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Kung Fu Panda
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Kung Fu Panda (2008) More at IMDbPro »

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Kung Fu Panda (2008) -- Kung Fu Panda Trailer
Kung Fu Panda (2008) -- Clip: Nothing is impossible
Kung Fu Panda (2008) -- Behind the scenes: Animating Po's face
Kung Fu Panda (2008) -- Interview: Seth Rogen "On the Furious Five cast"
Kung Fu Panda (2008) -- As "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" and "Kung Fu Panda" debut in theaters simultaneously, film critic Jess Cagle tells which flick is likely to win in this comedy showdown at the box office.

Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   61,534 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 13% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Jonathan Aibel (screenplay) &
Glenn Berger (screenplay) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Kung Fu Panda on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 June 2008 (USA) more
Tagline:
Prepare for awesomeness. more
Plot:
In the Valley of Peace, Po the Panda finds himself chosen as the Dragon Warrior despite the fact that he is obese and a complete novice at martial arts. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 12 wins & 20 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(735 articles)
Coraline Leads 37th Annual Annie Award Nominees
 (From FilmJunk. 2 December 2009, 9:28 AM, PST)

2010 Annie Award Nominations
 (From newsinfilm. 1 December 2009, 9:55 PM, PST)

User Comments:
A Nutshell Review: Kung Fu Panda more (284 total)

Cast

  (in credits order)

Jack Black ... Po (voice)

Dustin Hoffman ... Shifu (voice)

Angelina Jolie ... Tigress (voice)

Ian McShane ... Tai Lung (voice)

Jackie Chan ... Monkey (voice)

Seth Rogen ... Mantis (voice)

Lucy Liu ... Viper (voice)

David Cross ... Crane (voice)

Randall Duk Kim ... Oogway (voice)

James Hong ... Mr. Ping (voice)
Dan Fogler ... Zeng (voice)

Michael Clarke Duncan ... Commander Vachir (voice)
Wayne Knight ... Gang Boss (voice)
Kyle Gass ... KG Shaw (voice)

JR Reed ... JR Shaw (voice)

Laura Kightlinger ... Awed Ninja (voice)
Tanya Haden ... Smitten Bunny (voice)

Stephen Kearin ... Gong Pig / Grateful Bunny (voice)
Mark Osborne ... Pig Patron (voice)
John Stevenson ... Rhino Guard (voice)
Jeremy Shipp ... Blind Gator (voice)
Melissa Cobb ... Bunny Mom (voice)
Kent Osborne ... Pig Fan (voice)
Emily Robison ... Bunny Fan # 1 (voice)
Stephanie Harvey ... Bunny Fan #2 (voice)
Riley Osborne ... Baby Tai Lung (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erin Torpey ... Viper
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
Mark Osborne 
John Stevenson 
 
Writing credits
Jonathan Aibel (screenplay) &
Glenn Berger (screenplay)

Ethan Reiff (story) &
Cyrus Voris (story)

Produced by
Jonathan Aibel .... co-producer
Glenn Berger .... co-producer
Melissa Cobb .... producer
Lorne Orleans .... IMAX version
Kristina Reed .... associate producer
 
Original Music by
John Powell 
Hans Zimmer 
 
Cinematography by
Yong Duk Jhun 
 
Film Editing by
Clare De Chenu  (as Clare Knight)
 
Production Design by
Raymond Zibach 
 
Art Direction by
Tang Kheng Heng 
 
Production Management
Mary Bills .... production manager
Corrie Coughlin .... additional production supervisor
Rene Harnois Jr. .... production supervisor
Jeff Hermann .... production manager
Maude Lewis .... production supervisor
Robyn Mesher .... production supervisor
April Struebing .... production supervisor
Patrice Avery .... production supervisor (uncredited)
James Beshears .... post-production executive (uncredited)
 
