MonkeyFunk
Kids and grown-ups love me so
[[Image:Kungfupanda.jpg|Po and Master Shifu|right]]
'''''Kung Fu Panda''''' is a 2008 [[CGI]] comedy feature film directed by [[John Stevenson]] and [[Mark Osborne]] and produced by [[Melissa Cobb]] for [[DreamWorks Animation]].
==Plot==
Po the panda is a lowly noodle-soup waiter in his family's restaurant until he goes to a tournament which intends to determine the identity of the legendary Dragon Warrior. That title gets thrust onto Po seemingly by accident; after this, he's put on a collision course with the fearsome snow leopard warrior Tai Lung, as well as with the grouchy Master Shifu and his disciples the Furious Five. Can Shifu train the out-of-shape Po into a martial arts hero ready for his confrontation with Tai Lung?
==Characters==
:'''Po''' ([[Jack Black]]), a giant panda, is the son of a noodle chef. Although his father expects him to continue the family business, Po yearns to become a kung fu fighter - a wish that is granted when Master Oogway identifies him as the Dragon Warrior.
:'''The Furious Five''' - '''Monkey''' ([[Jackie Chan]]), '''Tigress''' ([[Angelina Jolie]]), '''Viper''' ([[Lucy Liu]]), '''Crane''' ([[David Cross]]) and '''Mantis''' ([[Seth Rogen]]) - are a group of martial artists so popular that they even have their own action figures. Po idolises them, but they do not accept him right off the bat. The characters are named after styles of Chinese martial arts.
:'''Master Shifu''' ([[Dustin Hoffman]]), a red panda, is a kung fu master who taught the Furious Five, Tai Lung, and now Po - who he has trouble accepting as the Dragon Warrior.
:'''Master Oogway''' ([[Randall Duk Kim]]), a tortoise, is Master Shifu's old teacher. More level-headed than his student, he is a source of inspiration to both red panda and to Po.
:'''Tai Lung''', a snow leopard, is the villain of the piece. Once a student of Master Shifu, he turned evil and was incarcerated in a colossal prison. He has now escaped and according to Master Oogway, Po is the one who will defeat him.
:'''Mr. Ping''' ([[James Hong]]) is Po's father; unlike his son, he's a goose. He runs a family noodle business.
:'''Zeng''' ([[Dan Fogler]]), a goose, is Master Shifu's messenger.
:'''Commander Vachir''' ([[Michael Clarke Duncan]]), a rhinoceros, is in charge of the prison where Tai Lung is held.
==Notable staff==
{| width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| '''Directors'''<br>[[John Stevenson]]<br>[[Mark Osborne]]
'''Producer'''<br>[[Melissa Cobb]]<br>
'''Co-producers'''<br>[[Jonathan Aibel]]<br>[[Glenn Berger]]
'''Screenplay'''<br>[[Jonathan Aibel]]<br>[[Glenn Berger]]
|'''Story'''<br>[[Ethan Reiff]]<br>[[Cyrus Voris]]
'''Music'''<br>[[Hans Zimmer]]<br>[[John Powell]]
'''Head of story'''<br>[[Jennifer Yuh Nelson]]
'''Dream sequence director'''<br>[[Jennifer Yuh Nelson]]
'''Editor'''<br>[[Clare Knight]]
|'''Production designer'''<br>[[Raymond Zibach]]
'''Visual effects supervisor'''<br>[[Markus Manninen]]<br>
'''Head of character animation'''<br>[[Dan Wagner]]<br>
'''Art director'''<br>[[Tang Kheng Heng]]<br>
'''Character designs'''<br>[[Nico Marlet]]<br>
'''Head of layout'''<br>[[Yong Duk Jhun]]<br>
|}
==Production history==
====Concept====
Although the film had been publicly mentioned beforehand, DreamWorks did not officially announce the project's existence, and the involvement of Jack Black as lead [[voice actor]], until September 2005. Two months later it was announced that Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Ian McShane would also be voicing, with Lucy Liu at the time in talks to join the cast. The makers of the film claimed to be aiming for a character-based story set in a believable world, with ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', ''Hero'' and ''House of Flying Daggers'' cited as influences alongside, reportedly, the comedy film ''Kung Fu Hustle''. Art director [[Tang Heng]] and production designer [[Raymond Zibach]] also looked at Chinese architecture, sculpture and paintings, spending years researching the subjects.
According to co-director John Stevenson, the project was originally more parodic in nature; Stevenson and the crew rejected this approach and decided, in essence, to make a good martial arts movie which also happened to be a comedy. "We asked ourselves the question, what if Akira Kurosawa shot a Jerry Lewis film?", said Stevenson. "We defined this as a film that was not going to have contemporary jokes in it, was not going to be self-aware, was going to take itself seriously although it was a comedy... [w]e knew we didn't want any pop songs. We wanted an orchestral, timeless epic movie score".
====Animation====
The film opens with a sequence directed by [[Jennifer Yuh Nelson]] at [[James Baxter Animation]], made using [[drawn animation]] that suggests Chinese shadow puppetry. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times described the sequence as "striking" and "visually different from most mainstream American animations... nothing that comes afterward really compares to it". Another critic, Chris Barsanti, commented that the sequence's "abstract style seems culled straight from a modern manga". Drawn animation was also used in the end credits sequence, which was a collaboration between DreamWorks, James Baxter Animation and [[Shine]].
