Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American computer-animated wuxiaactioncomedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the first installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. Directed by John Stevenson (in his feature directorial debut) and Mark Osborne, the film stars the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Jackie Chan. The film is set in a version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals and revolves around a bumbling panda named Po, a kung fu enthusiast. When an evil kung fu warrior named Tai Lung is foretold to escape from prison, Po is unwittingly named the "Dragon Warrior", that was destined to defeat him.[3]
The film was originally conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive. It was originally intended to be a parody of martial arts films, but director Stevenson decided instead to make an action comedy wuxia film that incorporates the hero's journey narrative archetype for the lead character. The computer animation in the film was more complex than anything DreamWorks had done before. As with most DreamWorks Animation films, Hans Zimmer (this time collaborating with John Powell) scored Kung Fu Panda. He visited China to absorb the culture and get to know the China National Symphony Orchestra as part of his preparation.
Kung Fu Panda premiered in the United States on June 6, 2008. The film received positive reviews upon release. Kung Fu Panda opened in 4,114 theaters, grossing $20.3 million on its opening day and $60.2 million on its opening weekend, resulting in the number one position at the box office. The film became DreamWorks' biggest opening for a non-sequel film, the highest grossing animated film of the year worldwide, and also had the fourth-largest opening weekend for a DreamWorks film at the American and Canadian box office, behind all three Shrek sequels.[4] The success of Kung Fu Panda launched a multimedia franchise and a series of two sequels, starting with Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).
In the Valley of Peace, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, Po is a fan of kung fu, and idolizes the Furious Five–Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis–a group of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu. However, Po is unable to pursue his dream of learning kung fu while he helps his adoptive father, Mr. Ping the goose, in his noodle restaurant.
Grand Master Oogway, Shifu's mentor, has a vision that Shifu's former protégé, the evil Tai Lung, will escape from prison. Oogway fortells that Tai Lung will return to the valley to exact his revenge for being denied the dragon scroll, which is said to hold the secret to boundless power. Panicked, Shifu sends his messenger, Zeng the goose, with a request for the prison to tighten its security. He then holds a tournament for the Furious Five so that Oogway can identify the Dragon Warrior, the one kung fu master worthy of receiving the Dragon Scroll. Po arrives too late to enter the arena; desperate to see the Dragon Warrior, Po straps himself to a set of fireworks and launches himself into the middle of the arena. He crash-lands in front of Oogway as he points towards the Dragon Warrior. To the astonishment of everyone present, Oogway proclaims Po as the chosen warrior.
Believing Oogway's decision to be an accident, Shifu tries to dispose of Po with a harsh training regime, while the Furious Five berate Po as an enthusiast with no potential in martial arts. Po considers resigning, but after receiving encouragement from Oogway, he endures his training and gradually befriends the Five with his resilience, culinary skill, and good humor. During this time, Po learns that Shifu's cold and distant behavior stems from his own shame over Tai Lung's betrayal, having raised him from infancy.
Meanwhile, Tai Lung escapes from prison by picking his locks with one of Zeng's feathers. Shifu learns of Tai Lung's escape from Zeng and informs Oogway, who extracts a promise from Shifu to believe in Po, and then passes on to the heavens in a stream of peach blossoms. Still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu and fed up with Shifu's harsh treatment towards him, Po despairingly admits that he has no chance of defeating Tai Lung. Overhearing this, Tigress leaves to stop Tai Lung by herself being joined by the remaining members of the Furious Five before she departs. However, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. Using food as positive reinforcement, Shifu successfully trains Po by incorporating these feats into an innovative kung fu style.
Meanwhile, the Furious Five return after being defeated by Tai Lung's nerve strikes. Shifu decides that Po is ready to receive the Dragon Scroll, but the scroll reveals nothing but a blank, reflective surface. Believing the scroll to be useless, Shifu orders Po and the Five to evacuate the valley while he faces Tai Lung. As Tai Lung arrives and fights Shifu, a distraught Po finds Mr. Ping. In an attempt to console his son, Mr. Ping reveals that the secret ingredient to his famous "secret ingredient soup" is "nothing", explaining that things are special when believed to be. Po realizes that this is the message of the Dragon Scroll (as the scroll reflected him) and goes back to confront Tai Lung.
Po proves himself to be a formidable challenge for Tai Lung, frustrating him with confusing fighting techniques. Additionally, his excessive body fat bestows on him an incredible ability to absorb damage and grants him immunity to Tai Lung's nerve strikes. Tai Lung momentarily beats Po and retrieves the scroll, but he is unable to understand it and continues attacking Po. Eventually, Po defeats Tai Lung in combat by using the mysterious Wuxi Finger Hold to vanquish him.[n 1] Po is praised by the Valley of Peace and earns the respect of the Furious Five, who fully acknowledge him as a true kung fu master, while Shifu finally attains peace.
