The Kung Fu Panda series has been on a long hiatus. DreamWorks announced the fourth installment in the series years ago, but in spite of it being given a 2024 release date, almost nothing had been revealed about the movie. People were beginning to worry that nothing would be shown off until the movie was almost in theaters and it was too late to build up anticipation.

At long last, the first trailer for Kung Fu Panda 4 finally came out this past week. Sadly, what should have been cause for joy has not been as well received as one would have hoped. Many fans have been expressing disappointment over the trailer, and the movie's quality is being hotly debated. So what went wrong here?

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Kung Fu Panda 4's Animation Is Lacking

DreamWorks has never had as clean a record as some other animation studios. Disney, Pixar, and Studio Ghibli, for example, are known for holding a consistent level of quality. They of course release bad or mediocre films sometimes, but these endeavors are given the leniency of being missteps rather than the norm. DreamWorks, in contrast, is seen as a studio of extremes. They certainly have some incredible films under their belt, including Prince of Egypt, How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek, and of course Kung Fu Panda. But woven in with these gems are a bunch middling, generic animated children's movies. With dull and unremarkable projects like Boss Baby, Turbo, Home, and this year's underperforming Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken filling their ranks, DreamWorks has historically seen as a studio with too many low points to be one of the very best.

That perception began to change recently, however. The animation industry took a huge step forward with the release of Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse. In an era where 3D animation was growing stale, this film was a massive breath of fresh air with its stunning and unique animation style, combining computer and hand drawn animation to stunning effect. The influence of the style was immediate, with a number of animated movies following in its footsteps. One of the most notable was DreamWorks' own Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. The film was a massive critical success, with its gorgeous painterly style and flashy action scenes being a huge part of its great reception. With this movie being so uniquely great and Disney in the midst of a slump that continues to this day, DreamWorks was looking set up to rise to the top of the field of animation.

With the massive success of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and the fresh direction it took the Shrek series in, many fans were hoping that Kung Fu Panda 4 would do something similar. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case. Based off of the trailer, the animation quality looks to be the same that was used in the first three Kung Fu Panda films. That's not necessarily a terrible thing on its own; the Kung Fu Panda series has a strong visual identity, especially compared to current Disney or Pixar. They feature vibrant colors, sharp and distinct character design, and lots of Chinese iconography. However, what's in the trailer seems to be more of the same with no leap forward. A fourth movie in the exact same visual style is a bit boring, especially when compared to Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.

The Problem With Zhen

The least popular element of the trailer thus far is Zhen, a new character who is set to act as Po's companion throughout the film. Zhen is a fox who will guide Po in his search to acquire an army, only for him to discover that she is in fact a thief. Zhen will be voiced by Awkwafina, a cast that many have reacted negatively to. A number of people find her performances to be repetitive and irritating, and thus were unhappy to see her join the high quality Kung Fu Panda cast.

The main issue fans seem to have with Zhen is not her portrayal, however, but her design. Most Kung Fu Panda characters, even very minor background characters, have highly stylized designs. They are quite angular with a lot of distinctive patterns over their bodies. This is partially done to contrast with Po's design, which is very soft and round with a big black and white splotches. However, this decision also gives the characters of Kung Fu Panda a strong identity. Most of the characters in these films could never be confused for those from another film series. These characters don't just feel like animated animals, they feel like Kung Fu Panda animals.

Zhen's design, in comparison, feels very simple. She's a rather generic looking anthropomorphic fox. Her design is pure gray with no markings on her fur. Her eyes are typical for a female animated alien, large and rounded. Zhen's design isn't bad on its own, but she feels underdeveloped compared to the rest of the animal designs in Kung Fu Panda. Some fans have pointed out that she looks more like a Zootopia character, which in general has more generic designs than Kung Fu Panda. Her design especially falters in comparison to Tigress, whose design has often been praised for avoiding the usual traps female anthropomorphic designs often fall into. Worst of all is that the trailer features a shot of Zhen's wanted poster. Drawn in an exaggerated style, with sharper lines, a more angular face, and featuring distinct marking, her design on the wanted poster feels like it would be a much more fitting main design for her.

Zhen's lackluster design stings a bit worse given that the Furious Five are completely absent from the trailer. The trailer is also extremely joke heavy, with most of the humor being the type of lowbrow humor associated with the lower quality DreamWorks movies. All of this combines to create a trailer that lacks the innovation fans were hoping for and the charm that the series is known for.

All hope is not lost, however. While the animation style is set in stone, it's entirely possible that the Furious Five will appear in the film and are simply being saved for the final release. The style of humor is also very similar to that of the trailers released for the first three movies. The strategy seems to be to entice children to see the film with funny trailers, and save the darker themes and beautiful moments for the final product. There may be a few red flags here and there, but all hope should not be lost for Kung Fu Panda 4 just yet.

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