VFX Supervisor [[Markus Manninen]] allegedly laughed upon seeing the script and wished the head of production good luck: "for everyone that looked at it, it screamed complexity", said Manninen. "We launched off saying, how can you make this movie tangible?". As well as handling a variety of technical challanges, the animators were trained in kung fu by experts brought in by Head of Character Animation [[Dan Wagner]].
====Acting====
The character of Po changed somewhat during development. Producer [[Melissa Cobb]] has commented that he was "a little bit more of a jerk in the beginning", but this take was reconsidered as Jack Black's performance suggested a more good-natured character.
Jack Black said of the film's voice crew that "for the most part, we [worked] in isolation", although Black and Dustin Hoffman worked together on one day for a scene where their characters face off with each other; Cobb called this "a great moment in the movie I think as a result because there is a really quick back and forth between the two of them that came out of that day".
Lucy Liu described her experience acting in the film as "quite different because it was such a long process." Her performance was aided by test footage of her character: "they had pictures of Viper already and they also had a really small, short computerized video version of what she would look like when she moved because her movement is very different."
==Soundtrack==
The film was scored by [[Hans Zimmer]], who travelled to China and met the Chinese National Symphony to prepare himself for the project, and [[John Powell]]; Powell's involvement was announced late in development. Zimmer and Powell's last collaboration was in 2000 when the provided the score to ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]''. The soundtrack includes a cover version of ''Kung Fu Fighting'' by Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black which is performed over the closing credits. A soundtrack album for the film was released on June 3, 2008 by Interscope Records.
: 1 ''Hero'' - 4:42
: 2 ''Let the Tournament Begin'' - 1:59
: 3 ''Dragon Warrior is Among Us'' - 2:57
: 4 ''Tai Lung Escapes'' - 7:06
: 5 ''Peach Tree of Wisdom'' - 1:53
: 6 ''Accu-Flashback'' - 4:05
: 7 ''Impersonating Shifu'' - 2:19
: 8 ''Sacred Pool of Tears'' - 9:51
: 9 ''Training Po'' - 1:28
: 10 ''The Bridge'' - 3:23
: 11 ''Shifu Faces Tai Lung'' - 4:46
: 12 ''The Dragon Scroll'' - 2:31
: 13 ''Po vs Tai Lung'' - 2:41
: 14 ''Dragon Warrior Rises'' - 3:22
: 15 ''Panda Po'' - 2:39
: 16 ''Oogway Ascends'' - 2:04
: 17 ''Kung Fu Fighting'' (Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black) - 2:30
==Release==
''Kung Fu Panda'' debuted at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where it was reportedly greeted with heavy applause. It made its United States premier on June 1 2008 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles; a large, helium-filled figure of Po was used to mark the event. The film's British premier was June 26, 2008 at London's at Leicester Square.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 9, 2008. Amongst the special features included are a commentary track, three more behind-the-scenes featurettes ("Meet the Cast", "Pushing the Boundaries" and "Sound Design"), a documentary on the making of Chinese noodles, a music video of the "Kung Fu Fighting" cover used for the end credits, a public service announcement to save the pandas, and a collection of DVD games in the "Dragon Warrior Training Academy".
The two-disc release also contains a 24-minute animated short titled ''[[Secrets of the Furious Five]]'' along with more DVD games, a "Learn to Draw" feature, four featurettes about Chinese culture (two on kung fu, one on chopsticks, and one on the Chinese zodiac), a dance tutorial, and a quiz to decide which style of kung fu is best for you. The Blu-ray edition of the film also includes "Animator's Corner" (which mixes the directors' commentary track with extra comments and footage from the animators and actors) and a trivia track.
==Reception==
''Kung Fu Panda'''s critical reception was largely positive. Of the reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes, 89% are positive, while the reviews of the site's top critics gave the film 67%. The site's users gave it an average rating of 92%. At Metacritic the film scored 73 out of 100.
Animation scholar [[Jerry Beck]] picked ''Kung Fu Panda'' as his favourite animated feature of 2008, commenting that "the entire film, from beginning to end, worked perfectly - as an adventure, as comedy, with delightful eye candy art direction, great voice acting and wonderful character animation [...] It?s Dreamworks best film and it revived my hope that Jeffery?s studio can compete aesthetically (as well as commercially) with [[Pixar]]." Chris Barsanti of Filmcritic.com said that "lazing across the screen with eye-popping, sublime artwork, ''Kung Fu Panda'' sets itself apart from the modern domestic animation trend with its sheer beauty", and that - in contrast to the "cold and severe"-looking ''[[Shrek (franchise)|Shrek]]'' series - "the film enters instant classic status as some of the most gorgeous animation Hollywood has produced since the golden age of Disney." On a more negative note, Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters described the film as "another powerhouse Family Entertainment that means to pummel its young viewers into adulation", and dismissed its message as "[t]rite and tedious".
''Kung Fu Panda'' was released in 4,114 cinemas and became number one at the box office, taking $20.3 million on its opening day and $60.2 million over the weekend. This was the biggest opening for a non-sequel DreamWorks Animation film: only ''[[Shrek 2]]'' and ''[[Shrek the Third]]'' grossed more. ''Kung Fu Panda'''s worldwide gross was over $600 million; as its chief rival, [[Pixar]]'s ''[[WALL-E]]'' pulled in just over $500 million, ''Kung Fu Panda'' took its place as the highest-grossing animated feature of 2008. It was also the third-highest grossing feature film of the year.
