Kung Fu Panda


Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American computer-animated wuxia action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, and 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 talking 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.
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 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. A sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was released on May 26, 2011, along with a television series premiering on Nickelodeon later that same year as a part of a franchise. A second sequel, Kung Fu Panda 3, was released on January 29, 2016.

Plot

In the Valley of Peace, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, Po Ping the giant panda is a fan of kung fu who idolizes the Furious Five – Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis – a quintet of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu the red panda. However, Po feels unable to pursue his dream of learning kung fu because he has to help his adoptive father, Mr. Ping the goose, in his noodle restaurant.
Grand Master Oogway, an old Galápagos tortoise, is Master Shifu's mentor and friend. He has a vision that Shifu's former protégé, the evil snow leopard Tai Lung, will escape from prison and 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 in front of Oogway as he points towards the Dragon Warrior. To the astonishment of everyone present, Oogway proclaims Po as the chosen warrior.
Unwilling to accept Oogway's decision, and believing it to be an accident, Shifu tries to dispose of Po with a harsh training regime. 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 durability, resilience, culinary skill, and good humor. One night when Po talks about Shifu's treatment toward him, Tigress tells the story of how Shifu raised Tai Lung since finding him as a cub and trained him in kung-fu. After Tai Lung was denied the Dragon Scroll he went on a rampage across the valley and tried to take the scroll by force, with Shifu unable to fight his adoptive son. Though Oogway was able to stop him, Tai Lung's betrayal caused Shifu to become cold and distant.
Meanwhile, Tai Lung escapes from prison, ironically picking his locks with Zeng's fallen feather. Shifu horrifyingly 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, Po despairingly admits that he has no chance of defeating Tai Lung. Overhearing this, the Five leave to stop Tai Lung themselves. 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 Five battle with Tai Lung, but are defeated by his nerve attacks. He spares Crane to transport the rest of the Five, still paralyzed from his nerve strikes, back to Shifu as a warning. After reviving them, 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. A distraught Po finds Mr. Ping. In an attempt to console his son, Mr. Ping reveals that the secret ingredient to his famous "special secret ingredient noodle soup" is "nothing", explaining that things are special when believed to be. Po realizes that this is the message of the Dragon Scroll and goes back to confront Tai Lung.

Po arrives to find Shifu badly injured and defeated. He then becomes a formidable challenge for Tai Lung, frustrating him with confusing fighting techniques on top of his excessive body fat that renders him with an incredible ability to absorb damage and 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. 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.
In the post-credit scene, Po and Shifu eat under the peach tree where Oogway used its blossoms to pass on. A seed of one of the fruits is seen growing into a sapling.

Cast

The film is based on the PS1 video game , also published by Dreamworks. Publicized work on the film began in October 2004. In September 2005, DreamWorks Animation announced the film alongside Jack Black, who was selected to be the main voice star.
In November 2005, DreamWorks Animation announced that Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane would join Jack Black in the cast. 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.
The idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive. 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.
Reportedly inspired by Stephen Chow's 2004 martial arts action comedy film, Kung Fu Hustle, 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. 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. Stevenson's aim for the film, which took four years to make, was to make "the best looking film DreamWorks has ever made".
The hand-drawn animation sequence at the beginning of the film was made to resemble Chinese shadow puppetry. 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".
Other reviewers have compared the opening to the evocative style of Genndy Tartakovsky's Cartoon Network series Samurai Jack. The rest of the film is modern computer animation, which uses bright, offbeat colors to evoke the natural landscape of China. The end credit sequence also features hand-drawn characters and still paintings in the background.
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?" In preparation, the animators took a six-hour kung fu class.
Producer Melissa Cobb said that originally Po was "more of a jerk," but that the character changed after they heard Jack Black. 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. Lucy Liu said that the film "was quite different because it was such a long process." 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."

Release

The film held its worldwide premiere at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2008, where it received massive and sustained applause at the end of the film's screening. 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, and on June 26, 2008 at Leicester Square in London, for the UK.

Home media

Kung Fu Panda was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 9, 2008, and on 3D Blu-ray on December 6, 2011 as a Best Buy exclusive. The DVD double pack release of Kung Fu Panda also includes a short animated film Secrets of the Furious Five. 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. As of February 2010, 17.4 million home entertainment units were sold worldwide.

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 and performing much better than analysts had been expecting. It also was the highest-grossing opening for a non-sequel DreamWorks Animation film at the time. 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. 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. 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.