Art Department
Kelly Asbury .... additional storyboard artist
Damon Bard .... sculptor
Max Boas .... visual development artist
Richard Daskas .... visual development artist
Alfred Gimeno .... storyboard artist
Rodolphe Guenoden .... storyboard artist
Bill Kaufmann .... visual development artist
Mark Koetsier .... storyboard artist
Christophe Lautrette .... visual development artist
Caprice Ann Ridgeway .... art researcher
Henrik Tamm .... visual development artist
Rachel Tiep-Daniels .... visual development artist
Spyros Tsiounis .... storyboard
Melchior Zwyer .... visual development artist
Pat Sito .... matte painting coordinator (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Erik Aadahl .... supervising sound editor
James Ashwill .... foley mixer
Anna Behlmer .... sound re-recording mixer
Derek Casari .... adr engineer
Blake R. Cornett .... sound recordist
John T. Cucci .... foley artist
Craig Heath .... sound recordist (as Craig 'Pup' Heath)
P.K. Hooker .... sound effects editor
Mike Hopkins .... adr supervisor
Jonathan Klein .... foley editor
Roy Latham .... original dialogue mixer
Wayne Lemmer .... adr editor
Cory Mandel .... sound re-recording mixer
Michael Miller .... original dialogue mixer
Andy Nelson .... sound re-recording mixer
Morten Folmer Nielsen .... adr editor
Morten Folmer Nielsen .... adr recordist
Dan O'Connell .... foley artist
Paul Pirola .... sound effects editor
Zachary C. Ross .... sound intern
Chad Roucroft .... sound recordist
Carlos Sotolongo .... original dialogue mixer
Ethan Van der Ryn .... sound designer
Ethan Van der Ryn .... supervising sound editor
Larry Winer .... original dialogue mixer
 