In terms of international performance, particular attention can be payed to China, where it became the first animated feature to gross over 100 million yuan in box office takings, taking over 135 million yuan in three weeks. The Chinese filmmaker Lu Chuan said that "[f]rom a production standpoint, the movie is nearly perfect. Its American creators showed a very sincere attitude about Chinese culture" and asked "[w]hen can the Chinese animation industry make such a good movie?". Lu Chuan quit a job directing an animated film for the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to government interference.
The film was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Feature]] and [[Golden Globe for Best Animated Film]], but in both cases lost to ''[[WALL-E]]''. At the [[Annie Awards]] the film won in eleven categories, a victory which was met with suspicion in some quarters (see '''controversy''' below).
====Controversy====
Although it enjoyed a generally positive reception in China, ''Kung Fu Panda'' was also met with harsh criticism from some quarters in the country. The Chinese artist Zhao Bandi launched a petition calling for a cancellation of the film's release, objecting to Hollywood exploiting the national icons of pandas and martial arts. He also pointed out the film's connection to Steven Spielberg (who quit his position as advisor to the Beijing Olympics over China's role in Sudan), and objected in particular to the film being screened in areas of the giant panda habitat of Sichuan that were hit by an earthquake earlier that year. "If the Hollywood film ?Kung Fu Panda? is released on Jun. 20, it will be just like snatching the necklaces and watches from the corpses of disaster victims", he commented. Bandi later launched legal action against DreamWorks on the grounds that the film depicts a panda - representative to foreigners, he says, of Chinese people as a whole - with a duck as a father and green eyes ("Designing the panda with green eyes is a conspiracy. A panda with green eyes has the feeling of evil. We would never have used green eyes to describe a kindhearted figure", said Bandi).
The film's success at the 2009 Annie Awards, where it beat out ''WALL-E'' in every category where the two went up against each other, also provoked controversy. David Carr of the ''New York Times'' dismissed ''Kung Fu Panda'''s success as "an inside job, full of backstage politics you don?t want to know about"; animator [[Bill Plympton]] commented that "it feels like the elections were rigged - they were bought! What a travesty".
==Sequels and tie-ins==
An official sequel, titled ''[[Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom]]'', has begun production and is slated for release on June 3, 2011. It will be directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and will see the first film's heroes (voiced by the same cast) going up against a new villain with a powerful weapon while Po confronts his past. Like all future DreamWorks animation films, it will be in [[3D]].
The film already has an unauthorised sequel in ''[[Kung fu Master aka Wong Fei Hong vs Kung Fu Panda]]'', a Chinese direct-to-video film released in August 2008. The film sees ''Kung Fu Panda'''s protagonist teaming up with real-life Chinese hero Wong Fei Hung to retrieve a treasure for the Buddha.
A [[Manga|Japanese comic]] adaptation of the film, written by Hanten ?kuma and drawn by Takafumi Adachi, launched in the September 2008 issue of ''Kerokero Ace'' magazine.
A 26-episode CGI TV series for [[Nickelodeon]] will premier in 2010, marking the second co-production between Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation (the first being ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]''). "The characters we created for ''Kung Fu Panda'' are well suited to be further developed in new and exciting ways," commented DreamWorks' [[Ann Daly]].
A video game based on the film, developed and published by Activision, was released on June 3, 2008 to generally positive reivews: Metacritic.com gave it a score of 75 (with a user score of 8.5), while IGN gave it 7.5 out of 10. The game also won the [[Annie Awards|Annie Award]] for Best Animated Video Game. In the game's version of the story Po goes up against not only Tai Lung but also the Croc, Boar and Ninja Cat gangs. The game was released on Microsoft Windows and multiple console formats.
==References==
* [http://www.moria.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2485Itemid=1 Moria - Kung Fu Panda]
* [http://www.tjgalda.com/About/Appearances_files/record_shark_some_bite.html Giving a shark some bite; Local animator swims with the big boys, Kitchener Record]
* [http://www.empireonline.com/News/story.asp?nid=17136 Dreamworks Animation Plans Kung Fu Panda - Empire]
* [http://movies.about.com/od/moviesinproduction/a/kungfu110905.htm DreamWorks Announces the Cast of "Kung Fu Panda" - About.com]
* [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=45494 Kung Fu Panda Co-Director John Stevenson - ComingSoon.net]
* [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2008/06/01/2008-06-01_kung_fu_panda_gets_cuddly.html 'Kung Fu Panda gets cuddly - NY Daily News]
* [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22Kung+Fu+Panda.%22+The+computer-animated+picture+was+reportedly+inspired+by+Stephen+Chow%27s+action+comedy%2C+%22Kung+Fu+Hustle.%22&btnG=Search+Archives&hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8 1104 Film Clips - Bucks Courier Times]
* [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/movies/s_570635.html 'Kung Fu Panda' pushes boundaries of cartoon art - Pittsburgh Live]
* [http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_14790.html Jack Black Interview, Kung Fu Panda - MoviesOnline]
* [http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_14789.html Lucy Liu Interview, Kung Fu Panda - MoviesOnline]
* [http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=17&num=16128&printer=1 Vincent D'Onofrio on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" Demotion - National Ledger]
