Having established two CG movie plans for "Ice Age 2" and "Kung Fu Panda," Blue Sky Studios was set to move full steam ahead. "Ice Age 2" would continue with the original production team, with Carlos Saldanha taking on the role of director alone, Chris Wedge stepping back as a producer, and Mike Thurmeier and a team of scriptwriters continuing to write the script, aiming for a release in the summer of '04.
With a wealth of pre-existing character designs, concept art for settings, and research on prehistoric environments, preparations for "Ice Age 2" were relatively minimal, allowing the team to quickly begin formal production. "Kung Fu Panda," on the other hand, was starting from scratch. Chris Wedge was also a major producer while inviting Jonathan Abel as a producer and scriptwriter; Wang Yang would serve as scriptwriter and supervising producer.