Visual Effects by
Fernanda S. Abarca .... surfacing artist
Motohisa Adachi .... effects developer
Karla M. Alvarado .... visual effects production assistant
William E. Arias .... lighter
Shinsaku Arima .... effects animator
David Bailey .... matte painter
Brad Blackbourn .... head of pre-viz
Andrew Bonello .... visual effects compositing engineer
Silviu Borac .... senior research & development engineer
Eric Bouffard .... matte painter
Jess Bressler .... lighting artist
Daniel J. Brick .... matte painting technical director
Scott Brisbane .... lead matte painter
Ronn Brown .... matte painting supervisor
Jason Brubaker .... compositor
Wendell Bruno .... assistant DMR editor (IMAX version)
Stuart Campbell .... final layout artist
Craig Cannon .... paint fixer
Jessica Canter .... surfacing artist
Kevin Carney .... character effects technical director
Gregg Carrier .... software engineer
Jason Carter .... layout artist
Zachary Carter .... animation technical director
Chloe Chao .... research and development
Wes Chilton .... effects animator/developer
Sebastien Chort .... lighting artist
Mitch Cockerham .... character technical director
Shaun Collaco .... lead lighting and compositing artist: Dreamworks Animation
Clint Colver .... digital lighter
Robert Edward Crawford .... layout/previs artist
Jonathan R. Cummings .... technical director
Kwesi Davis .... production engineer
Gilbert Davoud .... character technical director
Barry Dempsey .... surfacing/lighting technical director
Caine Dickinson .... lighter: DreamWorks Animation SKG
Sandy Dong .... surfacing artist
Adam J. Ely .... digital matte painter: PDI/Dreamworks
Kolja Erman .... effects technical director
Aaron Estrada .... lighting and compositing
Ken Faiman .... character effects animator
Cassandra Fanning .... digital effects artist
Peter Farson .... character technical director
Mark Fattibene .... cg supervisor
Sean Fennell .... lead crowd artist
Adrian Fernandes .... additional CG supervisor
Oliver Finkelde .... character effects technical director: DreamWorks
Louis Flores .... visual effects lead
T.J. Galda .... character technical director
Ashraf Ghoniem .... crowds artist
Caroleen Green .... matte painter
Alex Gurevich .... lighting technical director
Craig Halperin .... digital effects artist
Michael P. Hamler .... lead lighter
Lei Han .... lighting artist
Andy Harbeck .... surfacing artist
Christian Hatfield .... effects animator (as Christian A. Hatfield)
Marty Havran .... modeler
Matt Head .... visual effects artist
Edward Helmers .... lighter
Corey Hels .... layout artist: Dreamworks Animation
Ronald D. Henderson .... research and development
Robert Holder .... lighter: DreamWorks
Cindy Hong .... lead lighter
Robbin Huntingdale .... surfacing artist
Lok Ming Hwa .... lighting / technical director
Lucas Janin .... effects animator
Yong Duk Jhun .... head of layout
Tobin Jones .... senior fx animator
David Jordan .... lighting artist
Jeff Kasunic .... lead lighter: DreamWorks
Louis Katz .... lead matte painting compositor
Andrew Young Kim .... effects animator
Lisa Kim .... lead lighting artist
Soo Kyung Kim .... lighter
Takumi Kimura .... lighting artist
Jennifer Leigh King .... digital artist
Gokhan Kisacikoglu .... digital effects artist
Domin Lee .... visual effects
Gary H. Lee .... layout/previs artist
Jaemin Lee .... visual effects artist
Jaewon Lee .... modeler
Li-Ming 'Lawrence' Lee .... lead effects animator
Greg Lev .... lead lighter
Victor Lew .... visual effects artist
Kirk Lilwall .... third assistant editor: DMR (IMAX version)
Benjamin Lishka .... lead lighter
Nathan Loofbourrow .... character technical director supervisor
Markus Manninen .... visual effects supervisor
Mariette Marinus .... character technical director
Jeffrey Martin .... character effects animator
Jason Mayer .... effects artist
Matthew McCrory .... lighting artist
John McGee .... digital artist
Steve McGrath .... modeler
Mark A. McGuire .... head of global technical direction
Phil 'Captain 3D' McNally .... stereoscopic supervisor
Antonio Meazzini .... digital effects artist
Zeki Melek .... visual effects
Ori Neidich .... media tools & post-production technology engineer
Rob Nitsch .... character effects technical director: Dreamworks
William Opdyke .... visual effects
Michael J. Pan .... production engineer
Rupali Parekh .... lighting artist
Alex Parkinson .... character effects supervisor
Alex Parkinson .... crowds supervisor
Alex Parkinson .... effects supervisor
Nikita Pavlov .... visual effects
Mary Payne .... lighting artist
Andrew Pearce .... director of reseach and development
Drew Perttula .... pipeline engineer
Sven Pohle .... character technical director
Bryan Poon .... character effects
Dagan Potter .... visual effects
Travis Price .... surfacing
Paul Rivera .... matte painter
Kevin Rodgers .... character technical director
Eric Roth .... lighting artist
Nico Scapel .... character technical director
Paul Schoeni .... modeler
David Schoneveld .... visual effects
Scott C. Sells .... digital effects artist
Sameer Shah .... lighting technical director
Chris Simmons .... digital artist: lighting
Marty Sixkiller .... media tools supervisor
Marty Sixkiller .... software engineer
Aaron Smith .... CG supervisor
Drew Solodzuk .... DMR editor (IMAX version)
Young Song .... surfacing artist
Matt Steele .... character technical director
Curt Stewart .... effects artist
April Struebing .... production supervisor: Character Effects
Francois Sugny .... effects animator
Joe Ark Sun .... character effects animator
Ka Yaw Tan .... lighting artist
Olcun Tan .... effects developer
Hector Tantoco .... digital artist
Amy Taylor .... character effects technical director
Don Taylor .... lead lighter
Dave Tidgwell .... visual effects lead
Rachel Tiep-Daniels .... modeler
John Truong .... character effects animator
Ozgur Ustundag .... lighting artist
George Vajna .... second assistant DMR editor (IMAX version)
Marla Valentine .... matte painting compositor
David Patrick Valera .... layout artist
Brent Villalobos .... production engineer
Koen Vroeijenstijn .... visual effects animator
Dave Walvoord .... CG supervisor
Matthew Wang .... layout technical director
Gina Warr .... lead lighting artist
Jason P. Weber .... character effects technical director
Joshua West .... modeler
Gabriel White .... lighting artist
Rhiannon Leffanta Wilhelmi .... layout artist
Lori Williams .... digital artist
Ron Williams .... character effects animator
Eve Wong .... lighting technical director
Laura Wood .... production engineer
Stephen Wood .... visual effects animator
Joanna Wu .... additional lighter
Greg Wuller .... supervising technical director
Zhang Xiao .... visual effects animator
Emily Yi .... digital artist (as Emily How)
Melva Young .... lead lighter
Can Yuksel .... visual effects animator
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Eric Liebowitz .... still photographer
 