Critical response

reported that 87% of 183 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 7.2/10. 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." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 73 out of 100, based on 33 reviews. Audience gave the film an average A- grade on CinemaScore.
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". 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". 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." 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". 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. 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".
Kung Fu Panda was also well received in China. It made nearly 110 million Yuan by July 2, 2008, becoming the first animated film to earn more than 100 million Yuan in China. 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." 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.

Accolades

Kung Fu Panda was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, but both awards were won by Pixar's WALL-E. Jack Black joked about his 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."
By contrast, Kung Fu Panda won 10 Annie Awards out of 16 nominations, although this created controversy, with some accusing DreamWorks head Jeffrey Katzenberg of rigging the vote by buying ASIFA-Hollywood memberships for everyone at DreamWorks Animation.
AwardCategoryNameOutcome
Academy AwardsAcademy Award for Best Animated FeatureJohn Stevenson
Mark Osborne
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Animated Effects in an Animated ProductionLi-Ming 'Lawrence' Lee
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Animated Feature
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Character Animation in a Feature ProductionJames Baxter
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Character Animation in a Feature ProductionPhilippe Le Brun
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Character Animation in a Feature ProductionDan Wagner
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Character Design in an Animated Feature ProductionNico Marlet
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Directing in an Animated Feature ProductionJohn Stevenson
Mark Osborne
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature ProductionHans Zimmer
John Powell
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Production Design in an Animated Feature ProductionTang Kheng Heng
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Production Design in an Animated Feature ProductionRaymond Zibach
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature ProductionJennifer Yuh Nelson
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature ProductionAlessandro Carloni
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature ProductionDustin Hoffman
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature ProductionJames Hong
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature ProductionIan McShane
Annie AwardsAnnie Award for Best Writing in an Animated Feature ProductionJonathan Aibel
Glenn Berger
ASCAP AwardTop Box Office FilmsHans Zimmer and John Powell
Critics' Choice AwardsBest Animated Feature
Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest Animated Feature
Golden Globe AwardsGolden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film
Golden Tomato Awards 2008Best Animated FeatureKung Fu Panda
Golden Tomato Awards 2008Wide ReleaseKung Fu Panda
Golden Reel AwardsBest Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in a Feature FilmEthan 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
Golden Trailer AwardsBest Animation/Family
Huabiao AwardsOutstanding Translated Film
National Movie AwardsBest Family Film
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Voice from an Animated MovieJack Black
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice AwardsFavorite Animated Movie
Online Film Critics SocietyBest Animated Film
Producers Guild of AmericaAnimated Motion PictureMelissa Cobb
People's Choice AwardsFavorite Family Movie
Teen Choice AwardsChoice Summer Movie: Comedy
Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion PictureJack Black
Dan Wagner
Nico Marlet
Peter Farson
Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Animation in an Animated Motion PictureMarkus Manninen
Dan Wagner
Alex Parkinson
Raymond Zibach
Visual Effects SocietyOutstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Motion PictureMarkus Manninen
Alex Parkinson
Amaury Aubel
Li-Ming 'Lawrence' Lee

Soundtrack

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. 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.

Sequels

A sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was released on Thursday, May 26, 2011, to good reviews. It was released in 3-D and was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson 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.
A second sequel, Kung Fu Panda 3 was announced as a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai-based Oriental DreamWorks. Kung Fu Panda 3 was released on January 29, 2016. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has said that the series could see 3 more sequels after Kung Fu Panda 3, bringing it to a six-film series.

Spin-offs

Manga

A manga based on the film was released in Japan in Kerokero Ace magazine's September 2008 issue. It is written by Hanten Okuma and illustrated by Takafumi Adachi.

Television series

A television series titled ' aired on Nickelodeon with its premiere on September 19, 2011. From the cast of Kung Fu Panda, only Lucy Liu and James Hong reprised their roles, of Master Viper and Mr. Ping respectively. 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.
' 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 Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special was aired on NBC Wednesday, November 24, 2010.

Video game

A video game adaptation of the film was published by Activision on June 3, 2008. 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 and a 7.5 out of 10 from IGN. 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."

Literature

DreamWorks Animation was sued in 2011 by a writer, Terence Dunn, for allegedly stealing the idea for Kung Fu Panda from him. 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. DreamWorks Animation denied any wrongdoing and after a two-week trial the jurors found in favor of DreamWorks.
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. 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. 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 Disney Lion King coloring book. On November 18, 2016, Gordon was convicted for wire fraud and perjury, facing a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. In May 2017, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution.