Kung Fu Panda is an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated 2008 American animated comedy film. It was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb. The film was produced by DreamWorks Animation's studio in Glendale, California and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars the voices of Jack Black as the panda, Po, along with Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim and Jackie Chan. Set in ancient China, the plot revolves around a bumbling panda who aspires to be a kung fu master. After a much feared warrior escapes from prison, Po is foretold to be the Dragon Warrior, much to the chagrin of the resident kung fu warriors. DreamWorks is working on a sequel to Kung Fu Panda, which is currently in pre-production.[3]
Although the concept of a "kung fu panda" has been around since at least 1993,[4] the idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance,[5] a DreamWorks Animation executive. Work on the film did not begin until 2004. The film was originally intended to be a parody, but director Stevenson decided to instead shoot an action comedy martial arts film in the spirit of Hong Kong action cinema 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 animated films, Hans Zimmer (collaborating with John Powell this time around) 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 1 2008, and has since received very favorable reviews from critics. The film currently garners an 89% "Certified Fresh" approval rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. 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 has resulted in DreamWorks' biggest opening for a non-sequel film, and the third-largest weekend overall for a DreamWorks animated film, behind Shrek the Third and Shrek 2.
In China (populated entirely by anthropomorphic characters), the Valley of Peace is protected by the Furious Five, a quintet of warriors trained in kung fu by tortoise Master Oogway (Kim) and his protégé, the red panda Master Shifu (Hoffman): Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Mantis (Rogen), Viper (Liu), and Crane (Cross).
One day, Master Oogway has a premonition that Shifu's former pupil, the snow leopard Tai Lung (McShane), who was imprisoned after turning to evil, will escape from prison and attack the Valley. Oogway instructs Shifu and the others to hold a tournament in order to choose the legendary Dragon Warrior, worthy to receive the power of the Dragon Scroll, which is said to give limitless power to whoever reads it.
Po, an overweight panda and extreme kung fu fanatic, who works in his goose father's (Hong) noodle restaurant, is anxious to see the tournament, but is instead forced to drag a noodle cart up the mountain to the Jade Temple. By the time he has gotten there, the gates are closed and the tournament has already started. In his desperation to see the tournament, Po straps himself to a set of fireworks rockets, and ends up falling into the middle of the arena just as Oogway is about to point out the new Dragon Warrior. He ends up pointing to Po, to everyone's surprise.
Ordered by Oogway to train Po in kung fu, but unwilling to believe that a clumsy, fat panda can become the Dragon Warrior, Shifu does his best to make Po quit, subjecting him to a grueling series of matches with the Five, all of whom despise Po as an upstart. Po is dejected after his first day of training, but Master Oogway expresses his confidence in him.
Po refuses to quit, and as the days pass he becomes friends with the rest of the Furious Five, though still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu.
Meanwhile, Tai Lung has indeed escaped from prison and is on his way to the Valley. On hearing the news Oogway tells Shifu that Po is their only hope, but he can never become the Dragon Warrior unless Shifu believes in him. With that Oogway dissappears forever in a swirl of flower petals.
On hearing that Tai Lung is on his way, Po panics and tries to flee the Temple. Shifu now refuses to let him go, insisting that Oogway must be right, even if Shifu has no idea how to turn Po into a kung fu fighter. Seeing that, the Furious Five, led by Tigress, leave the Valley to stop Tai Lung themselves.
The next morning, Shifu discovers that Po has unusual talents when he is motivated by food, so he takes Po for solitary training in the mountains, and by promising food as a reward trains Po into a skilled warrior.
The Five confront Tai Lung over a long rope bridge, but he is more than a match for them, and sends them back to the Valley defeated. Feeling that Po is ready, Shifu gives him the Dragon Scroll, but it is revealed to be blank. Shifu orders Po and the Five to evacuate the valley while he prepares to face his former student.
During the evacuation, Po finds his father, who says that perhaps being a kung fu warrior just wasn't meant to be. In an effort to console his son, he reveals that the long-withheld secret ingredient of his famous "secret ingredient soup" is really nothing at all: it is the belief that something is special that makes it special. Po understands that this is the true secret of the Dragon Scroll.
At the temple, Tai Lung confronts his former master and demands the Scroll. When Shifu refuses, Tai Lung attacks Shifu and nearly kills him before Po arrives. Tai Lung can hardly believe that the "Dragon Warrior" he's been hearing about is a "big, fat panda," but as he battles Po to take the Scroll, Po puts up an unusually tough fight. Tai Lung gains the upper hand and opens the scroll, but is baffled that it is blank. Po tries to explain that "there is no secret ingredient," but Tai Lung goes completely berserk and attacks again. With the combination of his new understanding and his own natural resilience, Po finally defeats Tai Lung with the powerful "Wuxi Finger Hold."
With the Valley safe once more, the Furious Five fully accept Po as a kung fu master. Po returns to Shifu, and finds that he is exhausted but alive, and finally at peace now that his former student has been defeated and peace restored.
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