We sat down with Kannan Logaiah, Team Lead FX, part of the episodic team at Mikros Animation Bangalore who crafted this series. Here’s what they had to say about their career and experience working on the show:
Can you tell us about your journey in the animation industry?
I started my career as a VFX generalist and worked on Indian regional feature films. I have 17 years of experience in the VFX industry overall, and I’ve been with Technicolor since 2009. I’ve had the opportunity to work on animated shows like LEGO, Back at the Barnyard, Fanboy & Chum Chum, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, All Hail King Julien, Puss in Boots, Boss Baby, Kung Fu Panda, Fast and Furious, and more.
Kung Fu Panda is a franchise that is already well known to the teams of Mikros Animation Bangalore, what was your reaction when you learnt you’ll collaborate on this new series?
I was overjoyed when we began working on Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, there were many magical and fascinating effects to be incorporated. We have enjoyed creating lots of challenging FX shots, and with this new story, I was very excited to be part of this show again.
From your perspective, what is the feel of this show?
The main characters are unique and famous, admired by an audience of all ages. The story line and animation quality continue to match the Kung Fu Panda feature films, so it’s always entertaining. It’s great to work on a show with such an excellent output quality.
What were the main artistic and/or technical challenges you had to overcome in your department?
Based on our work on Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, the expectations that DreamWorks had were higher. We were keen to meet and surpass these.
The show has a lot of elements that we had to incorporate—including dust, fire, and water. Achieving the look of subtle dust and fiery explosions and maintaining the show’s quality standard was a major challenge. For some of the challenging FX shots, we created custom tools to achieve the expected look. Our deliveries were more refined and high quality this season, and that will be seen on-screen. With the inputs and support of DreamWorks, we delivered most of the FX shots with exceptional quality and that’s very satisfying.
Do you have a favorite sequence?
The lava sequence in Season 1, Episode 2 is my favorite sequence because the lava FX interaction with characters looks awesome. That’s my favorite, but the team has done excellent work on all the episodes and created a great viewing experience.
What are you looking forward to most with the show airing now?
This is one of the best collaborations between DreamWorks and Mikros Animation. Kung Fu Panda is already established and a favorite for all types of audiences, I think this season of the show will be interesting and entertaining for fans. I’m hoping Po will rock again!
Discover more about Mikros Animation’s recent work on Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.