Cast[]
Further information: List of Kung Fu Panda characters
From left to right: Viper, Monkey, Mantis (on Monkey's head), Shifu, Tigress, and Crane. The Furious Five are homages to the actual Snake, Monkey, Praying Mantis, Tiger, and Crane styles of Chinese martial arts.[5]
Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, an elderly and stern red panda and kung fu master to the Furious Five and Po.
The Furious Five:
Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress, a ruthless and tough-as-nails South China tiger and leader of the Furious Five.
Seth Rogen as Master Mantis, a dry-humored Chinese mantis.
Lucy Liu as Master Viper, a sweet and good-natured green tree viper.
David Cross as Master Crane, a pragmatic and sarcastic red-crowned crane.
Jackie Chan as Master Monkey, an easygoing golden snub-nosed monkey.
Ian McShane as Tai Lung, an arrogant and aggressive snow leopard who was formerly Shifu's adoptive son and student.
Riley Osborne voices a younger version of Tai Lung
James Hong as Mr. Ping, Po's adoptive father, a happy-go-lucky Chinese goose who runs a noodle restaurant.
Randall Duk Kim as Grand Master Oogway, an ancient Galápagos tortoise and Shifu's mentor.
Dan Fogler as Zeng, a timid Chinese goose and Shifu's messenger.
Michael Clarke Duncan as Commander Vachir, a hubristic and boastful Javan rhinoceros who is the warden of Chorh-Gom Prison, where Tai Lung is imprisoned.
Production[]
... we love martial arts movies. I wasn't interested in making fun of them, because I really think martial arts movies can be great films, they can be as good as any genre movie when they're done properly ...
Let's try to make it a real martial arts movie albeit one with a comic character and let's take our action seriously. Let's not give anything up to the big summer movies. Let's really make sure that our kung fu is as cool as any kung fu ever done, so that we can take our place in that canon and make sure it's a beautiful movie, because great martial arts movies are really beautiful-looking movies and then let's see if we can imbue it with real heart and emotion.
—co-director John Stevenson on the comedic approach to the martial arts film.[6]
DreamWorks and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg had previously produced the PS1 video game with a similar premise, T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger, also published by DreamWorks.[7] Publicized work on the film began in October 2004.[8] In September 2005, DreamWorks Animation announced the film alongside Jack Black, who was selected to be the main voice star.[9]
In November 2005, DreamWorks Animation announced that Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane would join Jack Black in the cast.[10] This is also the second DreamWorks Animation film in which Black and Angelina Jolie have co-starred together, the first being 2004's Shark Tale.[11]
The idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive.[12] Initially, the idea was to make it a spoof, but co-director John Stevenson was not particularly keen on it and instead chose the direction of a character-based wuxia comedy.[6]
Reportedly inspired by Stephen Chow's 2004 martial arts action comedy film, Kung Fu Hustle,[13] the co-directors wanted to make sure the film also had an authentic Chinese and kung fu feel to it. Production designer Raymond Zibach and art director Tang Heng spent years researching Chinese painting, sculpture, architecture and kung fu films to help create the look of the film.[14] Zibach said some of the biggest influences for him are the more artful martial arts films such as Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.[14] Stevenson's aim for the film, which took four years to make, was to make "the best looking film DreamWorks has ever made".
We've had some productions that were stressful, but this one ran very smoothly and DreamWorks is [sic] this production as a template on how they would like future productions to run. We lucked out, and there really was a sense of harmony on the animation. Even the production people. We all seemed like we were on the same page, believing in the film. That doesn't happen very often. I tell animators, you will be working on dumpers for most of your career, but every once in a while you get a gem. Kung Fu Panda was a gem.