* [http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/kung_fu_panda.html Filmtracks: Kung Fu Panda (Hans Zimmer/John Powell)]
* [http://www.maintitles.net/reviews/kung-fu-panda/ Hans Zimmer and John Powell: Kung Fu Panda - maintitles.net]
* [http://chicago.metromix.com/movies/movie_review/kung-fu-panda/445320/content Kung Fu Panda = Metromix Chicago]
* [http://www.soundtrack.net/albums/database/?id=4878 SoundtrackNet: Kung Fu Panda Soundtrack]
* [http://movies.msn.com/movies/cannes-film-festival/may16-blog/ Cannes Film Festival - MSN Movies]
* [http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00016219.html 'Kung Fu Panda' Soaring at L.A. Premiere - AceShowbiz]
* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fun/competitions/article1250475.ece Win tickets to Kung Fu Panda - The Sun]
* [http://news.toonzone.net/articles/27214/kung-fu-panda-has-real-kick-on-dvd-and-blu-ray "Kung Fu Panda" has Real Kick on DVD and Blu-Ray - Toon Zone]
* [http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/915/915630p1.html Kung Fu Panda 2 in '11 - IGN]
* [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_fu_panda/ Kung Fu Panda at Rotten Tomatoes]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/kungfupanda Kung Fu Panda at Metacritic]
* [http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Kung-Fu-Panda Kung Fu Panda review - Filmcritic.com]
* [http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/cartoon-brew-2008-favorites-jerrys-picks.html 2008 Favorites: Jerry's Picks - Cartoon Brew]
* [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/kung-fu-panda Kung Fu Panda review - PopMatters]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25047124/ 'Panda' beats up Sandler at the box office - msnbc.com]
* [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2008/PANDA.php Kung Fu Panda - The Numbers]
* [http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=kungfupanda.htm Kung Fu Panda - Box Office Mojo]
* [http://animatedfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_grossing_animated_films_of_2008 Top Grossing Animated Films of 2008: Suite101.com]
* [http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS260482+24-Feb-2009+PRN20090224 DreamWorks Animation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2008 Financial Results - Reuters]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2268139/Kung-Fu-Panda-breaks-Chinese-box-office-records.html Kung Fu Panda breaks Chinese box-office records - The Telegraph]
* [http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/07/08/1821s378282.htm "Kung Fu Panda" Breaks Box Office Record of Animation - CriEnglish]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-07-03-kungfupanda_N.htm 'Kung Fu Panda' reaches Chinese box office milestone]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071103281.html 'Kung Fu Panda' Hits a Sore Spot in China - The Washington Post]
* [http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/01/kung-fu-panda-d.html 'Kung Fu Panda' dropkicks 'Wall-E' at Annie Awards - Lost Angeles Times]
* [http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/movies/06pand.html Kung Fu Panda - Fuzzy Outsider, Kicking His Way Toward His Dream]
* [http://www.uschina.usc.edu/ShowFeature.aspx?articleID=2243 Panda Kung Fu's His Way Around the World]
* [http://sewardstreet.com/blog/post/james-baxter-animation-lecture-day-one-acting/ James Baxter Animation lecture - Day One: Acting - seward street]
* [http://hand-drawn-animation.blogspot.com/2008/06/kung-fu-panda-2d-sequences.html Kung Fu Panda: 2D sequences - Academy of Art Animation Notes]
* [http://shinestudio.tv/#/projects/17/ Shine / Projects / Main Titles]
* [http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4549 Kung Fu Panda - CGSociety]
* [http://www.macblogz.com/2009/01/11/wall-e-wins-a-golden-globe-for-best-animated-film/ "Wall-E" Wins a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film - MacBlogz]
* [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2009/01/annie-award-win.html 'Kung Fu Panda' wins big at Annie Awards - LA Times]
* [http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2008/06/17/is-%E2%80%98kung-fu-panda%E2%80%99-ready-for-the-china-challenge/?mod=googlenews_wsj Is 'Kung Fu Panda' Ready for the China Challange? - China Real Time Report - WSJ]
* [http://www.zimbio.com/New+Movies/articles/203/Zhao+Bandi+Sues+Over+Kung+Fu+Panda Zhao Bandi Sues Over Kung Fu Panda]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/movies/awardsseason/20osca.html?_r=2&pagewanted=3 The Oscars - The Contenders, the Pools and the Show and the Hopes - NYTimes.com]
* [http://plymptoons.com/scrapbook/scrap042509.html Bill Plympton Studio - April 25 Scrapbook]
* [http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/10/01/kung-fu-panda-2-officially-headed-to-theaters-in-2011/ Kung Fu Panda 2 Officially Headed to Theatres in 2011]
* [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=55849 DreamWorks Animation's Slate Through 2012! - ComingSoon.net]
* [http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/chinas-true-response-to-kung-fu-panda.html China's real response to Kung Fu Panda - Cartoon Brew]
* [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-29/america-kung-fu-panda-film-gets-manga-in-japan America's Kung Fu Panda Film Gets Manga in Japan (Updated) - Anime News Network]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8051520.stm Kung Fu Panda series in the works - BBC]
* [http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/03/12/are-you-sitting-down-kung-fu-panda-revealed/ Are you sitting down? Kung Fu Panda revealed! - joystiq]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/kungfupanda Kung Fu Panda reviews at Metacritic.com]
* [http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/880/880257p1.html Kung fu Panda Review - IGN]
* [http://www.cnet.com.au/kung-fu-panda-339294114.htm Kung Fu Panda Review - cnet australia]
[[Category:2000s animated features]]
[[Category:Comedy animation]]
'''''Kung Fu Panda''''' is a 2008 [[CGI]] comedy feature film directed by [[John Stevenson]] and [[Mark Osborne]] and produced by [[Melissa Cobb]] for [[DreamWorks Animation]].
