It’s been three years since we first met Po (Jack Black) in DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda. Then, Po was just a bumbling panda who aspired to be a Kung Fu master. This summer Po will return as a full-fledged Kung Fu Warrior in the sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, in theaters May 26. We got the chance to hear from the movie’s star, Jack Black himself, in a conference call with various parenting publications. Here’s what the comedian and actor had to say about the movie and his role.

How do you get yourself into character when you're in the recording booth?

I just like to put myself in the fur of the panda.  “What's the panda going through?  What's his emotional state?”  And I'll take a minute.  I just don't like to be rushed.  Sometimes I'll go, “Hold on a second.  Let me just imagine it for a while.”  And I'll do some little guided imagery of my own sort of a self-hypnosis.

Is it true that you put your whole body into your voice-over work?

I do.  If I know that the character is going to be bouncing around the room and doing very physical stuff, I want my vocal performance to match it.  So I'll have (Jen), my brilliant director, describe the scene and then I'll just try to do it.

What would you say is Po's message this time around?

It's a lot about living in the moment. It's got a lot of emotional resonance with a journey to self-discovery.

Do you like acting as a cartoon character or a live role more?  Which is harder?

It's a very different process.  When you're making a live action film, you'll go and do one minute of the movie every day. It's not really satisfying in the same way as doing an animated feature where you just do five or six scenes at a time.  Sometimes you'll go through almost the whole movie and by the end of the day, you just feel like you get your creative satisfaction, a lot like doing a live theater.

How was your mindset different going in to make a sequel?

The mindset going into the sequel was [that] we've already set up all the characters so we don't have to spend a bunch of time setting [them] up. You can get right to the action. I think, in a way, that's what's going to make this a better movie than the first one.

Po's relationship with his father is very poignant.  What was it like for you to become a dad in real life?

Well, that's the greatest adventure I've ever had -- having my baby boys. Your heart just grows three sizes larger.  It's like the Grinch story where you finally have this purpose and reason and where you're sort of teaching the little building blocks of living in this universe.

What kind of activities do you like to do with your kids?

Well, we love to play music.  I got a lot of little tiny guitars that are like ukuleles.  And I open tune them so you can't hit a wrong note. You can just strum it and it's automatically a beautiful G chord.  And we'll jam.  And we like to dance.  Whenever I got any moves or anything to practice, I'll practice with the boys.

Why are kids going to love Kung Fu Panda 2?

Because the Kung Fu is better than the first one.  I think you grow to love Po more this time because he's a little more vulnerable, and Seth Rogan, as usual, [is the] funniest man on the planet.