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The Tiger's Apprentice (film)

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The Tiger's Apprentice is a 2024 American animated fantasy film based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Laurence Yep. Produced by Paramount Animation and Jane Startz Productions, it is directed by Raman Hui and co-directed by Paul Watling and Yong Duk Jhun (in their directorial debuts) from a screenplay by David Magee and Christopher Yost. The film stars the voices of Brandon Soo Hoo, Henry Golding, Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, and Michelle Yeoh.

The Tiger's Apprentice
Promotional release poster
Directed byRaman Hui
Screenplay by
Based onThe Tiger's Apprentice
by Laurence Yep
Produced by
Starring
Edited byWayne Wahrman
Music bySteve Jablonsky
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount+
Release dates
  • January 27, 2024 (2024-01-27) (Los Angeles)
  • February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02) (United States)
Running time
84 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Cartoon Network originally opted to produce a live-action/CG hybrid television film adaptation of the novel in the late 2000s, but it never came to fruition. Paramount later acquired the rights for an animated film in March 2019, with Carlos Baena attached as director. Mikros Animation provided animation. Much of the voice cast was revealed between 2020 and 2022, following Golding's casting in July 2020. Hui later replaced Baena as director in January 2022. Steve Jablonsky composed the score.[2][3]

Originally planned for theatrical release by Paramount Pictures, The Tiger's Apprentice was released on Paramount+ on February 2, 2024 after being delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

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In 2009 in Hong Kong, Mrs. Lee and her baby grandson Tom are chased by yaoguai. Mrs. Lee fends them off with the help of the Zodiac Warriors, a group of shapeshifters rooted in the Chinese zodiac, before confronting Ms. Penny Loo, a sorceress controlling the yaoguai.

15 years later, Tom, now living with his grandmother in San Francisco, faces a bully at school, partially for the Chinese appearance of his house, when he inadvertently unleashes a magical force. After school, Tom removes some charms from his home, which unbeknownst to him were protecting against the evil spirits. Soon after, Mr. Hu, the tiger of the Warriors, visits after sensing that the charms have been dispatched. During the fight, Mrs. Lee throws the stone to Tom, making him the guardian right at that moment, before activating all the protective charms together, which results in a blast intended to kill her and Loo, but the latter survives.

Hu brings Tom to a safe place where he comes to know about the Zodiac Warriors and how they swore to protect the guardian. Later that night, Tom has a dream where he sees a bright Phoenix being covered in darkness, and a woman tells her that now he walks two worlds: the world of mortals and the world of magic. Soon the whole group of Zodiac Warriors are reunited at the Temple of Twelve. However, some of the Zodiac Warriors don't show up, which leads to an uneasy situation. In the meantime, Tom goes to confront Loo, who's revealed to be the mother of Räv, the new student at Tom's school. The Zodiac Warriors arrive, learning that the missing members were captured by Loo, and another few become trapped as well. Tom, Räv, and the remaining members eventually escape.

Tom focuses on his training. To gain complete power as a guardian, he must be able to see the Phoenix inside the stone, which Tom's lineage can see. Mistral, the dragon, tells Tom one night that during the fight between Mrs. Lee and Loo, Hu died protecting him. After defeating Loo in the battle, Mrs. Lee gives a part of her soul to save Hu. Tom overhears Hu saying he may never be able to see the Phoenix and feeling lost, he goes to his old home. Tom then sees his grandmother but Räv appears and tell him it is a trick and it's really Loo. As they are escaping, Loo steals the Phoenix Stone from him.

After Tom informs the Warriors, Hu reveals that Loo will use the stone on the eve of the Lunar New Year when the sun sets. On that day, Tom and the Warriors find Loo and a large battle ensues. Hu is briefly captured, but with Räv's help, he is freed along with the other Warriors. However, Loo activates the Phoenix stone to suck all the souls out of the mortals. Just then, Tom finally sees the Phoenix inside the stone. Tom removes the darkness torturing the Phoenix, reversing the effects and defeating Loo. Tom's sacrifice results in his death and his soul is about to leave his body. Hu, with the help of the other Zodiac Warriors, performs Nu Kua, which leads him to the Ocean of Tears. There, Hu pleads to the Empress to give away a part of his soul to save Tom, which is accepted. Later, Hu offers his shop as Tom's new home. In the mid-credit scene, Tom, as a result of containing part of Hu's soul, is able to transform into a tiger.