==Plot==
Po the panda is a lowly noodle-soup waiter in his family's restaurant until he goes to a tournament which intends to determine the identity of the legendary Dragon Warrior. That title gets thrust onto Po seemingly by accident; after this, he's put on a collision course with the fearsome snow leopard warrior Tai Lung, as well as with the grouchy Master Shifu and his disciples the Furious Five. Can Shifu train the out-of-shape Po into a martial arts hero ready for his confrontation with Tai Lung?
==Characters==
:'''Po''' ([[Jack Black]]), a giant panda, is the son of a noodle chef. Although his father expects him to continue the family business, Po yearns to become a kung fu fighter - a wish that is granted when Master Oogway identifies him as the Dragon Warrior.
:'''The Furious Five''' - '''Monkey''' ([[Jackie Chan]]), '''Tigress''' ([[Angelina Jolie]]), '''Viper''' ([[Lucy Liu]]), '''Crane''' ([[David Cross]]) and '''Mantis''' ([[Seth Rogen]]) - are a group of martial artists so popular that they even have their own action figures. Po idolises them, but they do not accept him right off the bat. The characters are named after styles of Chinese martial arts.
:'''Master Shifu''' ([[Dustin Hoffman]]), a red panda, is a kung fu master who taught the Furious Five, Tai Lung, and now Po - who he has trouble accepting as the Dragon Warrior.
:'''Master Oogway''' ([[Randall Duk Kim]]), a tortoise, is Master Shifu's old teacher. More level-headed than his student, he is a source of inspiration to both red panda and to Po.
:'''Tai Lung''', a snow leopard, is the villain of the piece. Once a student of Master Shifu, he turned evil and was incarcerated in a colossal prison. He has now escaped and according to Master Oogway, Po is the one who will defeat him.
:'''Mr. Ping''' ([[James Hong]]) is Po's father; unlike his son, he's a goose. He runs a family noodle business.
:'''Zeng''' ([[Dan Fogler]]), a goose, is Master Shifu's messenger.
:'''Commander Vachir''' ([[Michael Clarke Duncan]]), a rhinoceros, is in charge of the prison where Tai Lung is held.
==Notable staff==
{| width="100%"
|-valign="top"
| '''Directors'''<br>[[John Stevenson]]<br>[[Mark Osborne]]
'''Producer'''<br>[[Melissa Cobb]]<br>
'''Co-producers'''<br>[[Jonathan Aibel]]<br>[[Glenn Berger]]
'''Screenplay'''<br>[[Jonathan Aibel]]<br>[[Glenn Berger]]
|'''Story'''<br>[[Ethan Reiff]]<br>[[Cyrus Voris]]
'''Music'''<br>[[Hans Zimmer]]<br>[[John Powell]]
'''Head of story'''<br>[[Jennifer Yuh Nelson]]
'''Dream sequence director'''<br>[[Jennifer Yuh Nelson]]
'''Editor'''<br>[[Clare Knight]]
|'''Production designer'''<br>[[Raymond Zibach]]
'''Visual effects supervisor'''<br>[[Markus Manninen]]<br>
'''Head of character animation'''<br>[[Dan Wagner]]<br>
'''Art director'''<br>[[Tang Kheng Heng]]<br>
'''Character designs'''<br>[[Nico Marlet]]<br>
'''Head of layout'''<br>[[Yong Duk Jhun]]<br>
|}
==Production history==
====Concept====
Although the film had been publicly mentioned beforehand, DreamWorks did not officially announce the project's existence, and the involvement of Jack Black as lead [[voice actor]], until September 2005. Two months later it was announced that Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Ian McShane would also be voicing, with Lucy Liu at the time in talks to join the cast. The makers of the film claimed to be aiming for a character-based story set in a believable world, with ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', ''Hero'' and ''House of Flying Daggers'' cited as influences alongside, reportedly, the comedy film ''Kung Fu Hustle''. Art director [[Tang Heng]] and production designer [[Raymond Zibach]] also looked at Chinese architecture, sculpture and paintings, spending years researching the subjects.
According to co-director John Stevenson, the project was originally more parodic in nature; Stevenson and the crew rejected this approach and decided, in essence, to make a good martial arts movie which also happened to be a comedy. "We asked ourselves the question, what if Akira Kurosawa shot a Jerry Lewis film?", said Stevenson. "We defined this as a film that was not going to have contemporary jokes in it, was not going to be self-aware, was going to take itself seriously although it was a comedy... [w]e knew we didn't want any pop songs. We wanted an orchestral, timeless epic movie score".
====Animation====
The film opens with a sequence directed by [[Jennifer Yuh Nelson]] at [[James Baxter Animation]], made using [[drawn animation]] that suggests Chinese shadow puppetry. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times described the sequence as "striking" and "visually different from most mainstream American animations... nothing that comes afterward really compares to it". Another critic, Chris Barsanti, commented that the sequence's "abstract style seems culled straight from a modern manga". Drawn animation was also used in the end credits sequence, which was a collaboration between DreamWorks, James Baxter Animation and [[Shine]].
