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‘Kung Fu Panda 4’s’ Chameleon Was One of Dreamworks’ Most Complex Creations: ‘Every Little Spike on Her Head…Was Completely Animatable’
'Kung Fu Panda 4's' Chameleon was one of Dreamworks' most complex creations: "Every little spike on her hand...was completely animatable."
“ Kung Fu Panda 4 ” director Mike Mitchell gravitates toward villains that can “reflect the hero.” And that’s something that he leaned into with the Chameleon, a threatening two-and-a half foot shape shifter voiced by Oscar winner Viola Davis, who is the nemesis of Jack Black’s titular panda Po in the latest installment of the DreamWorks Animation franchise. In the movie, which Universal opens in theaters this weekend, “Dragon Warrior” Po is instructed to find a successor as he moves to a new role as spiritual leader in the Valley of Peace when a formidable foe appears, threatening the village. And there were the intricacies of the shape-shifting movement — including size — as the tiny Chameleon transforms at one point into 7-foot tall snow leopard Tai Lung, the antagonist from the first “Kung Fu Panda” film.
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