Animation Department
Manuel Almela .... animator
Kelly Asbury .... additional story artist
Isabel Auphan .... senior animator
Tommy Bacorn .... artistic development
James Baxter .... animation director: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Kendra Baxter .... general manager: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Jeremy Bernstein .... animator
Liz Borges-Herzog .... digital paint artist
Wee Brian .... animator
Deter Brown .... animator
Jason Brubaker .... assistant animator
Jason Brubaker .... compositor: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Alessandro Carloni .... animation supervisor
Alessandro Carloni .... story artist
David Couchariere .... animator
Joel Crawford .... story artist
Eric Deuel .... animator
Jed Diffenderfer .... story artist
Raymond Fabular .... assistant clean-up artist: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation (as Raymond Flores Fabular)
Raymond Fabular .... rough inbetweener: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation (as Raymond Flores Fabular)
Raffaella Filipponi .... animator
G. Mark Fitzgerald .... animation production assistant
Rex Grignon .... animator
Ron Griswold .... animation rig engineer
Rodolphe Guenoden .... animation supervisor
Alexandre Heboyan .... animator
David Hofmann .... layout artist
Steven Hornby .... animator
Michael Kiely .... animator
Marisa Ledina .... animation scanner
Gary H. Lee .... previs artist
H.B. 'Buck' Lewis .... character designer
Philip K. Livingston Jr. .... character effects animator
Marci Mack .... animation staff
Kevin MacLean .... animator
Mary Ann Malcomb .... animator
Nicolas Marlet .... character designer
Hezekiah McMurray .... layout artist
Helen Michael .... key clean-up artist: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Pia Miniati .... animation rig engineer
Ken Morrissey .... animator
Anna Newman .... animation research and development
Fredrik Nilsson .... animator
Mark Nonnenmacher .... digital matte painting
David Pate .... animator
Gabriele Pennacchioli .... animator
Pierre Perifel .... additional animator
Noah Peterson .... character effects animator
Jason Reisig .... supervising animator
Ben Rush .... animator
William Salazar .... supervising animator
Matthew Schmidt .... layout artist
Hameed Shaukat .... producer: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Jeremy Shaw .... animator
Chris Sherrod .... rough layout artist
Chris Sonnenberg .... assistant animation director: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation (as Chris Sonnenburg)
Olivier Staphylas .... animator
Tina Staples .... ink and paint artist: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Mike Stern .... animator
Paul Theren .... senior modeler
Gary Thomas .... story artist
Erik Tillmans .... compositor: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Ennio Torresan .... additional story artist
Theodore Ty .... animator
Christopher Vigil .... animation production assistant
Dan Wagner .... head of character animation
Makiko Wakita .... animation production coordinator
Alexis Wanneroy .... animator
Claire Williams .... color modeler: dream sequence, James Baxter Animation
Jennifer Yuh .... story artist
Kathy Zielinski .... animator
Guido Zimmermann .... character technical director
 
Casting Department
Ania Kamieniecki-O'Hare .... casting assistant (as Ania Kamieniecki)
PoPing AuYeung .... casting: Asia (uncredited)
 
Editorial Department
James Beshears .... editorial and post-production executive
Mary Blee .... additional editor (as Mary Margaret Blee)
William J. Caparella .... additional editor
John K. Carr .... additional editor
Terry Claborn .... color timer
Doug Cooper .... digital colorist
Wayne Hellinger .... post-production coordinator
Mo Henry .... negative cutter
C.K. Horness .... editorial department
Robert J. Lemos .... assistant editor
Darrin Ly .... assistant editor
Kelly Matthews .... editorial production assistant
Paul Neal .... editor: high definition
Kyle Pascucci .... film and color supervisor (as Kyle D. Pascucci)
Timothy Peeler .... digital colorist (as Tim Peeler)
Anna Solorio-Catalano .... first assistant editor
 
