From computer screen to the big screen: Sneezing Baby Panda, a mockumentary based on YouTube hit, is coming to a cinema near you
- Original YouTube video has been viewed more than 250 million times
- Brought to the big screen by the duo who filmed the original video
- Released in Australia on Thursday
A team of Australian filmmakers have reunited to bring the story of one of the computer screen's biggest stars to the cinema screen.
The viral video of a baby panda sneezing has been reimagined in the upcoming US$5.7 million mockumentary, Sneezing Baby Panda.
Documentarian duo Lesley Hammond and Jenny Walsh, who in 1999 filmed the original baby panda Chi Chi sneezing at a panda breeding centre in China’s Sichuan province, have reunited to co-direct the film.
Impending cute-pocalypse: one of the pandas featured in the upcoming film Sneezing Baby Panda
Sneezing Baby Panda, follows the story of fictional zoologist Marnie Tyler (Australian actress Amber Clayton), who works at Ullamulla Zoo – where admissions are down and something needs be done to get people through the gates.
Enter viral sensation Chi Chi, who could hopefully turn the zoo's fate around.
The film’s co-creators have spent the past 20 years creating television specials for channels including National Geographic, Animal Planet and Australian commercial television channels.
The team was given a level of access to China's panda breeding centres that most Western filmmakers can only dream about.
Stealing a quick kiss: Australian actress Amber Clayton kisses a panda in the upcoming film Sneezing Baby Panda
Sadly, Chi Chi’s mother Mao Mao was killed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Sneezing Baby Panda opens limited release in Australia on Thursday May 1st. The film is set for a mainland China release in July.
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