine.
Kung Fu Panda 4 was directed by Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Ma Stine, with Rebecca Huntley serving as the producer. The film also features the voices of Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Ian McShane, Ke Huy Quan, Lori Tan Chinn, Ronny Chieng, and more.
