Changes
According to director Jeff Blyth:
{{Quotation|I chose Li Po, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, to be our guide and on-camera narrator. This might seem like the equivalent of using Shakespeare to narrate a film on present day England, but I deliberately chose a historic figure so that the words he spoke would not seem to some conservative members of the audience like the official party line. <ref name="casting"> Viner, Michael, and Terrie Maxine. Frankel. Tales from the Casting Couch: An Unprecedented Candid Collection of Stories, Essays, and Anecdotes by and about Legendary Hollywood Stars, Starlets, and Wanna-bes--. Beverly Hills, CA: Dove, 1995. Print. Pages 68-69 </ref>}}
When Disney and the People's Republic of China were negotiating filming accessibility, veteran Chinese actor Shih Kuan was China's chief negotiator <ref name= "casting"/>. Kuan originally chose the actor who would play Li Po in the film <ref name= "casting"/>. However, when the actor demanded he be paid in the weeks between shootings, Director Jeff Blyth told Kuan that either he would play Li Po or Disney would fly to Hong Kong and cast someone else<ref name= "casting"/>. Eventually, Shih Kuan relented and agreed to portray Li Po.