The hand-drawn animation sequence at the beginning of the film was made to resemble Chinese shadow puppetry.[16] The opening, which was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and produced by James Baxter, was praised by The New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis as "striking" and "visually different from most mainstream American animations".[17]
Other reviewers have compared the opening to the evocative style of Genndy Tartakovsky'sCartoon Network series Samurai Jack.[18][19] The rest of the film is modern computer animation, which uses bright, offbeat colors to evoke the natural landscape of China.[16] The end credit sequence also features hand-drawn characters and still paintings in the background.[16]
The computer animation used throughout the film was more complex than anything DreamWorks had done before. When the head of production handed the script to VFX Supervisor Markus Manninen, she reportedly laughed and wished him "good luck". "When we started talking," said Manninen, "the movie was still a high concept. But for everyone that looked at it, it screamed complexity. We launched off saying, how can you make this movie tangible? How can you find smart ways to bring this world to life in a way that makes it a great movie and not feel like the complexity becomes the driver of the story, but the story and the emotion being the driver?"[20] In preparation, the animators took a six-hour kung fu class.[21]
Producer Melissa Cobb said that originally Po was "more of a jerk," but that the character changed after they heard Jack Black.[21] According to Black, he mostly worked "in isolation", although he and Dustin Hoffman did spend a day together, which Cobb said helped with the scene where their characters face off.[21] Lucy Liu said that the film "was quite different because it was such a long process."[22] Liu said that when she was presented with the project they already had artwork of her character as well as a "short computerized video version of what she would look like when she moved."[22]
Release[]
The film held its worldwide premiere at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2008,[23] where it received massive and sustained applause at the end of the film's screening.[24]Kung Fu Panda later had national premieres in IMAX in the US on June 1, 2008 at AMC & Regal Entertainment Group in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California,[25] and on June 26, 2008 at Leicester Square in London, for the UK.[26]
Home media[]
Kung Fu Panda was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 9, 2008,[27] and on 3D Blu-ray on December 6, 2011 as a Best Buy exclusive.[28] The DVD double pack release of Kung Fu Panda also includes a short animated film Secrets of the Furious Five.[27] With 7,486,642 DVD units sold in 2008, Kung Fu Panda was the fourth highest-selling film and the first highest-selling animated film of 2008, right before WALL-E, which sold 7,413,548 units.[29] As of February 2010, 17.4 million home entertainment units were sold worldwide.[30]
Reception[]
Box office[]
The film topped the box office in its opening weekend, grossing $60.2 million for a $14,642 average from 4,114 theaters[31] and performing much better than analysts had been expecting.[32] It also was the highest-grossing opening for a non-sequel DreamWorks Animation film at the time.[32] In its second weekend, the film retreated 44% to second place behind The Incredible Hulk grossing $33.6 million for a $8,127 average from expanding to 4,136 theaters.[33] It closed on October 9, 2008 after 125 days of release, grossing $215.4 million in the United States and Canada and $416.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $631.7 million.[2]Kung Fu Panda was the highest-grossing non-Shrek film from DreamWorks Animation in the United States and Canada before it was surpassed by How to Train Your Dragon in 2010.[34]
Critical response[]
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 87% of 188 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.13/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Kung Fu Panda has a familiar message, but the pleasing mix of humor, swift martial arts action, and colorful animation makes for winning summer entertainment."[35]Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 73 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.[36] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[37]
Richard Corliss of Time Magazine gave Kung Fu Panda a positive review, stating the picture "provides a master course in cunning visual art and ultra-satisfying entertainment".[38]The New York Times said, "At once fuzzy-wuzzy and industrial strength, the tacky-sounding Kung Fu Panda is high concept with a heart," and the review called the film "consistently diverting" and "visually arresting".[17] Chris Barsanti of Filmcritic.com commented, "Blazing across the screen with eye-popping, sublime artwork, Kung Fu Panda sets itself apart from the modern domestic animation trend with its sheer beauty ... the film enters instant classic status as some of the most gorgeous animation Hollywood has produced since the golden age of Disney."[39] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called the film "one of the few comedies of 2008 in any style or genre that knows what it's doing".[40] However, Tom Charity of CNN criticized the action for tending "to blur into a whirlwind of slapstick chaos" and considered the character of Po too similar to others played by Black.[41] Peter Howell of The Toronto Star awarded the film two and a half stars, considering it to have a "lack of story" that "frequently manages to amuse, if not entirely to delight".[42]
Kung Fu Panda was also well received in China.[43] It made nearly 110 million Yuan by July 2, 2008, becoming the first animated film to earn more than 100 million Yuan in China.[44][45] The Chinese director Lu Chuan commented, "From a production standpoint, the movie is nearly perfect. Its American creators showed a very sincere attitude about Chinese culture."[46][47] The film's critical and commercial success in China led to some local introspection about why no film like Kung Fu Panda had been produced in China, with commentators attributing the problem variously to lower film budgets in China, too much government oversight, a dearth of national imagination, and an overly reverent attitude to China's history and cultural icons.[48][49][50]
Accolades[]
Kung Fu Panda was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature[51] and the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film,[52] but lost both awards to Pixar's WALL-E. Jack Black joked about the film's underdog status at the 81st Academy Awards, saying "Each year, I do one DreamWorks project, then I take all the money to the Oscars and bet it on Pixar."[53]