Music Department
Slamm Andrews .... additional score recordist
Chris Barrett .... score assistant engineer
Jeffrey Biggers .... additional score recordings (as Jeff Biggers)
Tom Broderick .... score technical engineer (as Thomas Broderick)
Julie Butchko .... music clearances
Dan Butler .... music business affairs
John A. Coleman .... orchestrator
Jane Antonia Cornish .... orchestrator
Germaine Franco .... orchestrator
Gavin Greenaway .... conductor
Isobel Griffiths .... orchestra contractor
Karen Han .... soloist: erhu
Charlene Ann Huang .... music coordinator
Henry Jackman .... composer: additional music
Kevin Kliesch .... orchestrator
Steven Kofsky .... music production services
Daniel Lerner .... score technical engineer
James S. Levine .... additional overdub production
Katia Lewin Palomo .... score assistant engineer
James McKee Smith .... composer: additional music
Liz McNicoll .... music business affairs
Dave Metzger .... orchestrator
Alan Meyerson .... music scoring mixer
Michael John Mollo .... music assistant
Perry Montague Mason .... orchestra leader (as Perry Montague-Mason)
Shawn Murphy .... additional score recordist
Jake Parker .... orchestrator
Sunny Park .... executive in charge of music
Ben Parry .... choir master
Richard Robson .... score technical engineer
Adam Milo Smalley .... music editor (as Adam Smalley)
Ken 'Kaz' Smith .... music coordinator
Peter Oso Snell .... assistant music editor
John Ashton Thomas .... orchestrator
Greg Vines .... score mixing assistant
Lucy Whalley .... assistant orchestra contractor
Nick Wollage .... score engineer
Nick Wollage .... score recordist
Andrew Zack .... score coordinator
 
