Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, a computer-animated comedy, is currently available for digital purchase or rental and will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on October 18, 2022. This is an exclusive clip from a brand-new featurette. Rob Minkoff, the film’s director and producer, and Kylie Kuioka, the child actor who voices the film’s kid character, sit down for a minute-long new featurette called “Working with Child Actor Kylie Kuioka.” Emiko, one of the film’s kid characters, is voiced by Kuioka, and Minkoff says that while it’s conceivable for adults to record child characters in animation, he loves it when a child speaks like a child character.
The “charm of youngster that comes through in… that specific performance,” he says, is apparent. He adds that he enjoys working with young voice actors because they are so enthusiastic about their roles and are willing to experiment with different takes and lines. The documentary concludes with a film that epitomises Kuioka’s performance as Emiko, showing her doing a take of a line read, taking some instruction, and then doing a second take with the adjustments in mind. In Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, an unfortunate beagle named Hank seeks out Jimbo, a former samurai cat, to teach him so that he can defend himself from bullies.
Through this ordeal, Hank earns the title of “cat hero” and the respect of Jimbo’s feline community by rescuing them from the evil Ika Chu. Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank stars Michael Cera as the eponymous samurai, Hank, Samuel L. Jackson as Hank’s trainer Jimbo, and Ricky Gervais as Ika Chu. Michelle Yeoh, Djimon Hounsou, George Takei, Mel Brooks, Gabriel Iglesias, Aasif Mandvi, and Cathy Shim all provide their voices in the film.
The film was co-directed by Minkoff, Chris Bailey, and Mark Koetsier, and was based partly on Mel Brooks’s 1974 picture Blazing Saddles. The script was written by Nate Hopper and Ed Stone. Available for purchase or rental on digital platforms, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank will also be released on Blu-ray and DVD later this year. Tuesday, October 18, 2022.