VFX Supervisor [[Markus Manninen]] allegedly laughed upon seeing the script and wished the head of production good luck: "for everyone that looked at it, it screamed complexity", said Manninen. "We launched off saying, how can you make this movie tangible?". As well as handling a variety of technical challanges, the animators were trained in kung fu by experts brought in by Head of Character Animation [[Dan Wagner]].
====Acting====
The character of Po changed somewhat during development. Producer [[Melissa Cobb]] has commented that he was "a little bit more of a jerk in the beginning", but this take was reconsidered as Jack Black's performance suggested a more good-natured character.
Jack Black said of the film's voice crew that "for the most part, we [worked] in isolation", although Black and Dustin Hoffman worked together on one day for a scene where their characters face off with each other; Cobb called this "a great moment in the movie I think as a result because there is a really quick back and forth between the two of them that came out of that day".
Lucy Liu described her experience acting in the film as "quite different because it was such a long process." Her performance was aided by test footage of her character: "they had pictures of Viper already and they also had a really small, short computerized video version of what she would look like when she moved because her movement is very different."
==Soundtrack==
The film was scored by [[Hans Zimmer]], who travelled to China and met the Chinese National Symphony to prepare himself for the project, and [[John Powell]]; Powell's involvement was announced late in development. Zimmer and Powell's last collaboration was in 2000 when the provided the score to ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]''. The soundtrack includes a cover version of ''Kung Fu Fighting'' by Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black which is performed over the closing credits. A soundtrack album for the film was released on June 3, 2008 by Interscope Records.
: 1 ''Hero'' - 4:42
: 2 ''Let the Tournament Begin'' - 1:59
: 3 ''Dragon Warrior is Among Us'' - 2:57
: 4 ''Tai Lung Escapes'' - 7:06
: 5 ''Peach Tree of Wisdom'' - 1:53
: 6 ''Accu-Flashback'' - 4:05
: 7 ''Impersonating Shifu'' - 2:19
: 8 ''Sacred Pool of Tears'' - 9:51
: 9 ''Training Po'' - 1:28
: 10 ''The Bridge'' - 3:23
: 11 ''Shifu Faces Tai Lung'' - 4:46
: 12 ''The Dragon Scroll'' - 2:31
: 13 ''Po vs Tai Lung'' - 2:41
: 14 ''Dragon Warrior Rises'' - 3:22
: 15 ''Panda Po'' - 2:39
: 16 ''Oogway Ascends'' - 2:04
: 17 ''Kung Fu Fighting'' (Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black) - 2:30
==Release==
''Kung Fu Panda'' debuted at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, where it was reportedly greeted with heavy applause. It made its United States premier on June 1 2008 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles; a large, helium-filled figure of Po was used to mark the event. The film's British premier was June 26, 2008 at London's at Leicester Square.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 9, 2008. Amongst the special features included are a commentary track, three more behind-the-scenes featurettes ("Meet the Cast", "Pushing the Boundaries" and "Sound Design"), a documentary on the making of Chinese noodles, a music video of the "Kung Fu Fighting" cover used for the end credits, a public service announcement to save the pandas, and a collection of DVD games in the "Dragon Warrior Training Academy".
The two-disc release also contains a 24-minute animated short titled ''[[Secrets of the Furious Five]]'' along with more DVD games, a "Learn to Draw" feature, four featurettes about Chinese culture (two on kung fu, one on chopsticks, and one on the Chinese zodiac), a dance tutorial, and a quiz to decide which style of kung fu is best for you. The Blu-ray edition of the film also includes "Animator's Corner" (which mixes the directors' commentary track with extra comments and footage from the animators and actors) and a trivia track.
==Reception==
''Kung Fu Panda'''s critical reception was largely positive. Of the reviews listed on Rotten Tomatoes, 89% are positive, while the reviews of the site's top critics gave the film 67%. The site's users gave it an average rating of 92%. At Metacritic the film scored 73 out of 100.
Animation scholar [[Jerry Beck]] picked ''Kung Fu Panda'' as his favourite animated feature of 2008, commenting that "the entire film, from beginning to end, worked perfectly - as an adventure, as comedy, with delightful eye candy art direction, great voice acting and wonderful character animation [...] It?s Dreamworks best film and it revived my hope that Jeffery?s studio can compete aesthetically (as well as commercially) with [[Pixar]]." Chris Barsanti of Filmcritic.com said that "lazing across the screen with eye-popping, sublime artwork, ''Kung Fu Panda'' sets itself apart from the modern domestic animation trend with its sheer beauty", and that - in contrast to the "cold and severe"-looking ''[[Shrek (franchise)|Shrek]]'' series - "the film enters instant classic status as some of the most gorgeous animation Hollywood has produced since the golden age of Disney." On a more negative note, Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters described the film as "another powerhouse Family Entertainment that means to pummel its young viewers into adulation", and dismissed its message as "[t]rite and tedious".
''Kung Fu Panda'' was released in 4,114 cinemas and became number one at the box office, taking $20.3 million on its opening day and $60.2 million over the weekend. This was the biggest opening for a non-sequel DreamWorks Animation film: only ''[[Shrek 2]]'' and ''[[Shrek the Third]]'' grossed more. ''Kung Fu Panda'''s worldwide gross was over $600 million; as its chief rival, [[Pixar]]'s ''[[WALL-E]]'' pulled in just over $500 million, ''Kung Fu Panda'' took its place as the highest-grossing animated feature of 2008. It was also the third-highest grossing feature film of the year.
