Kung Fu Panda (2008)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Mark Osborne
John Stevenson

Writers:

Jonathan Aibel (screenplay) &
Glenn Berger (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 June 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Prepare for awesomeness.

Plot:

In the Valley of Peace, Po the Panda finds himself chosen as the Dragon Warrior despite the fact that he is obese and a complete novice at martial arts.

Plot Keywords:

Kung Fu | Hero | Panda | Master | Slacker

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 12 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Jack Black	...	Po (voice)
Dustin Hoffman	...	Shifu (voice)
Angelina Jolie	...	Tigress (voice)
Ian McShane	...	Tai Lung (voice)
Jackie Chan	...	Monkey (voice)
Seth Rogen	...	Mantis (voice)
Lucy Liu	...	Viper (voice)
David Cross	...	Crane (voice)
Randall Duk Kim	...	Oogway (voice)
James Hong	...	Mr. Ping (voice)
Dan Fogler	...	Zeng (voice)
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Commander Vachir (voice)
Wayne Knight	...	Gang Boss (voice)
Kyle Gass	...	KG Shaw (voice)
JR Reed	...	JR Shaw (voice)

Also Known As:

Kung Fu Panda: The IMAX Experience (USA) (IMAX version)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sequences of martial arts action.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Sonics-DDP (IMAX version) | SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:All | Australia:PG | UK:PG | Finland:K-7 | Malaysia:U | Singapore:G | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Ireland:PG | USA:PG (certificate #44302) | Hong Kong:I | Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Taiwan:GP (original rating) | Portugal:M/4 | Portugal:M/6 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:6 | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:7 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/6 (original version) | New Zealand:PG | South Africa:PG | Canada:G

Company:

DreamWorks Animation

Trivia:

Jackie Chan's signature jump kick and yell (as The Monkey) is similar to the animated intro for USA Network's "Kung-Fu Theater", from the 1980s.

Goofs:

Continuity: Po gets all dirty when when he finally lands in the arena, but after he is selected as the Dragon Warrior, he is clean again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Po: Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Kung Fu Fighting

One of the five best CGI animated films ever!

After the disappointing SHREK 3 and the only "cute" OVER THE HEDGE, DreamWorks Animation finally delivers another highlight to the CGI animated universe.

I got used to the rather simple story of MADAGASCAR after watching it again, I really liked SHREK and even more SHREK 2 (am I the only one?). I never liked the cultural references they built in, because I think they only work in their time (but in their time they worked great!). So for me KUNG FU PANDA is the first great "classic" DWA film. Go see it, it also works for adults. If you have seen some of the classic martial arts film (Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee etc) you will even more enjoy it. The voice talent of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane is perfectly used. The other voices are OK.

It will be a big hit for DWA, north of 200 millions domestic, eventually even 300 mil.

That said, my favorite CGI's are 1. THE INCREDIBLES, 2. RATATOUILLE and 3. FINDING NEMO and closely followed by KUNG FU PANDA. Looking forward to seeing KFP an second time and then maybe it will become my new Nr. 3.