Voice cast

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Production

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Development

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In October 2008, Cartoon Network announced a television film adaptation of Laurence Yep's 2003 novel, The Tiger's Apprentice, set to premiere on the network in 2010. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, the film would have been a live-action/CG hybrid, with David Magee penning the screenplay and Jane Startz executive producing.[7] The project never came to fruition.

In March 2019, Paramount Pictures announced an animated adaptation of the novel set to be theatrically released in February 2022.[8] In June 2019, Paramount Animation announced that Carlos Baena would direct the film, with Magee and Harry Cripps writing the screenplay, Startz producing, and Raman Hui and Kane Lee executive producing.[9] In July 2020, the film was delayed until February 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] In January 2022, it was revealed that Hui would instead direct the film, with Paul Watling and Yong Duk Jhun co-directing and Bob Persichetti producing.[11] Baena would still remain in an executive producer role.[4] New Republic Pictures co-financed the film, but is not credited.[12]

Casting

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In July 2020, Henry Golding was cast in the film as Mr. Hu.[13] In September 2020, Sandra Oh was cast in the film as Mistral, with Michelle Yeoh, Brandon Soo Hoo, Bowen Yang, Sherry Cola, and Kheng Hua Tan also added to the cast in unspecified roles.[5] In November 2020, Leah Lewis was cast in the film as Räv.[6] In July 2022, it emerged that Lucy Liu had been added to the cast in a starring role.[14] In December 2023, along with the trailer, it was revealed that Deborah S. Craig, Jo Koy, Greta Lee, Diana Lee Inosanto, Patrick Gallagher, and Poppy Lui had joined the cast.[4]

Animation

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Animation was provided by Mikros Animation in Paris.[15] The film had a team of 80 animators and had a 4-year production. Animators from Spain, England, Belgium and Canada did remote work.[16]

Post-production

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Post-production was finished in mid-2023.[16] On the day the film was released, two crew members who worked on the film revealed on Letterboxd that the film went through a turbulent production. The first user, identified as didiwa, cited harassment and rewrites occurring until 2023, along with some of the production crew doing multiple jobs and working several pay grades above actual roles, with no vacation allowed while others flew across Europe with paid expenses.[17] Devon Manney, the second user, worked as an apprentice story artist from June to December 2019, and was laid off with the rest of the story team a few days before Christmas of that year, saying that Paramount "wanted to make a Spider-Verse knock off".[18][19]

Music

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Further information: The Tiger's Apprentice (soundtrack)

In December 2023, it was announced that Steve Jablonsky would compose the film's score.[4] Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" was covered by Zhu and released on January 26, 2024.[20] Japanese girl group Atarashii Gakko! released the song "Hello" from the movie's soundtrack as a single on February 9, 2024.

Release

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The Tiger's Apprentice had its world premiere in Los Angeles on January 27, 2024, and was released by Paramount+ on February 2, 2024.[4] It was given a theatrical release in Australia on April 4.[citation needed]

The film was originally scheduled for theatrical release by Paramount Pictures on February 11, 2022, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[21] it was delayed until February 10, 2023 and later December 20, 2023.[22][23] It was then further delayed to January 19, 2024.[14] However, in September 2023, the film was removed from Paramount's theatrical release schedule and was moved to a streaming release on Paramount+ on an unspecified 2024 date instead.[24] In December 2023, along with the teaser trailer, the film's final release date was revealed.[4]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of 36 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10.[25] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

