Kung Fu Panda

Directed by: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
Screenplay by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Story by: Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris
Produced By: Melissa Cobb
Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jackie Chan
Edited By: Clare Knight
Music By: Hans Zimmer, John Powell
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures
Release Dates: May 15, 2008 (Cannes Film Festival), June 6, 2008 (United States)

 

Plot: In the Valley of Peace, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, Po, a clumsy giant panda, helps his adoptive father Mr. Ping run their noodle restaurant. Po dreams of fighting alongside the Furious Five – Masters Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis – a group of kung fu masters who live in the Jade Palace, where they are trained by Master Shifu, a cranky red panda. The wise tortoise, Master Oogway predicts that Shifu's former snow leopard protégé, Tai Lung, will escape from prison and attack the valley to obtain the Dragon Scroll, a legendary artifact he had previously been denied. Panicked, Shifu sends a cowardly goose named Zeng to increase the security at Chorh-Gom Prison in Mongolia.

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. At Chorh-Gom Prison, Zeng's warnings are ignored, and Tai Lung escapes. Shifu informs Oogway of the event, with the latter making him promise to believe in Po as the Dragon Warrior. Oogway then passes on to the heavens in a stream of peach blossoms. Upon hearing that Oogway has died and that Tai Lung is fast approaching, Po, still unable to make any progress with kung fu, makes Shifu admit that he does not know how to train the panda into the Dragon Warrior.

Tigress overhears this and leads the Five in an attempt to stop Tai Lung themselves, unbeknownst to Po and Shifu. Meanwhile, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food, and successfully trains Po by incorporating these feats into an innovative kung fu style. The Furious Five fight Tai Lung; however, all but Crane are soon defeated by his nerve-strike fighting technique.

Crane carries the Five back to the Jade Palace, where Shifu revives them and decides that Po is ready to receive the Dragon Scroll. When Po reads it, he discovers that the scroll is nothing but a blank reflective surface. Despaired, Po and the Five evacuate the inhabitants of the Valley, while Shifu prepares to face Tai Lung alone. In trying to console a distraught Po, Mr. Ping reveals that his "secret ingredient soup" has no secret ingredient, explaining that things are special with belief. Realizing that this is the message of the Dragon Scroll, Po rushes back to help Shifu. At the Jade Palace, Tai Lung overpowers Shifu and demands to know the location of the Scroll.

Review: The story is set in the Valley of Peace, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the clumsy panda Po helps his adoptive father Mr. Ping to run their noodle restaurant, but dreams of fighting alongside the Furious Five – Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis – a group of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu. A fighting group that has dedicated their lives to training to be the best Kung Fu fighetrs.

The wise Master Oogway, Shifu's mentor, predicts that Shifu's former protégé, the evil Tai Lung, will escape from prison and attack the valley to obtain the Dragon Scroll, a legendary artifact he had previously been denied. Panicked, Shifu sends Zeng the goose to increase the security at Chorh-Gom Prison in Mongolia, while he holds a tournament for the Five so that Oogway can identify the Dragon Warrior, the prophesised hero worthy of reading the Scroll, which is said to grant limitless power on its reader.

Arriving too late, Po does everything he can possibly do to enter the tournement. He actually launches himself into the middle of the arena, where Oogway acclaims him as the Dragon Warrior, to the astonishment of everyone present. Initially Shifu does dispose of Po with a harsh training regime, while the Five dismiss Po as an enthusiast with no potential in martial arts. This causes Po to consider quiting but gets encouragement from Ogway. Over time the Five get to accept, in a small way, Po's resilience, culinary skill, and quirky humor.

The rest of the story is epic and has plenty of fun and exciting twists and turns. The story tells us how Po would became one of the Furious Five. All be it an extra wheel. For those who have looked at the story line they will recognise that the lineage of the Master of the Jade Palace is;

Ogway - Shifu - Po

While this looks simple enough, there has been an animated version that tells a story of Skunk Fu who is taught by a Panda Master. I'm not sure if this Panda Master is the same as Kung Fu Panda. Though it could be drawn that they are the same.

The film is one of a series that are all worth enjoying. Great for the whole family.

M J Flack