| Kung Fu Panda film series | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Stevenson & Mark Osborne (1) Jennifer Yuh Nelson (2) |
| Produced by | Melissa Cobb |
| Starring | Jack Black Dustin Hoffman Angelina Jolie Lucy Liu Jackie Chan Seth Rogen David Cross (More) |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer John Powell |
| Cinematography | Yong Duk Jhun |
| Editing by | Clare de Chenu |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (2008-present) |
| Release date(s) | 1: June 6, 2008 2: May 26, 2011 |
| Running time | 181 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $280 million |
| Box office | $1,297,436,841 |
The Kung Fu Panda film series from DreamWorks Animation, consists of two films: Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011). Two Annie Award-winning shorts, Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) and Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (2010), were also released. A television series for Nickelodeon television network, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, premiered in the fall of 2011.
The film series has been highly acclaimed with the premiere film being nominated in for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as numerous Annie Awards. Furthermore, this acclaim is particularly enthusiastic in China where the series is hailed as not only an excellent contribution to the wuxia genre, but for it for having an impressively knowledgeable understanding of Chinese culture and heritage for an American film production. In addition, the second film is the most successful animated feature film for its year[1] and is currently the biggest worldwide box office success for a film directed by a woman.
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Po (Jack Black), an accident-prone, fat, 24-year-old panda, is a Kung Fu fanatic, who lives in the Valley of Peace and works in his goose father Mr. Ping's (James Hong) noodle shop, unable to realize his dream of learning Kung Fu. One day, a Kung Fu tournament is held for the old spiritual leader of the valley Grand Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) to determine the identity of the Dragon Warrior, the one Kung Fu master capable of understanding the secret of the Dragon Scroll, which is said to contain the key to limitless power. Everyone in the valley expects the Dragon Warrior to be one of the Furious Five—Master Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Master Monkey (Jackie Chan), Master Mantis (Seth Rogen), Master Viper (Lucy Liu), and Master Crane (David Cross)—a quintet of Kung Fu masters trained by the elderly Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to protect the valley. To everyone's surprise, Oogway chooses Po, who had accidentally stumbled into the tournament arena after arriving late.
Refusing to believe that Po can be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu subjects Po to torturous training exercises in order to discourage him into quitting. Determined to change himself into someone he himself can respect, Po perseveres in his training and befriends the Furious Five, who had previously mocked Po for his lack of skill in Kung Fu. Po soon learns that he must fight the snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a strong, bitter Kung Fu warrior, who has escaped from Chorh-Gom Prison to take revenge for being denied the Dragon Scroll, and despairs he'll be unable to defeat him. However, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of martial arts when motivated by food, and successfully trains him to learn Kung Fu. After his training is complete, Po is given the Dragon Scroll, which he discovers to be blank. However, Po realizes that the key to limitless power lies within oneself, allowing him to defeat Tai Lung with the legendary Wuxi Finger Hold (which Po claims to have figured out) and restore peace to the valley, with the Furious Five finally accepting Po as a true Kung Fu warrior.
Po now lives his dream of protecting the Valley of Peace alongside the Furious Five. However, he's thrown into internal conflict when he begins having flashbacks of his mother and finally learns from Mr. Ping that he was adopted by him as a cub. Shortly after, Master Po and the Furious Five are sent on a mission to stop the evil peacock emperor Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) from using a newly developed weapon, the cannon, to conquer all of China and destroy Kung Fu tradition. Po remains tormented by thoughts of being abandoned by his real parents until he is guided by a wise old soothsayer (Michelle Yeoh) to embrace his past, and remembers that his parents risked their lives to save him from Shen, who had set out to exterminate all pandas after learning of a prophecy that he would be defeated by "a warrior of black-and-white". Po, who then remembers the happy and fulfilling life he has had independent of this tragedy, achieves inner peace, which allows him to destroy Shen's new weapon, defeat Shen, and accept Mr. Ping as his father, without knowing that his real father realizes that his son is alive.
DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has said it is possible the series could see four more sequels in the future, bringing it to a six-film series.[2]
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness is an animated television series based on the Kung Fu Panda films, set between the first two feature films. The show was originally going to air in 2010, but was delayed to officially premiere on Nickelodeon on Monday, November 7, 2011. Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross, and Dustin Hoffman will not voice their characters in the show, and will be replaced by Mick Wingert, Kari Wahlgren, James Sie, Max Koch, Amir Talai, and Fred Tatasciore. The only characters from the films voiced by the same actors are Mr. Ping (James Hong) and Viper (Lucy Liu).
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five is animated short, which serves as a semi-sequel (or spin-off) to Kung Fu Panda and appears on a companion disc of the original film's deluxe DVD release. It was later broadcast on NBC on February 26, 2009 and is now available as a separate DVD, as of March 24, 2009. The film has a framing story of Master Po, the Dragon Warrior (in computer animation), telling the stories of his comrades in arms, the Furious Five, which are depicted in 2D cel animation, similar to the opening and credits of the first film.
Kung Fu Panda Holiday, also known as Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, is a 2010 television special that premiered on NBC on November 24, 2010. It tells a story of Master Po, who is assigned to host the annual Winter Feast by Master Shifu, despite his wishes to spend the holiday with his father Mr. Ping.
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters is a short animated film that was released on December 13, 2011, as a special feature attached to the Kung Fu Panda 2 DVD and Blu-ray. It uncovers the backgrounds of the masters of Gongmen City: Master Thundering Rhino, Master Storming Ox, and Master Croc.[3]
| Film | Release Date | Gross | Rank | Budget | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Foreign | Worldwide | All time United States | All time worldwide | ||||
| Kung Fu Panda | June 6, 2008 | $215,434,591 | $416,309,969 | $631,744,560 | #97 | #53 | $130,000,000 | [4] |
| Kung Fu Panda 2 | May 26, 2011 | $165,249,063 | $500,443,218 | $665,692,281 | #181 | #49 | $150,000,000 | [5] |
| Total | $380,586,289 | $916,753,187 | $1,297,436,841 | N/A | N/A | $280,000,000 | N/A | |
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Cream of the Crop | ||
| Kung Fu Panda | 88% (164 reviews)[6] | 77% (34 reviews)[7] | 73% (33 reviews)[8] |
| Kung Fu Panda 2 | 83% (155 reviews)[9] | 80% (30 reviews)[10] | 67% (31 reviews)[11] |
| Average Ratings | 86% | 78% | 70% |
| Characters | Films, TV Shows & Specials | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kung Fu Panda (2008) | Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) | Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (2010) | Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) | Secrets of the Masters (2011) | Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011) | |
| Po | Jack Black | Mick Wingert | ||||
| Shifu | Dustin Hoffman | Fred Tatasciore | ||||
| Tigress | Angelina Jolie | Tara Strong (young) | Angelina Jolie | Kari Wahlgren | ||
| Monkey | Jackie Chan | Jaycee Chan (young) | Jackie Chan | Minor appearance (no lines) | James Sie | |
| Mantis | Seth Rogen | Max Koch | Seth Rogen | Max Koch | ||
| Viper | Lucy Liu | Jessica Di Cicco (young) | Lucy Liu | Minor appearance (no lines) | Lucy Liu | |
| Crane | David Cross | Minor appearance (no lines) | Amir Talai | |||
| Mr. Ping | James Hong | James Hong | James Hong | |||
| Zeng | Dan Fogler | Dan Fogler | Mick Wingert | |||
| Tai Lung | Ian McShane | Cameo | ||||
| Oogway | Randall Duk Kim | Randall Duk Kim | ||||
| Storming Ox | Dennis Haysbert | |||||
| Croc | Jean-Claude Van Damme | Tony Leondis | ||||
| Thundering Rhino | Victor Garber | Paul Scheer | ||||
| Vachir | Michael Clarke Duncan | |||||
| Shen | Gary Oldman | |||||
| Soothsayer | Michelle Yeoh | |||||
| Boss Wolf | Danny McBride | |||||
Kung Fu Panda: Arena Spectacular, the second DreamWorks Animation's arena show after How To Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular, is expected to launch in 2012.[12] The show is currently auditioning.[13]
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