Besides entertaining, cinemas have this powerful tool of preserving spectacular things for the posterity and this is what the new Disney movie, Touch of the Panda (also named as Trail of the Panda), will be remembered for, apart from the adorable pandas, several years after the actual occurrence of Sichuan earthquake.

For, director Yu Zhong has captured the mesmerizing beauty of Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve, in his lenses, minutes before tragedy struck the region in the form of earthquake. Touch of the Panda, which finished major parts of its shooting before May 12, 2008, will release in theaters nationwide on Friday, May 8. The film centers around a lost panda who after separating from his mother, meets an orphaned boy, Lu, in the forest, the two then trudge back home for a reunion with panda’s mother.

Director Yu Zhong and moviemaker Liu Weiyi were training their cameras on the scenic spots when the quake happened.

Recalling the perilous moment, director Yu says, “ In the morning of May 12, we were still shooting at China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong. After lunch, the sky turned overcast and I thought it would be difficult to shoot the pandas under bad weather. So I asked my crew to shoot some scenes from up the mountain. Just half an hour before the quake, I was standing at the edge of a cliff, shooting, but because the wind was too strong near the cliff, we withdrew. The earthquake happened not much later after we left.”

According to Yu, mountains were cut into half during the quake. The film crew was entirely cut off from the outside world.

The members decided to walk back to Wolong and wait for relief. However, the way to Wolong had been blocked off, so they turned around to walk towards the direction of Mountain Siguniang until they reached a small village at the foot of the mountain and found temporary shelter.

“I had only one concern at that time that I have the responsibility of leading my team to safety,” director Yu was quoted as saying three days after the quake. He and his team managed to return to the base located in the Wolong Nature Reserve, which houses the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center.

The director and his crew have taken back with them impressions not just about the earthquake but also of the innocent pandas.

Altogether 16 giant pandas took part in Yu’s film, and 6 of them acted as the leading giant panda, Pang Pang in the film in turns.

One of the 16 giant pandas, Mao Mao, adopted by Chinese singer Mao Amin, was found dead after the quake.

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