Transportation Department
Adam Fox .... driver: dustin hoffman (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Adam Agardy .... training and technical development
Holly Allen .... production engineer
Rain Angeles .... systems administrator (as Cherilee Angeles)
Kelly Asbury .... additional story artist
Steve Baker .... research and development
Alain Banas .... hardware engineer
Allison Bernardi .... media coordinator
Will Bilton .... research and development
Stewart Birnam .... senior software engineer
Marty Brenes .... hardware engineer
Greg Bulman .... engineering system administrator
Grant Callaghan .... technical resource administrator
Mark T. Carlson .... effects engineer
Ariandy Chandra .... title designer
Scott Chapin .... engineering system administrator
Jeff Chasin .... production coordinator
Eric Chen .... martial arts consultant
Zach Clairville .... production assistant
Michael Coronado .... hardware engineer
Sarah Counnas .... technology production manager
Jayson DeLancey .... production engineer
John Detke .... engineering system administrator
Holly Dorff .... adr voice
Holly Edwards .... studio executive
Zain Effendi .... samples coordinator
Christopher Ell .... production coordinator
Sean Ellis .... engineering system administrator
Bart Feliciano .... systems administrator
Marc Fleury .... engineering system administrator
Paul Franz .... technical resource administrator
Reid Gershbein .... research and development
Adnan Ghani .... hardware engineer
Tiffany Giddens .... intern
Thomas Goddard .... technical resource administrator
Daniel D. Gregoire .... previsualization supervisor
Rodolphe Guenoden .... choreographer: kung fu
Juli Gumbiner .... technical resource supervisor
David Hail .... unit publicist
Audrey Holland .... production assistant (as Audrey Genevieve Holland)
Tiffany Hopper .... engineering system administrator
Tiffany L. Hopper .... engineering system administrator
Stephanie Huber .... administrative assistant
Brent Hutchins .... production coordinator
Joseph Izzo .... production coordinator
Mark Jackels .... production engineer
Geoffrey Jarrett .... technical resource administrator
Sean Kamath .... system architect
Jason Kankiewicz .... infrastructure engineer
Scott Kilty .... systems administrator
Hans Ku .... alliance manager
Michael Lachance .... creative executive
Tracy Larson .... production coordinator
Jeff Lee .... engineering system administrator
Mark Lelles .... engineering system administrator
Ed Leonard .... chief technology officer
Jim Leuper .... effects engineer
Jason Lloyd .... hardware engineer
Nicholas Long .... technical lead
Michael Lynn .... production coordinator
Jim Mainard .... special projects
Derek Mann .... systems administrator
Rich Marco .... engineering system administrator
Kelly Matthews .... story production assistant
Mark J. Matthews .... research and development
Peter McCown .... production assistant
Rezk Mekhael .... engineering system administrator
Brandon Miles .... engineering system administrator
Corrin Milewski .... research and development supervisor
Peter C. Miller .... software quality assurance
Mike Mitchell .... creative consultant
Olivier Mouroux .... unit publicist
Brendan Murphy .... assistant to producers
Paul Newell .... infrastructure engineer
Brendan O'Connor .... production coordinator
John O'Sullivan .... systems administrator
Raffi Parikian .... engineering system administrator
Paul Parmer .... editorial systems engineer
Harbor Peoples .... office manager: technology
Matt Pomeroy .... script supervisor
Jason Lee Pope .... engineering system administrator
Travis Price .... surfacer
Ernesto Quiroz .... hardware engineer
Paul Replicon .... technical resource administrator
Joshua F. Richards .... research and development
Daniel Rich .... engineering system administrator
Michael Riley .... title designer
Roberto M. Romo .... engineering system administrator
David Rosenbaum .... production coordinator
Stephen E. Ross .... engineering system administrator
Donald Schmidt .... research and development
Jeremy Shipp .... editorial production supervisor
Mark Soraparu .... story assistant
Morgan J. Steele .... administative assistant
Allen Stetson .... lead technical director
Michael Svihura .... research and development
Mark M. Tokunaga .... manager of digital resources
Tim Toll .... engineering system administrator
Tina Tseng .... production accountant
Ivan Van Norman .... production assistant
Lorraine Vos .... first assistant production accountant
Makiko Wakita .... production coordinator
Charley Walters .... international adaptation manager
Jon Young .... media coordinator
Daniel Yu .... research and development
Jennifer Yuh .... head of story
Brian Chacon .... manager of systems operations (uncredited)
Shaun Potts .... technical resource administrator (uncredited)
Cathy Sitzes .... technical resource administrator (uncredited)
Loren White .... post production intern (uncredited)
 
Thanks
Debbie L. O'Keeffe .... special thanks
Stuart Sumida .... special thanks
Gary Trousdale .... special thanks
 

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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Kung Fu Panda: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)
more
MPAA:
Rated PG for sequences of martial arts action.
Runtime:
92 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Po employs the bear-style of kung fu in his final fight with Tai Lung. more
Goofs:
Continuity: During Tai-Lung's escape scene, he tosses 4 spears into the air. When he jumps up he only kicks 3 spears, but 4 are shown crashing into the prison wall. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Po: Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend.
more
Movie Connections:
References Nacho Libre (2006) more
Soundtrack:
Kung Fu Fighting more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
What animal is Shifu?
Is there a scene after the credits?
more
85 out of 147 people found the following comment useful.
A Nutshell Review: Kung Fu Panda, 6 June 2008
10/10
Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore

It seems like this is a movie made for all the fanboys out there, regardless of what their obsessions are about. You know, being one who idolizes certain somebodies or some things, and given a day that Fate decides to throw you a curveball and give you that one opportunity to come up close and personal to meet and greet your idol in the flesh, or be thrown into the exact situation that you've always been dreaming about. What would you do, and would you go weak in the knees or be overcome with disbelief that you're actually, finally, realizing your dream? Panda Po (voiced by comedian Jack Black) epitomizes exactly that in Kung Fu Panda, and that struck a chord in me and with many in the audience as well. And for that, no matter how cliché the story would become, it had already done its deal and made the connection. It is no wonder it is rated G here, and I expect that the holiday season would allow cash registers to ring, for animation fans with the different styles utilized to tell the story (you must be on time and not miss the opening sequence), for kung fu fans to get a kick out of classic kung fu moves personified in their animal forms - Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Monkey (Jackie Chan) - collectively known as the Fearsome/Fab Five, and for the kids, given the obvious reason that hey, the protagonist is a cuddly bear. The marketing department, if not already done, should stock up on the plush toys, not only of the hero, but the supporting casts as well. And make their younger forms available too, for they will sell. Story-wise, I can't help but to note its tip of its hat towards the Jackie Chan martial arts movie of the past like Snake in Eagle's Shadow, Eagle Shadow Fist, etc. The formula which follows a misfit with weak or zero martial arts background having to undergo harsh training under a kung fu master, finally realizing his true calling in time to defeat the villain everybody fears. With the Jackie Chan movies, the demise of loved one always trigger off a chain reaction, but since this is G-rated, you won't have the pleasure of having blood spilled, but with so many splatter-type movies in recent times, I have to admit this was refreshing, and even having animated animals that talked, didn't irk me as they are just so lovable here, in their own right. It's an excellent and very even mix of comedy and drama, even though they are quite cliché at times if you grew up with the formula, but I thought that was the point. While the trailers might have given away some stuff, there are still lots more available which are hidden up the sleeves, and some minor word replacement such as "suck" to "stink", though you would likely be able to stay a step ahead throughout and even guess whatever secrets the movie have, actually are. For its stylistic training sequences, they became a throwback and a link to the fore-mentioned Jackie Chan movies. The fight choreography isn't done shoddily too with its designing of fights true to the characters' forms, and integrating them all in a manner rarely seen before. Since it's an animated flick, it was able to, and probably ramped up whatever's possible in the kung fu fantasy realm, to give us everything from rooftop flights to an incredible prison break. It didn't waste any effort in tapping from the wealth of kung fu material, what with the various names of deadly moves, secret manuals, teacher-student feuds, and the best part of it all? Humour being quite unexpectedly well placed, with more hits than misses to break out into a hearty laugh by the panda antics. For all its A-list voice actors in the movie, with the likes of Michael Clarke Duncan, Dan Fogler, Ian McShane and those who provide voices to the 5 key animals, Kung Fu Panda is clearly a Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman vehicle. The bantering between the two is priceless as the latter plays Sifu (duh) the master teacher, a highly-strung and serious character who has a past they are shameful about (don't they all). And as his own teacher Oogway (read: Wu Gui, aka tortoise, voiced by Randall Duk Kim) advises, herein lies an opportunity for Sifu to rediscover himself when training possibly the next-big-thing (pardon the pun) Po, whom he foretold as the mythical Dragon Warrior. So begins the forging of friendship, long lasting bonds and trust between the two, even though they got off the wrong footing. And you can probably feel for Po, because for a fanboy type, having your idols scoff at you at first opportunity, is actually quite painful. As a kids movie, there's almost always a message to take away. Here, it's a reminder to believe in oneself, which I guess is a universal theme to instill some confidence in the young ones. You might not look the best, nor are the best amongst your peers, but so long as you have that attitude to want to learn, that should put you in good steed. As a summer blockbuster movie, it's fun, thoroughly entertaining, and doesn't try to be too smart. It's likely to be a crowd pleaser across all age demographics, and an ultimate popcorn fare, so long as you manage to keep the popcorn away from the thieving hands of the panda. And with this release beating local film Kung Fu Gecko to the screens, I wonder what's the status currently on the Nickson Fong project.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Favorite Character? breakaway385
Who did the 2d animated art in the beginning of movie rickysay
Do you think Tigress and Tai Lung knew each other before as siblings? chronarita
'A really good idea for a sequel' is back mcgormanp
So what happened to Tai Lung at the end? neal2zod
this deserves a lot more than it did... Mightybull
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