In terms of international performance, particular attention can be payed to China, where it became the first animated feature to gross over 100 million yuan in box office takings, taking over 135 million yuan in three weeks. The Chinese filmmaker Lu Chuan said that "[f]rom a production standpoint, the movie is nearly perfect. Its American creators showed a very sincere attitude about Chinese culture" and asked "[w]hen can the Chinese animation industry make such a good movie?". Lu Chuan quit a job directing an animated film for the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to government interference.
The film was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Feature]] and [[Golden Globe for Best Animated Film]], but in both cases lost to ''[[WALL-E]]''. At the [[Annie Awards]] the film won in eleven categories, a victory which was met with suspicion in some quarters (see '''controversy''' below).
====Controversy====
Although it enjoyed a generally positive reception in China, ''Kung Fu Panda'' was also met with harsh criticism from some quarters in the country. The Chinese artist Zhao Bandi launched a petition calling for a cancellation of the film's release, objecting to Hollywood exploiting the national icons of pandas and martial arts. He also pointed out the film's connection to Steven Spielberg (who quit his position as advisor to the Beijing Olympics over China's role in Sudan), and objected in particular to the film being screened in areas of the giant panda habitat of Sichuan that were hit by an earthquake earlier that year. "If the Hollywood film ?Kung Fu Panda? is released on Jun. 20, it will be just like snatching the necklaces and watches from the corpses of disaster victims", he commented. Bandi later launched legal action against DreamWorks on the grounds that the film depicts a panda - representative to foreigners, he says, of Chinese people as a whole - with a duck as a father and green eyes ("Designing the panda with green eyes is a conspiracy. A panda with green eyes has the feeling of evil. We would never have used green eyes to describe a kindhearted figure", said Bandi).
The film's success at the 2009 Annie Awards, where it beat out ''WALL-E'' in every category where the two went up against each other, also provoked controversy. David Carr of the ''New York Times'' dismissed ''Kung Fu Panda'''s success as "an inside job, full of backstage politics you don?t want to know about"; animator [[Bill Plympton]] commented that "it feels like the elections were rigged - they were bought! What a travesty".
==Sequels and tie-ins==
An official sequel, titled ''[[Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom]]'', has begun production and is slated for release on June 3, 2011. It will be directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and will see the first film's heroes (voiced by the same cast) going up against a new villain with a powerful weapon while Po confronts his past. Like all future DreamWorks animation films, it will be in [[3D]].
The film already has an unauthorised sequel in ''[[Kung fu Master aka Wong Fei Hong vs Kung Fu Panda]]'', a Chinese direct-to-video film released in August 2008. The film sees ''Kung Fu Panda'''s protagonist teaming up with real-life Chinese hero Wong Fei Hung to retrieve a treasure for the Buddha.
A [[Manga|Japanese comic]] adaptation of the film, written by Hanten ?kuma and drawn by Takafumi Adachi, launched in the September 2008 issue of ''Kerokero Ace'' magazine.
A 26-episode CGI TV series for [[Nickelodeon]] will premier in 2010, marking the second co-production between Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation (the first being ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]''). "The characters we created for ''Kung Fu Panda'' are well suited to be further developed in new and exciting ways," commented DreamWorks' [[Ann Daly]].
A video game based on the film, developed and published by Activision, was released on June 3, 2008 to generally positive reivews: Metacritic.com gave it a score of 75 (with a user score of 8.5), while IGN gave it 7.5 out of 10. The game also won the [[Annie Awards|Annie Award]] for Best Animated Video Game. In the game's version of the story Po goes up against not only Tai Lung but also the Croc, Boar and Ninja Cat gangs. The game was released on Microsoft Windows and multiple console formats.
==References==
* [http://www.moria.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2485Itemid=1 Moria - Kung Fu Panda]
* [http://www.tjgalda.com/About/Appearances_files/record_shark_some_bite.html Giving a shark some bite; Local animator swims with the big boys, Kitchener Record]
* [http://www.empireonline.com/News/story.asp?nid=17136 Dreamworks Animation Plans Kung Fu Panda - Empire]
* [http://movies.about.com/od/moviesinproduction/a/kungfu110905.htm DreamWorks Announces the Cast of "Kung Fu Panda" - About.com]
* [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=45494 Kung Fu Panda Co-Director John Stevenson - ComingSoon.net]
* [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2008/06/01/2008-06-01_kung_fu_panda_gets_cuddly.html 'Kung Fu Panda gets cuddly - NY Daily News]
* [http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22Kung+Fu+Panda.%22+The+computer-animated+picture+was+reportedly+inspired+by+Stephen+Chow%27s+action+comedy%2C+%22Kung+Fu+Hustle.%22&btnG=Search+Archives&hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8 1104 Film Clips - Bucks Courier Times]
* [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/ae/movies/s_570635.html 'Kung Fu Panda' pushes boundaries of cartoon art - Pittsburgh Live]
* [http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_14790.html Jack Black Interview, Kung Fu Panda - MoviesOnline]
* [http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_14789.html Lucy Liu Interview, Kung Fu Panda - MoviesOnline]
* [http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=17&num=16128&printer=1 Vincent D'Onofrio on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" Demotion - National Ledger]