By contrast, Kung Fu Panda won ten Annie Awards (including Best Animated Feature) out of sixteen nominations, although this caused controversy, with some accusing DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg of rigging the vote by buying ASIFA-Hollywood memberships (with voting power) for everyone at DreamWorks Animation.[54]
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and
ADR Animation in a Feature Film
Ethan Van Der Ryn
Erik Aadahl
Mike Hopkins
Jonathan Klein
Adam Milo Smalley
Peter Oso Snell
Wayne Lemmer
Paul Pirola
P.K. Hooker
Dan O'Connell
John Cucci| style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated
As with most DreamWorks animated movies, composer Hans Zimmer scored Kung Fu Panda. Zimmer visited China to absorb the culture and got to know the Chinese National Symphony as part of his preparation; in addition, Timbaland also contributed to the soundtrack.[70] The soundtrack also includes a partially rewritten version of the classic song, "Kung Fu Fighting", performed by Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black for the end credits. Furthermore, in some versions, the ending credit was sung by Rain. Although Zimmer was originally announced as the main composer of the film, during a test screening, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that composer John Powell would also be contributing to the score. This marked the first collaboration in eight years for the two, who had previously worked together on DreamWorks' The Road to El Dorado and the action thriller Chill Factor. A soundtrack album was released by Interscope Records on June 3, 2008.[71]
Spin-offs[]
Manga[]
A manga based on the film was released in Japan in Kerokero Ace magazine's September 2008 issue.[72] It is written by Hanten Okuma and illustrated by Takafumi Adachi.[73]
Television series[]
A television series titled Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness aired on Nickelodeon with its premiere on September 19, 2011.[74] From the cast of Kung Fu Panda, only Lucy Liu and James Hong reprised their roles, of Master Viper and Mr. Ping respectively.[75] In the series, Po continues to defend the Valley of Peace from all kinds of villains, while making mistakes, learning about the history of kung fu, and meeting other kung fu masters. In the United States, the series ended its run on June 29, 2016, with a total of three seasons and 80 episodes. However, prior to premiering in the U.S., the final few episodes first premiered in Germany from December 30, 2014 to January 7, 2015.
Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny is an animated web television series produced by DreamWorks Animation released for Amazon Prime on November 16, 2018. It is the second TV series in the Kung Fu Panda franchise following Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. Developer Mitch Watson has confirmed that Mick Wingert will reprise his role from Legends of Awesomeness as Po.
Holiday special[]
The television holiday special, titled Kung Fu Panda Holiday, was aired on NBC Wednesday, November 24, 2010.[76]
A video game adaptation of the film was published by Activision on June 3, 2008.[77] The game was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS and PC platforms. The plot follows the same basic plot as the film, but with Tai Lung portrayed as the leader of various gangs that surround the Valley of Peace, which Po, who possesses some basic martial art skills which can be upgraded as the game progresses, must defeat. The game was released on Microsoft Windows, as well as multiple consoles. However the Windows version has been discontinued. The game received mostly positive reviews; it scored a Metacritic rating of 76% from critics[78] and a 7.5 out of 10 from IGN.[79] In 2009, it won the International Animated Film Society's Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game, "in recognition of creative excellence in the art of animation."[80]
The sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was released on May 26, 2011.[81] It was released in 3-D and was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson (who directed the 2-D opening sequence of the first film) with the original cast returning. The story features a new villain with a mysterious weapon so powerful it threatens the existence of kung fu, and Po must additionally confront his past.
DreamWorks Animation was sued in 2011 by a writer, Terence Dunn, for allegedly stealing the idea for Kung Fu Panda from him.[82] Dunn alleged that DreamWorks Animation had stolen his pitch for a "spiritual kung-fu fighting panda bear" which he sent to a DreamWorks executive in 2001.[82] DreamWorks Animation denied any wrongdoing and after a two-week trial the jurors found in favor of DreamWorks.[82]
In 2011, another lawsuit was brought against the studio by an illustrator named Jayme Gordon. Gordon had supposedly created characters under the name "Kung Fu Panda Power" and registered them with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2000.[83] He had allegedly pitched this concept work to Disney while Jeffrey Katzenberg, who later left Disney and formed DreamWorks Animation in 1994, was working there. Gordon withdrew his claim just before the trial was due to take place.[84] On December 20, 2015, federal prosecutors charged Gordon with four counts of wire fraud and three counts of perjury for allegedly fabricating and backdating drawings to support the claims in his lawsuit, and for allegedly tracing some of his drawings from a DisneyLion King coloring book.[85] On November 18, 2016, Gordon was convicted for wire fraud and perjury, facing a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.[86] In May 2017, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution.[87]
See also[]
Enter the Fat Dragon (1978)
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger (1999)
Legend of Kung Fu Rabbit (2011)
Shifu (or sifu), which means skillful person or a master
↑"CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2021. {{cite web}}: Each film's score can be accessed from the website's search bar.
Shrek 4-D (2003) • Far Far Away Idol (2004) • The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) • First Flight (2006) • Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (2006) • Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) • B.O.B.'s Big Break (2009) • Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010) • Megamind: The Button of Doom (2011) • Night of the Living Carrots (2011) • Gift of the Night Fury (2011) • Book of Dragons (2011) • Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011) • Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos (2012) • Rocky and Bullwinkle (2014) • Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014) • Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll (2016) • DreamWorks Theatre (2018) • Bird Karma (2018) • Bilby (2018)
