Jack Black talks to First News about reprising his role as Po in Kung Fu Panda 2.

Has Po changed much from the original Kung Fu Panda film?

Po is still like a big kid. Even though he has become a dragon warrior kung fu master, he’s still the old Po. He’s still a little clumsy, wide-eyed, innocent and in awe of the other kung fu masters. He’s learning and his powers are getting stronger.

Where does the Kung Fu Panda 2 story begin?

It pretty much picks up where it ended in the first movie. Po is the dragon warrior and works with the Furious Five to keep the valley safe. The new villain is a peacock! 

A peacock doesn’t sound too sinister!

But, you see, this peacock has a new, powerful weapon and his extremely evil plan is to destroy kung fu and take over China. All of China! The weapon is a cannon and it’s up to Po to save everybody.

Po is always jumping around, throwing punches and kicks. When you record the voice are you jumping around?

Oh yes. I’m up bouncing around. It’s necessary because you need your voice to match Po’s physical presence on screen. The only problem is my clothes sometimes make a sound and because Po doesn’t wear clothes, that’s a problem.

What do you like best, acting in live action films or animated films?

I love both. They are both incredibly different. Although animated films can take three or four years to make, for the actor the process is kind of shorter. What I mean is, when I go in to work on an animated movie I’ll do six or seven scenes in that one day. When you shoot a live action movie, one day on set translates into, maybe, just one or two minutes of the movie. Animated can be a lot more satisfying.

Was it easy to get back into Po’s fur for the sequel?

Yes. That’s the advantage of doing a sequel. You already know the character you’re playing. You don’t need to waste time creating the character. You just jump right in. You also don’t have to set up the story as much. What I like to say is, doing Kung Fu Panda 2 was like going into your cupboard and finding a nice, old pair of slippers and putting them on. It felt great.

Did you train in kung fu to prepare?

I did some kung fu training. I’m a lethal weapon. I am a professional. I take this job very seriously. I had a kung fu trainer. If you tried to attack me right now I could defend myself. Maybe even do some damage to you.

What do you think about more Kung Fu Panda movies? How many sequels do you think there should be?

I think we should probably stop at Kung Fu Panda 263. We should do at least 200 of them. No, my view is we should do more. As long as we are making kick-ass movies we should keep doing them.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is out now on Blu-ray Triple Play and DVD from DreamWorks Animation