Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is an American animated television series, developed by Mitch Watson and Peter Hastings for Netflix. It is the third TV series in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, following Legends of Awesomeness and The Paws of Destiny, and the first in which Jack Black reprises his role as the voice of Po, replacing his replacement Mick Wingert. Produced by DreamWorks Animation Television, the series premiered on Netflix on July 14, 2022. A second season was released on January 12, 2023. A third and final season was released on September 7, 2023.
Premise The series picks up a few years after General Kai's defeat and Shi Long's defeat where the Dragon Warrior Po the giant panda must leave his home and embark on a far-reaching quest across China for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight named Luthera (a brown bear), also known as Wandering Blade, to find four elemental weapons that broke up the world a long time ago.
Voice cast
Main Jack Black as Po / Op Rita Ora as Sir Luthera / Wandering Blade Kai Zen as young Sir Luthera Chris Geere as Klaus Dumont Della Saba as Veruca Dumont / Rabia's Mother James Hong as Mr. Ping Rahnuma Panthaky as Rukhmini / Zip / Additional Voice Ed Weeks as Colin / Mashmeater / Basil / Rock Monster / Additional Voice Melissa Villaseñor as Akna Shohreh Aghdashloo as Forouzan
Recurring Omid Abtahi as Sir Alfred Parry Shen as Weimin / Additional Voice Todd Haberkorn as The Emperor of China / Additional Voice Barbara Goodson as The Queen of England Mick Wingert as Sir Drake / Rabia's Father / Additional Voice Kinza Khan as Rabia Martin Aistrope as Master Mastodon Sean T. Krishnan as Jayesh / Additional Voice Anjali Bhimani as Padma Deepti Gupta as Diya Richard Ayoade as Kyle Harvey Guillén as Pelpel Jorge Diaz as B'ah / Pax / Additional Voice Sarah-Nicole Robles as Queen Zuma Toks Olagundoye as Lucinda / Rosalie
Guest
Amy Hill as Pei Pei Tru Valentino as Chuntao / Edward / Additional Voice Stephanie Sheh as Elder Huang James Sie as Lao / Nian / Additional Voice Dayci Brookshire as Changpu Rolonda Watts as High Priestess Nolan North as Shoddy Boat Owner JB Blanc as Nigel Peter Hastings as Additional Voice Carlos Alazraqui as Amoch / Additional Voice Billy Boyd as Edgar Nicholas Guy Smith as Duncan Keith Ferguson as Benny / Augustus / Additional Voice Sean Astin as Master Sloth Kineta Kunutu as Master Longtooth / Kemanzi Kenna Ramsey as Master Ostrich Regi Davis as Barya
Episodes Series overview
Season 1 (2022)
Season 2 (2023)
Season 3 (2023)
Production Development
During National Panda Day in March 2022, DreamWorks and Netflix announced a new CGI animated Kung Fu Panda series with Jack Black reprising his role as Po from the films and serving as executive producer with Peter Hastings (Pinky and the Brain, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants) and Shaunt Nigoghossian (Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!), while story edited and co-executive produced by Kipo writers Chris Amick and Ben Mekler.
The concept idea for the series began as a road buddy comedy that takes the viewers all over in pursuit of their goal to try to catch the bad guys. Jack Black had a cool vision for what an epic journey would be, one that fits well from the first Kung Fu Panda film while having a darker, more mature tone with the show versus past chapters also marks how the series is expanding the franchise. Season 2 expands the concept further to explore Indian culture and Central American culture and deepens the characters made from the first season.
Assets from Paws of Destiny were used to build the sets but some episodes have 2D animation styles based on their own setting. One is rendered as comic graphic art, since an unpublished comic book is the central icon of that particular chapter of the story, and another one has a British-looking, lithograph kind of look.
A score soundtrack from Kevin Lax (The First Purge, Burning Sands) and Robert Lydecker (Iron Fist, Lethal Weapon, Sleepy Hollow, Designated Survivor) was released on July 15 by Back Lot Music.
Animation production services are provided by Technicolor (now known as Mikros Animation), 88 Pictures (Season 2), and Stella Creative Labs while storyboard services are provided by Dave Enterprises and Kok & Co., Pty, Ltd.
Release The first season of Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight was released on July 14, 2022, on Netflix. A second season, announced in December 2022, was released on January 12, 2023. A third and final season, announced in August 2023, was released on September 7, 2023.
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryNominee(s)Result 2022 KidScreen Awards Best New Series in Kids Programming Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight 2023 Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production Grace Liu Children's and Family Emmy Awards Outstanding Voice Performance in a Children's or Young Teen Program Jack Black Outstanding Directing for an Animated Program David Dick, Mike Goguen, Will Ruzicka, Kevin Wotton and James Yang Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for an Animated Program Kevin Lax, Robert Lydecker, Vivian Aguiar-Buff, Alexandra Nickson and Clare Yezerski Outstanding Sound Editing and Sound Mixing for an Animated Program Rob McIntyre, DJ Lynch, Anna Adams, Evan Dockter, Marc Schmidt, Monique Reymond, Cat Gensler and Roberto Alegria 2024 KidScreen Awards Best Animated Series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight Best Holiday or Special Episode "Epic Lunar New Year" Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production Grace Liu
References
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