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Kung Fu Panda is a 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 Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, and Ian McShane. 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 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 (collaborated 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.



The Plot


Po (Jack Black) is a panda who works in a noodle restaurant owned by his goose father Mr. Ping (James Hong), who hopes that Po will one day take over the restaurant (like Mr. Ping took it over from his father, and his father, who won it from a pig friend in a game of Mahjong), and wishes to disclose to him the secret ingredient of his family's famous noodle soup. Po is a kung fu fanatic with secret dreams of becoming a great master in the discipline. However, his weight, clumsiness, and incredibly large girth make this goal very unlikely.

The tortoise Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) has a premonition that the evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane), the former student of his own protégé, the red panda Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), will escape from prison and return to threaten the Valley of Peace. While Shifu sends Zeng (Dan Fogler), a messenger goose, to Chor Ghom Prison to have the security increased, Oogway orders a formal ceremony to choose the Dragon Warrior, a supreme master of kung fu who can defeat Tai Lung. It is assumed that one of the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross) — a quintet of supremely skilled martial artists trained by Shifu, will be chosen for this honor. Po, in his attempts to see the gala public tournament during which the Dragon Warrior will be chosen, stumbles into the middle of Oogway's ceremony. Oogway surprises everyone by designating Po himself as the Dragon Warrior, despite Po's protests and Shifu's pleas to reconsider.

Revolted at having Po under his tutelage, Shifu attempts to make him quit by berating and humiliating him through torturous training in the Great Training Hall; the Five also dismiss Po as a worthless interloper. Taking sage advice from Oogway himself, Po endures their abuse willingly, eventually endearing himself to most of them with his determination, good cooking and sense of humor. Tigress later reveals to Po how Tai Lung came to be evil. Shifu raised him from his days as a young cub and treated him like his own son. Tai Lung was also one of Shifu's best students. When Oogway refused to make Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior, Tai Lung became enraged and ravaged the Valley because Shifu said nothing to defend his adoptive son. He then tried to take the Dragon Scroll by force; Shifu intended to stop him, but could not bear to fight what he had created through his love. Tai Lung was then defeated by Master Oogway and imprisoned for two decades. Tigress finishes her story by telling Po that Shifu loved Tai Lung like he had never loved anyone before, or since.

Meanwhile, Zeng's errand backfires when a tour of the prison given to him by the overly confident head of security, Commander Vachir (Michael Clarke Duncan), inadvertently enables Tai Lung to escape. Tai Lung orders Zeng to send word of his arrival to Shifu. In the Valley of Peace, Oogway passes away in a swirl of peach petals, his final wish being that Shifu must train Po. However, Po confesses his belief that he may never be a match for Tai Lung, and Shifu is lost for a solution. Overhearing this discussion, Tigress takes it upon herself to intercept Tai Lung, and the rest of The Five follow her to assist. The following morning, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. He leads Po to the countryside for an intensive training regime in which Po is offered food as a reward for learning his lessons. As Shifu hopes, Po swiftly becomes a skilled combatant.

The Five battle Tai Lung on the Thread of Hope, a small, narrow rope bridge over a large, mist-filled canyon that seems to have no end, though Tigress fights him for the majority of it as she has a heated rivalry with him. Although the Five manage to valiantly battle Tai Lung to a brief standstill, he defeats them all and unleashes his special nerve-striking technique on them. All except Crane are paralyzed by the move, and he manages to carry his friends back to the Valley, as Tai Lung allows them to return alive to intimidate Shifu and Po. When they return, Shifu heals the Five and decides Po is ready to be given the sacred Dragon Scroll, which promises great power to its possessor. However, when Po opens it, he finds nothing but a blank reflective golden surface on the inside. Stricken with despair at the scroll's apparent worthlessness, Shifu orders his students to lead the villagers to safety while he stays to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can.

During the evacuation Po meets up with his father, who tells him the secret ingredient of the family's noodle soup: nothing. He explains to a very surprised Po that things become special when people believe they are special. Realizing that this is the entire point of the Dragon Scroll, Po rushes off to help Shifu. At this time, Tai Lung arrives at the Palace to take the Dragon Scroll. While battling Shifu, he finally discovers that the Dragon Scroll is gone, and then attempts to kill Shifu in anger. But before he can lay down a killing blow with his sharp claws, Po arrives and saves Shifu by challenging Tai Lung, who scoffs at Po being the Dragon Warrior. However, Po's skills prove powerful. After thwarting several of Tai Lung's attempts to take the Dragon Scroll with his unique and humorously improvised techniques, Po is temporarily stunned and Tai Lung takes it. However, he is unable to understand its symbolism. Po tries to explain the wisdom of the scroll to a frustrated Tai Lung, who instead uses his nerve attack on Po. But the panda is impervious thanks to his amply-padded body. Emboldened, Po counter-attacks, and concludes their battle by using the Wuxi Finger Hold (a technique Shifu had previously threatened to use on Po) on Tai Lung, defeating him in a large explosion of golden light that ripples through the valley.

The Five return to the valley to investigate the cause of the explosion and find a slightly dazed but triumphant Po. Deeply impressed by Po's victory, Tigress leads the Five to acknowledge him as a Kung Fu Master. Po is at first overjoyed, but then suddenly remembers that Shifu is gravely wounded, and rushes back to his master's side. Po panicks that he is dying, but Shifu reveals that he is only experiencing inner peace for the first time in years. At the end of the credits, Shifu and Po are seen eating dumplings together beside the Sacred Peach Tree. A peach seed, planted by Master Shifu before Oogway's heavenly ascension, has sprouted into a new plant.