Two-time Annie Awards nominee Raman Hui (co-director of Shrek the Third) directs the new Paramount+ animated feature The Tiger’s Apprentice, which begins streaming tomorrow. It’s based on a popular book about 15-year-old Tom, who teams-up with the animals of the Zodiac to prevent the evil Loo (voiced by Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh) from destroying all that matters. (This Animation Scoop Q&A with Hui was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: How did you want to approach taking this book by Laurence Yep, which has such a cool story, and expand it and bring it to life for the screen in such a cool way?

Raman Hui: When I read the script and the book, what drew me was the background and the characters. I’m Chinese-American, and knowing the story of this Chinese-American teenager living in San Francisco, going through this magical world and meeting the Zodiac [animals]… it was fascinating. When we were working on the movie, we put some personal things in it. It’s a creative team working together. Hopefully the audience will like it and see the Chinese magic in it.

JM: Oh yeah. There are a lot of wonderful elements. I love the massive scope. What was fun for you about the big sequences and epic feel?

RH: I think we had a lot of fun doing the action scenes. With magic, you have no rules. For Grandma when she’s fighting against Loo, she can be in mid-air and can stay in mid-air longer, do a turn and a kick — and also perform magic to change the whole room to a different environment.

JM: I got to screen the movie before Christmas, and one of the things that has stuck with me is that there are a bunch of major characters — because of the animals you bring to life through the Zodiac. How was it designing those animals and making them front and center, right along with Tom?

RH: The first thing we had to make sure is we have a good tiger who can act and be funny at times and also carry all the emotions he needs to for the story. We did a lot of drawings and then needed to make sure the design itself can act — give us different expressions and you can understand what this character is thinking. We did the same thing with the dragon… and the rat… and the monkey.

JM: Henry Golding is fantastic as this guide for Tom in Hu. He brings the kind of rawness and authority that you need out of this character.

RH: The moment we heard his voice we were like, “Oh yeah. That’s our Tiger.” He can be very powerful. We had so much fun when he recorded his voice. He gave us so much with the character that we could animate to, and when we animate we make sure we have all the subtle reactions and sounds he makes. We want to make sure that we show those on screen.

JM: The reigning Best Actress Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh voices the villainess Loo. What amazes you about what she brought to this performance and what she’s been able to do throughout her career?

RH: I’ve been following her career since she was a movie star in Hong Kong, before she went to Hollywood. She’s amazing. When we talked with her about [this], we said, “Okay. We’ll leave it up to you, Michelle, which character you want to play.” And she said, “I don’t want to play someone sweet. I want to play the villain.” We were like, “Okay!” You haven’t seen Michelle Yeoh play a villain that much. She had so much fun. Michelle is very sweet. She got to become someone different.

JM: Nice. Our main character Tom is 15 years old. It’s an amazing adventure for him. It’s destiny calling. How do you get inside the mind of a 15 year old?

RH: When I moved to the U.S. I was in my mid-20’s. But for me, when I moved there, I felt like… this is my first year in the U.S., so I was only a year old when I moved there. I thought that way. When I talked to friends who were talking about American culture, I didn’t know so much, so I felt like I was learning. I imagined, “What would it be like after being in the U.S. for 15 years?” And also… I kind of used my teenage time to remind myself how I would react or how I would think if this situation was being put on me. And having lived in San Francisco and knowing that area and the people, we tried to stay authentic to that culture too. That’s why we have Brandon Soo Hoo, who plays Tom, sometimes says something in the lines and then we go, “Hey, maybe he should say that in Chinese to Grandma.” When you watch the movie, sometimes you might not understand some of the words he said but other Chinese-Americans will understand.

JM: I visited San Francisco briefly last year for the first time and have always admired it. You do a really nice job showcasing San Francisco and making it a character in the movie.

RH: Yeah, we did. We tried to make sure that whoever lives in San Francisco or has visited there before would watch this movie and feel like, “Hey! They really went to San Francisco and shot this movie in animation!” (laughs)

JM: You spent a number of years at DreamWorks Animation, co-directing “Shrek the Third” and working on “Madagascar”, “Shrek the Halls” and “Puss in Boots”. How would you say your time at DreamWorks prepared you to make “The Tiger’s Apprentice”?

RH: I have learned so much from DreamWorks, from all the people I’ve worked with, Jeffrey Katzenberg and all the crew. It taught me so much. That was kind of like my family back then. And actually, in working on “The Tiger’s Apprentice”, a few of the co-workers from DreamWorks were also involved. So it was an extension of the family that we moved to Paramount and Paramount gave us this opportunity to work together, do this project and get it done. We’re so lucky that Paramount was willing to do all that.

JM: Because of your work on this film, the “Shrek” movies and the “Dragons” series, it’s been a lot of animated projects involving a human and animal relationship. What would you say [are your thoughts] on this relationship after working on all of these [films and shows]?

RH: Actually I didn’t think about it that way, but now that you mention it… it is true! (laughs) I guess, to me, an animal is just another human or another character. To me, there’s no prejudice. Animals are great. Sometimes we can project ourselves into them. The tiger, the monkey, the rat and the rooster (loud and always wanting to be the boss)… as long as you can inject a character into them, I think there’s no big difference between an animal or a human. But an animal is more fun to animate because they have all these different things that they can use. Sometimes you can feel the tiger is a little sad just because the ears move a little bit. And the dragon, with her whole body, she’s elegant when she moves but also has all this personality.