I’m not a fan of DreamWorks insistence on casting big name voices in their animated films (Shrek should not have been voiced by Mike Meyers). Sometimes it seems like they just go for a name, instead of someone who knows what their doing. But, if you’re going to make a movie about a Kung Fu Panda, that panda should be voiced by Jack Black.

Black we know, is the voice of the aforementioned martial arts bamboo eater named Po, in the upcoming DreamWorks computer animated movie of the same name. That’s not news. What’s new is that DreamWorks has announced the rest of the movie’s cast and guess what… KG gets the shaft again. On the plus side, at least they’ve cast a Chinese guy, since this is a movie about a creature native to China.

Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and a guy no one really cares about (Ian McShane by name) have joined the voice cast of Kung Fu Panda alongside Jack according to the all powerful, overly expensive trade Variety. Hoffman will play a Shifu, the Kung Fu Panda’s kung fu master. Jackie will voice Master Monkey, a dedicated warrior who is everything that Po the Panda aspires to be… and is not. Lucy Liu plays Master Viper, another of Po’s teachers, while that guy no one cares about will be your villain for this movie, a snow leopard named Tai Lung.

Is casting Jackie in a voice part really a good idea? I mean, I love him, but the guy can barely speak the language. He’s hard enough to understand normally, as the voice of a martial arts monkey it could be disaster.