You have to make sure that people are still motivated and happy and creatively challenged so that it can all be stitched together. The voice acting starts after a lot of the storyboards are done.

When people feel safe, they can come up with ideas. It's important to listen to the actor who is there on the stage and living it.

Talking to actors is the same as talking to any other artists; it's getting into the moment for them, and making sure they can lose themselves in the performance!

A lot of the time in animation is spent getting the story right - that's something you can't rush.

I think it's really nice to have an authenticity, it's a huge source for us to be able to lean on people who have that knowledge.

We go for our own reality. I remember some of our guys saying it is way harder to make stylized art directed explosions of jade rather than a regular explosion of shrapnel.

Po's [Kung Fu Panda] unending enthusiasm is something we wish we could have. We can't help but root for him because of his geek energy.