The voice cast for DreamWorks Animation’s sequel Kung Fu Panda 3 is starting to fill out quite nicely.  Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, and other unspecified actors are reprising their roles from the first two animated films, but Heat Vision reports that Bryan Cranston, Mads Mikkelsen, and Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) have also been set as new additions to the film.  Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh Nelson returns to helm the follow-up, which also sees the return of executive producer Guillermo del Toro, producer Melissa Cobb, co-producer Jeffrey Hermann, and writers/co-producers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

Story details are firmly under wraps, but the ending of Kung Fu Panda 2 provides a strong hint that the third film will involve Black’s Po meeting his real father.  Del Toro previously told us that Kung Fu Panda 3 has “the most formidable villain in the series,” and either Cranston or Mikkelsen would certainly fit that bill.  Additionally, Kung Fu Panda 3 will now open on December 23, 2015 instead of March 2016.

With Rise of the Guardians opening this week, I recently got to see the finished film at DreamWorks Animation and it’s really well done.  Not only is the animation great to look at, it’s got a strong story that’s character driven and it doesn’t rely on stupid jokes.  In addition, unlike most superhero films that spend half the time introducing characters by explaining their origin and showing off their powers, what’s fantastic about Rise of the Guardians is we join almost everyone in the middle of the story.  If you’re not familiar with the story, it  revolves around the rebellious Jack Frost (Chris Pine) teaming up with other mythical figures North aka Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), E. Aster Bunnyman aka Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth aka The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and the Sandman to battle the evil Pitch (Jude Law).  Here’s my video blog review and all our previous coverage.

To help promote the film, last week I got on the phone with Rise of the Guardians director Peter Ramsey.  We talked about how they didn’t tell a typical origin story, the tone, how many times he re-storyboard the film and whether there were any dramatic changes along the way, the test screening process, collaborating with Roger Deakins, other DreamWorks Animation projects like How to Train Your Dragon 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, Trolls (which he said is “kind of partially based on a Terry Pratchett novel”) and more.  In addition, Ramsey got his start as a storyboard artist working for David Fincher on Fight Club and Steven Spielberg on A.I., so we talked about those projects and a few others.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

With Rise of the Guardians opening this week, I recently got to see the finished film at DreamWorks Animation and it’s really well done.  Not only is the animation great to look at, it’s got a strong story that’s character driven and it doesn’t rely on stupid jokes.  In addition, unlike most superhero films that spend half the time introducing characters by explaining their origin and showing off their powers, what’s fantastic about Rise of the Guardians is we join almost everyone in the middle of the story.  If you’re not familiar with the story, it  revolves around the rebellious Jack Frost (Chris Pine) teaming up with other mythical figures North aka Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), E. Aster Bunnyman aka Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Tooth aka The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), and the Sandman to battle the evil Pitch (Jude Law).  Here’s my video blog review and all our previous coverage.

To help promote the film, last week I got on the phone with Rise of the Guardians producer Guillermo del Toro.  We talked about how they didn’t do a typical origin story, the tone, the Puss in Boots sequel, Kung Fu Panda 3, his DreamWorks Animation directorial debut Trollhunters, Pacific Rim, the 3D conversion, when we’ll see the trailer, the Pacific Rim sequel, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what del Toro had to say.

It’s no secret that Guillermo del Toro is a busy guy.  At any given moment he’s developing a number of projects in various stages to write, produce, and/or direct, but fans can always rest assured that if del Toro lends his name to something, he puts his whole heart into it.  One of his more interesting recent collaborations has been with DreamWorks Animation.  He took on a small consulting role on the studio’s 2010 film Megamind, but since then he’s served as an executive producer on Puss in Boots, Kung Fu Panda 2, and the upcoming Rise of the Guardians.

Steve recently spoke with del Toro in anticipation of the release of Rise of the Guardians and the filmmaker gave updates on a number of future projects (read what he had to say about Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim 2 right here).  During the course of the conversation, del Toro gave updates on Puss in Boots 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, and an animated film called Trollhunters that he intends to direct for DreamWorks Animation.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

DreamWorks Animation is known for being prolific, but the studio has just announced a massive 12-picture slate that runs through 2016.  Here’s a brief look:

• The Croods – March 22nd, 2013
• Turbo – July 19th, 2013
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman – November 1st, 2013
• Me and My Shadow – March 14th, 2014
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 – June 20th, 2014
• Happy Smekday! – November 26th, 2014
• The Penguins of Madagascar – March 27th, 2015
• Trolls (working title) – June 5th, 2015
• B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldy Operations – November 6th, 2015
• Mumbai Musical (working title) – December 19th, 2015
• Kung Fu Panda 3 – March 16th, 2016
• How to Train Your Dragon 3 – June 18th, 2016

Hit the jump for more details on this ambitious line-up of animated films.

The DreamWorks Animation panel at Comic-Con 2012 featured chief creative officer Bill Damashke, James Baxter (supervising animator on The Croods), Tom McGrath (director of the Madagascar series), and Patrick Hanenberger (production designer on Rise of the Guardians).  The panel started with a clip reel  of highlights from the DreamWorks filmography, from Shrek to Kung Fu Panda to How to Train Your Dragon.  Given the panel members, the reel and the discussion shifted mainly to Madagascar 3 (currently in theaters), Rise of the Guardians (in theaters November 21), and The Croods (coming March 2013).  The Rise of the Guardians section was nothing you haven’t already seen in this trailer, but the Croods footage was brand new, and it looks very interesting.  Hit the jump for more.

Funnyman actor Seth Rogen is taking on hosting duties for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards, being held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica on February 25^th. To promote the gig, he spoke to members of the press about why he thought it seemed like a fun thing to do.

During the interview, Seth Rogen talked about being as nervous about flubbing or tipping while hosting as he is in any element of his life, that he’s been watching all of the nominated movies in preparation, the hosting advice he’s gotten from Judd Apatow, what films he responded to in 2011 (Take Shelter and Drive) and what he’s looking forward to this year (The Dark Knight Rises), the TV shows he enjoys watching (Breaking Bad, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation), and that Pineapple Express is his favorite film that he’s done. He also talked about how his directorial debut, The Apocalypse, is coming along, that he’d like to do a Kung Fu Panda 3, that he doesn’t know if there will ever be a Pineapple Express 2, and that he doesn’t think there’s any chance of there ever being a Freaks and Geeks movie. Check out what he had to say after the jump: