A Chinese hand drawn animated film Xiong Mao Zong Dong Yuan (“Panda Story”) is scheduled to be released in January 2011, supposedly in 3D, according to the website CRI-English.com. They are reporting that the film is a co-production by the China Film Group and a German company ORB Filmproduktion GmbH, has been six years in the making, with an investment of $52 million (US $).

The article also states:

Following “Xiong Mao Zong Dong Yuan,” the Hollywood film “Kung Fu Panda 2” will be released in mid-2011. The two panda stories will compete for audiences. Chen said the production period for his film would be longer than that of “Kung Fu Panda,” which required four years for its animation effects and six years for its total production.

“Audiences will see the competition of the two panda stories and see which panda is better,” Chen was quoted as saying. “They will see more Chinese features and Chinese spirit in the character in my film. Even the background will be specially created according to Chinese painting style.” The panda character in “Xiong Mao Zong Dong Yuan” leads his villagers in a fight against their enemies and successfully survives the attackers.


This video, from a Chinese newscast below, shows several non-Chinese animators working on the project (If anyone knows who these animators are and what studio is doing this, we’d like to know):

(Thanks, Michael Tuttle)

Read More:  

Jerry Beck

Latest News from Cartoon Brew