National

Regional

Taiwan, HK, Macao

Special Coverage

Focus

Society

Profiles

Pandering to every whim - a real panda movie!

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-05 10:22

Pang Pang was actually played by six panda cubs from Wolong but they look so similar, only their feeders will be able to tell them apart. The crew asked Wolong experts to help find six pandas to suit the various scenes. Some were active, others gentle, and one was especially good at climbing trees.

The crew started shooting with the oldest of the six so that the animal's growth during shooting would not affect production.

Daichi Harashima, who stars an orphan named Lu in the movie, plays with his beloved panda in the movie. [China Daily]

Even so, Liu had to revise the script every day.

"Originally there were lots of action," she says. "But when the shooting started I found that many actions were impossible for panda cubs, such as walking backwards. Pandas are precious animals who have been taken good care of by their raisers, so they are not scared of anything. It is difficult for them to show fear or other strong emotions. "

For Wolong director Zhang Hemin, the film was a win-win situation. "We agreed to this film because we think it will be a good platform to educate children about the importance of environmental preservation and the protection of wild animals," he says.

The May 12 Sichuan earthquake last year killed panda Mao Mao, who played Pang Pang's mother. Wolong itself was nearly destroyed by the quake and is still being rebuilt. All the six pandas who played Pang Pang are safe and have been relocated to zoos and reserves around China

"We also hope that this film's theatrical release just before the one-year anniversary will arouse people's love for pandas and the re-building of the reserve," Zhang says.

The film is Disney's second collaboration with Chinese filmmakers, after the 2007 film The Secret of the Magic Gourd. Disney will also handle its distribution overseas.

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page