* [http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/kung_fu_panda.html Filmtracks: Kung Fu Panda (Hans Zimmer/John Powell)]
* [http://www.maintitles.net/reviews/kung-fu-panda/ Hans Zimmer and John Powell: Kung Fu Panda - maintitles.net]
* [http://chicago.metromix.com/movies/movie_review/kung-fu-panda/445320/content Kung Fu Panda = Metromix Chicago]
* [http://www.soundtrack.net/albums/database/?id=4878 SoundtrackNet: Kung Fu Panda Soundtrack]
* [http://movies.msn.com/movies/cannes-film-festival/may16-blog/ Cannes Film Festival - MSN Movies]
* [http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00016219.html 'Kung Fu Panda' Soaring at L.A. Premiere - AceShowbiz]
* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fun/competitions/article1250475.ece Win tickets to Kung Fu Panda - The Sun]
* [http://news.toonzone.net/articles/27214/kung-fu-panda-has-real-kick-on-dvd-and-blu-ray "Kung Fu Panda" has Real Kick on DVD and Blu-Ray - Toon Zone]
* [http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/915/915630p1.html Kung Fu Panda 2 in '11 - IGN]
* [http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_fu_panda/ Kung Fu Panda at Rotten Tomatoes]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/kungfupanda Kung Fu Panda at Metacritic]
* [http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Kung-Fu-Panda Kung Fu Panda review - Filmcritic.com]
* [http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/cartoon-brew-2008-favorites-jerrys-picks.html 2008 Favorites: Jerry's Picks - Cartoon Brew]
* [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/kung-fu-panda Kung Fu Panda review - PopMatters]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25047124/ 'Panda' beats up Sandler at the box office - msnbc.com]
* [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2008/PANDA.php Kung Fu Panda - The Numbers]
* [http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=kungfupanda.htm Kung Fu Panda - Box Office Mojo]
* [http://animatedfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/top_grossing_animated_films_of_2008 Top Grossing Animated Films of 2008: Suite101.com]
* [http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS260482+24-Feb-2009+PRN20090224 DreamWorks Animation Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2008 Financial Results - Reuters]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2268139/Kung-Fu-Panda-breaks-Chinese-box-office-records.html Kung Fu Panda breaks Chinese box-office records - The Telegraph]
* [http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/07/08/1821s378282.htm "Kung Fu Panda" Breaks Box Office Record of Animation - CriEnglish]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-07-03-kungfupanda_N.htm 'Kung Fu Panda' reaches Chinese box office milestone]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071103281.html 'Kung Fu Panda' Hits a Sore Spot in China - The Washington Post]
* [http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/01/kung-fu-panda-d.html 'Kung Fu Panda' dropkicks 'Wall-E' at Annie Awards - Lost Angeles Times]
* [http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/movies/06pand.html Kung Fu Panda - Fuzzy Outsider, Kicking His Way Toward His Dream]
* [http://www.uschina.usc.edu/ShowFeature.aspx?articleID=2243 Panda Kung Fu's His Way Around the World]
* [http://sewardstreet.com/blog/post/james-baxter-animation-lecture-day-one-acting/ James Baxter Animation lecture - Day One: Acting - seward street]
* [http://hand-drawn-animation.blogspot.com/2008/06/kung-fu-panda-2d-sequences.html Kung Fu Panda: 2D sequences - Academy of Art Animation Notes]
* [http://shinestudio.tv/#/projects/17/ Shine / Projects / Main Titles]
* [http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4549 Kung Fu Panda - CGSociety]
* [http://www.macblogz.com/2009/01/11/wall-e-wins-a-golden-globe-for-best-animated-film/ "Wall-E" Wins a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film - MacBlogz]
* [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2009/01/annie-award-win.html 'Kung Fu Panda' wins big at Annie Awards - LA Times]
* [http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2008/06/17/is-%E2%80%98kung-fu-panda%E2%80%99-ready-for-the-china-challenge/?mod=googlenews_wsj Is 'Kung Fu Panda' Ready for the China Challange? - China Real Time Report - WSJ]
* [http://www.zimbio.com/New+Movies/articles/203/Zhao+Bandi+Sues+Over+Kung+Fu+Panda Zhao Bandi Sues Over Kung Fu Panda]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/movies/awardsseason/20osca.html?_r=2&pagewanted=3 The Oscars - The Contenders, the Pools and the Show and the Hopes - NYTimes.com]
* [http://plymptoons.com/scrapbook/scrap042509.html Bill Plympton Studio - April 25 Scrapbook]
* [http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/10/01/kung-fu-panda-2-officially-headed-to-theaters-in-2011/ Kung Fu Panda 2 Officially Headed to Theatres in 2011]
* [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=55849 DreamWorks Animation's Slate Through 2012! - ComingSoon.net]
* [http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/chinas-true-response-to-kung-fu-panda.html China's real response to Kung Fu Panda - Cartoon Brew]
* [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-29/america-kung-fu-panda-film-gets-manga-in-japan America's Kung Fu Panda Film Gets Manga in Japan (Updated) - Anime News Network]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8051520.stm Kung Fu Panda series in the works - BBC]
* [http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/03/12/are-you-sitting-down-kung-fu-panda-revealed/ Are you sitting down? Kung Fu Panda revealed! - joystiq]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/kungfupanda Kung Fu Panda reviews at Metacritic.com]
* [http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/880/880257p1.html Kung fu Panda Review - IGN]
* [http://www.cnet.com.au/kung-fu-panda-339294114.htm Kung Fu Panda Review - cnet australia]
[[Category:2000s animated features]]
[[Category:Comedy animation]]
