Initial release date: June 6, 2008
Studios: Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Animation
Tagline: Prepare for awesomeness
Plot: Po might be the laziest, clumsiest panda in the Valley of Peace, but he secretly dreams of becoming a kung fu legend. When the villainous snow leopard Tai Lung threatens Po's homeland, the hapless panda is chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy and defend the Valley from attack. Training under Master Shifu, Po embarks on an epic high-kicking adventure as he sets out to thwart Tai Lung.
Cast
Jack Black - Po
Dustin Hoffman - Shifu
Angelina Jolie - Tigress
Ian McShane - Tai Lung
Jackie Chan - Monkey
Seth Rogen - Mantis
Lucy Liu - Viper
David Cross - Crane
Randall Duk Kim - Oogway
James Hong - Mr. Ping
Dan Fogler - Zeng
Michael Clarke Duncan - Commander Vachir
Writer(s): Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (Kung Fu Panda 1-4; Luck; Trolls World Tour)
Director(s): Mark Osborne
John Stevenson (Sherlock Gnomes)
Rated PG for sequences of martial arts action (92 minutes)
Last week I checked out the long awaited big screen return of Po in Kung Fu Panda 4. And, to coincide with the latest Po adventure (which fans of the series will enjoy), I decided to give the first movie another watch ... didn't quite get the chance to see the other two movies just yet!
The 2008 animated movie is easily one of the modern animated flicks that will be considered a modern classic down the road. Kung Fu Panda has quite a few likable characters and great adventure-filled moments.
The first movie is truly memorable and is visually compelling. Jack Black does an awesome job voicing the lead character and I don't really see anyone else voicing this popular character.
The movie's story is really well-paced and the fight scenes that are scattered throughout are really enticing. The Tai Lung prison break sequence is also one of the best ways to introduce an animated movie villain.
Down the road I will likely fit in the other two movies at some point! Until then Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2 are streaming on Peacock until the end of March and Kung Fu Panda 3 is streaming on Netflix.
Here are some fun tidbits for the 2008 movie Kung Fu Panda!!
The animators took a six hour kung fu class to get an idea of the movie's action.
To get the ambiance of the movie, production designer Raymond Zibach and art director Heng Tang spent several years researching Chinese art and kung fu movies. This effort, combined with the rest of the crew's extensive research and knowledge of Chinese culture, so impressed the Chinese that there were meetings by official government cultured bodies to discuss why their own country hasn't produced animated movies of such quality themselves.
The individual fighting styles of the Furious Five members (Crane, Mantis, Tiger, Monkey and Viper) are actual Kung Fu styles modeled after the particular animals. Po's fighting style is modeled after bear-style kung fu.
The opening scene is an homage to Japanese anime, as both directors are big fans of the genre. They wanted to distinguish the opening dream sequence, so it was hand drawn, whereas the rest of the film was CGI.
Tai Lung is a snow leopard, which, in the real world, is a predator of the Giant Panda (Po) and the Red Panda (Shifu).
The filmmakers cite the martial arts movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers, and most of all, the action comedy Kung Fu Hustle, as influences for the movie.
The main enemy n Po's dream (at the beginning) turned out to be Kai, the main villain in Kung Fu Panda 3, and the wolves turned out to be the Wolf Army from Kung Fu Panda 2.
In earlier story treatments, Shifu was supposed to be Po's adoptive father. This is why he was designed as a red panda.
The idea was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive. Initially, the idea was to make it a parody.
The movie held its world premiere at the 61st Cannes Film Festival May 15, 2008, where it received massive and sustained applause at the end of its screening.
The movie topped the box office in its opening weekend, grossing $60.2 million from 4,114 theaters, and performing much better than analysts had been expecting. It was also the highest grossing opening for a non-sequel DreamWorks Animation film at the time.
It closed October 9, 2008, after 125 days of release, grossing $215.4 million in the US and Canada, and $416.3 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $631.7 million.
This movie's success spawned a multimedia franchise, which consists of sequels and TV series.
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