You're really putting me on the spot. I love both equally. I think the rules of the Star Wars universe allow Yoda to be a little more powerful than Shifu. If it was a level playing ground, Yoda would win. But if Yoda were in our Kung Fu Panda world then it would be pretty fair. Don't make me answer that! (laughs)
Who is a better teacher: Yoda or Shifu?
Yoda is more enlightened, where we're trying to get Shifu to the point of being enlightened. It's more about Shifu becoming a better teacher through struggling with Po. It's a growth story for him as well.
That is a good point. There is a connection between Empire and Kung Fu Panda. If you do the math on how long it takes Luke to become a Jedi on Dagobah it's the same irrational time it takes Po to become a Kung Fu Warrior when he goes off to the mountains. There's the same movie cheat we can get away with.
Like a Road House training-for-the-big-fight montage?
I love Road House! (laughs)
Every time I hear about a kid's movie director liking a clearly non-kid safe movie, I wonder if they drop little inside jokes and Easter eggs in the films they direct. Are there any obscure references in Kung Fu Panda?
I wanted to have an "Arrested Development" reference in there because David Cross is in our film. I almost got it in the chopstick fight when Shifu kicks the dumpling over his head and they start running down the hill, I really wanted Po to say "Oh come on!" But it didn't fit.
I'm also a huge fan of Jack Black's band Tenacious D. So not only is Jack in the movie, but his bandmate Kyle Gass and the honorary third member JR Reed are also the Shaw brothers in the film. The other Tenacious D reference is more of an influence. One of the songs I loved was "Cosmic Shame" where they do in their concert version, a whole five-minute lead in where Jack's talking about how important it is to pursue your art and follow your heart and goes overboard about talking about dreams, and then turns it around and says if you suck you have to stop. So we had all the Kung Fu Panda story artists listen to "Cosmic Shame" and it inspired us all as the internal theme for Po. The stakes are so high for him and he's essentially risking the ultimate comic shame if he fails at Kung Fu.
I can't help but wonder how different Kung Fu Panda would have been if you were influenced by one of their other songs.
"Kielbasa?" (laughs)
I think they'll really like the action and the emotional story. We made it for Kung Fu fans, but I think lots of fanboys and girls will relate to it. I really like that Po actually becomes his own hero by embracing everything that made him different or that people made fun of. Becomes a hero on his own terms and doesn't have to change. We all struggle with wanting to be different than what we are, and to me it's empowering to see a hero win by embracing what sets him apart from others. It's okay to be weird and fall flat on your face. It's a message to empowerment to fanboys in particular. We want to be something greater than ourselves, but actually we can be great by being ourselves.
Learn more about Mark Osborne on his official site -- Happy Product.
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