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  1. ^ Scheck, Frank (January 27, 2024). "'The Tiger's Apprentice' Review: Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh Lead a Top-Notch Voice Cast in Paramount+'s Animated Adventure". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Scheck, Frank (January 28, 2024). "'The Tiger's Apprentice' Review: Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh Lead a Top-Notch Voice Cast in Paramount+'s Animated Adventure". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  3. ^ "What to know about a new family-friendly movie on Paramount+". Deseret News. January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Milligan, Mercedes (December 7, 2023). "Teaser: 'The Tiger's Apprentice' Brings Mythical Martial Arts Tale to Paramount+ on Feb. 2". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Sandra Oh, Michelle Yeoh Join Henry Golding in 'Tiger's Apprentice' (Exclusive) | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. September 14, 2020. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Kit, Borys (November 10, 2020). "'Half of It' Star Leah Lewis Joins Henry Golding in Paramount Animation's 'The Tiger's Apprentice' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  7. ^ Ball, Ryan (October 9, 2008). "Cartoon Network Trains Tiger's Apprentice". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  8. ^ Pedersen, Erik (March 15, 2019). "Paramount Moves 'Limited Partners' To 2020 & Dates 'The Tiger's Apprentice' Toon". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  9. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (June 12, 2019). "'Spice Girls' Movie in the Works as Paramount Unveils Animation Slate (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  10. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 23, 2020). "'A Quiet Place II' & 'Top Gun: Maverick' Moving To 2021". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  11. ^ "Nickelodeon and Paramount Animation Name Latifa Ouaou, Eryk Casemiro as Executive VPs (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. January 20, 2022. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  12. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 20, 2020). "New Republic Pictures Signs 10-Pic Co-Fi Deal With Paramount Pictures; 'Top Gun: Maverick' Among Films". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  13. ^ Kit, Borys (July 15, 2020). "Henry Golding to Star in Paramount Animation's 'The Tiger's Apprentice' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  14. ^ a b Pedersen, Erik (July 20, 2022). "'A Quiet Place' Spinoff Gets Title & New Release Date; Ryan Reynolds-John Krasinski Pic Also Slated". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  15. ^ Russell, Shania (October 27, 2021). "The Tiger's Apprentice: Everything We Know So Far". /Film. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  16. ^ a b Nealy, Devin (January 31, 2024). "The Tiger's Apprentice' Director Raman Hui Takes Us into the Thrilling World of Paramount+'s New Movie". Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  17. ^ didiwa (February 2, 2024). "Throughout all the 4 years of production, the crew members were harassed, yelled at, admonished, and treated so poorly with some of the production crew doing multiple jobs and work several pay grades above their actual role with no vacation allowed while others flew across Europe all expenses paid. The writing was so bad that they were re-writing this through 2023. Paramount didn't want to spend money on good CGI and went as cheap as possible, so now the art and animation can't even save it". Letterboxd. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  18. ^ Devon Manney (February 2, 2024). "my six months spent working on this were, without question, the nadir of my entire artistic career, so much so that being unceremoniously laid off with the rest of the story team a few days before christmas 2019 was probably the best thing that happened to me at paramount. they wanted to make a spider-verse knock off, and it looks like they succeeded at making something "off" so congrats to paramount animation on yet another stellar business decision". Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  19. ^ "Devon Manney". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  20. ^ "Zhu's 'Eye of the Tiger' Cover from 'The Tiger's Apprentice' Released". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  21. ^ Krug, Kurt Anthony (February 7, 2024). "Writing 'The Tiger's Apprentice' was one of Rochester Adams alum's favorite projects". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024. Originally planned as a theatrical release, "The Tiger's Apprentice" was delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  22. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 23, 2020). "'A Quiet Place II' & 'Top Gun: Maverick' Moving To 2021". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  23. ^ "The Tiger's Apprentice (@TigerApprentice)". Twitter. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  24. ^ Couch, Aaron (September 22, 2023). "'Smile 2,' 'Mean Girls' Musical Set 2024 Release Dates". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
  25. ^ "The Tiger's Apprentice". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
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