About The Tigers Apprentice
The Tigers Apprentice is a new cartoon movie from 2024. It’s based on a book from 2003 by Laurence Yep. Paramount Animation and Jane Startz Productions make the movie. Raman Hui is the director, with Paul Watling and Yong Duk Jhun as co-directors. David Magee and Christopher Yost wrote the screenplay. The voices in the movie are done by Brandon Soo Hoo, Henry Golding, Lucy Liu, Sandra Oh, and Michelle Yeoh.
A long time ago, Cartoon Network wanted to make a live-action/CG hybrid TV version of the book, but it didn’t happen. In 2019, Paramount got the rights for an animated film. Carlos Baena was supposed to direct it, and Mikros Animation would do the animation. The cast was revealed between 2020 and 2022, and Raman Hui took over as the director in January 2022. Steve Jablonsky made the music for the movie.
Originally, the plan was to show the movie in theaters, but because of COVID-19, it got delayed many times. Finally, on February 2, 2024, The Tigers Apprentice came out on Paramount+. Critics had different opinions about the movie.
Plot of The Tigers Apprentice
The movie is about a teenager named Tom Lee, who is Chinese American. Tom has an important job to do – he has to keep a phoenix egg safe from bad guys.
Voice cast of The Tigers Apprentice
- Brandon Soo Hoo as Tom Lee, the new guardian in training
- Lydie Loots as Baby Tom
- Henry Golding as Mr. Hu, Tom’s mentor and the Tiger guardian
- Lucy Liu as Nu Kua/Cynthia, Nu Kua’s the empress of the spirit world. Cynthia is a frog who owns a dumpling shop and is guardian of the temple of the 12
- Sandra Oh as Mistral, the Dragon guardian
- Michelle Yeoh as Loo, an evil sorceress
- Bowen Yang as Sidney, the Rat guardian
- Leah Lewis as Räv, Loo’s foster daughter and Tom’s love interest
- Kheng Hua Tan as Mrs. Lee, Tom’s grandmother
- Sherry Cola as Naomi, the Monkey guardian
- Deborah S. Craig as Pig, the Pig guardian
- Jo Koy as Rooster, the Rooster guardian
- Greta Lee as Rabbit, the Rabbit guardian
- Diana Lee Inosanto as Horse, the Horse guardian
- Patrick Gallagher as Dog, the Dog guardian
- Poppy Liu as Snake, the Snake guardian
- Josh Zuckerman as Rudy
- Ryan Christopher Lee as Liam
- Raman Hui as Radio Announcer
Production of The Tigers Apprentice
Development of The Tigers Apprentice
In October 2008, Cartoon Network said they were going to make a movie based on a book called “The Tigers Apprentice” by Laurence Yep. The movie was supposed to come out in 2010 and be a mix of real actors and computer animation. They had people like David Magee writing the script and Jane Startz in charge. But, sadly, this plan didn’t happen.
Then, in March 2019, Paramount Pictures announced they would make an animated version of the same book. It was supposed to come out in February 2022. Carlos Baena was going to direct, and they had Magee and Harry Cripps writing the script. Startz was still in charge, and Raman Hui and Kane Lee were helping. But, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to delay the movie to February 2023.
In January 2022, they said Raman Hui would now be the director, with Paul Watling and Yong Duk Jhun helping. Bob Persichetti would produce, and Carlos Baena would be an executive producer. Another company called New Republic Pictures helped pay for the movie, but they aren’t mentioned in the credits.
Casting of The Tigers Apprentice
In July 2020, they picked Henry Golding to be in the movie as Mr. Hu. Then, in September 2020, Sandra Oh joined the movie as Mistral. Michelle Yeoh, Brandon Soo Hoo, Bowen Yang, Sherry Cola, and Kheng Hua Tan were added, but we need to know their roles. In November 2020, Leah Lewis got a part in the movie as Räv. In July 2022, they told us that Lucy Liu would play a big role. In December 2023, when they showed us the trailer, they shared that Deborah S. Craig, Jo Koy, Greta Lee, Diana Lee Inosanto, Patrick Gallagher, and Poppy Lui are now part of the cast.
Animation of The Tigers Apprentice
Mikros Animation in Paris made the animation for the movie. They had a team of 80 animators, and it took them four years to finish the movie. Some animators from Spain, England, Belgium, and Canada also worked on the movie from their places.
Post-production
The movie was finished in the middle of 2023. On the day the movie came out, two people who worked on it shared some problems on Letterboxd. The first person, Didiwa, talked about harassment and changes to the script until 2023. Some crew members had to do many jobs and were paid more than they should have been without getting any time off. Meanwhile, others got to travel across Europe with all expenses paid. The second person, Devon Manney, worked on the movie’s story from June to December 2019. But, a few days before Christmas, Paramount laid off Devon and the rest of the story team because they wanted to make a movie similar to Spider-Verse.
Music
In December 2023, they said Steve Jablonsky would make the music for the movie. On January 26, 2024, Zhu released a new version of Survivor’s song “Eye of the Tiger.”
Release
The Tigers Apprentice was first shown in Los Angeles on January 27, 2024, and you can watch it on Paramount+ from February 2, 2024.
Originally, it was supposed to come out in theaters on February 11, 2022, but because of COVID-19, they changed it to February 10, 2023, and then to December 20, 2023. Later, it got delayed again to January 19, 2024. But in September 2023, they decided not to release it in theaters and instead released it on Paramount+ sometime in 2024. Finally, in December 2023, they announced the movie’s release date and a teaser trailer.
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