Hollywood has enjoyed a long and storied lineage of animals in lead roles. Old Yeller, Lassie, Babe, and even Remmy the Rat from last year’s Ratatouille effortlessly capture the hearts of audiences everywhere with their often human-like persona’s, showing a range of emotion and stirring the soul through the good times and the bad. DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda, stands with the best of the best of the cute-and-cuddly animal world movies. Rivaling the animation, storytelling, and characterization of the best Pixar films, Panda will tickle the funny bone, pull on the heart strings, excite with its death-defying action, and leave viewers with a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Kung Fu Panda is set in an unspecified time period in an unspecified Chinese village where anthropomorphic animals live ordinary peasant lives. Po (Jack Black) is a panda whose father (James Hong) runs a noodle restaurant and assumes Po will one day go into the family business. (Po’s father is a goose. This is not explained.) But Po has bigger dreams. A major fan of martial arts, he idolizes the Furious 5, a quintet of warriors who train at the palace on the mountain that overlooks the village.
As overweight as he is, Po finds it difficult to even climb the stairs of his father’s noodle shop. As a result, the prospect of him becoming a martial arts warrior seems rather slim. To his great surprise, Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), the ancient turtle who oversees all the fighting masters, declares that he, Po, is the Chosen One. The fates have decreed it. Po must be trained as the new Dragon Warrior who will fight against Tai Lung (Ian McShane), the murderous leopard who is about to break out of prison. The Fabulous Five, particularly star pupil Tigress (Angelina Jolie), are less than theilled, but Oogway insists that Po is indeed the chosen one, and Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) is charged with the task of training the excitable Panda
The screenplay is by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, a duo that has written for TV’s King of the Hill and MAD TV, from a story by writers Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris. The martial arts on display are very well animated; the attention to detail throughout the film is amazing, and stands as a good example of how much animation continues to grow. First time directors, Mark Osborne and John Stevenson, pull off some dazzling fight sequences and a prison-break scene that is nothing short of amazing.
The story itself is rather formulaic, with Po’s unusual talents proving useful in battle and everyone learning a lesson in the experience. That’s not a bad thing when it comes to Kung Fu Panda though. The film espouses an important message about believing in yourself: the film never insists that a character need drastically change in order to fulfill his dream, prophesy or to discover who they really are. Po’s physique never alters — he becomes capable of great things in spite of his waistline, the film smartly stating that it’s what’s inside that really matters.
Kung Fu Panda is definitely a film for the whole family. Aside from its positive message of self belief, the film is a wildly, exciting ride that should entertain kids and adults alike, for years to come.
Framed at 2.35:1 and presented in 1080p high definition, it should come as no surprise that Kung Fu Panda offers viewers a reference-quality transfer. Every frame features a fantastic sense of depth and an abundance of pristinely-rendered color. The ornately-decorated buildings seen throughout the film look amazing. The adornments, the roofing, the varied colors that are prominently featured give them a look and feel that springs to life and look just as good as anything seen in the other high profile animated releases currently on Blu-ray. Even something as simple as the tan colored dirt turf as seen outside the Jade Palace as Po attempts to find some way inside to view the Dragon Warrior ceremony in chapter five looks absolutely real. The various animals seen throughout the film show an amazing attention to detail, every bit of it brought to life on Blu-ray. Viewers will be privy to every strand of fur and every stitch and seam in their clothing (particularly Po’s patchwork shorts). Kung Fu Panda offers a first-rate transfer.
Kung Fu Panda delivers great sound with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is a rich and fulfilling experience that always finds just the right balance. It is never too loud, too forced, or too underwhelming. Everything works together in perfect harmony to create a fine mix. The sound flows naturally and evenly across the front, with the perfectly-rendered dialogue remaining entrenched in the center, although the track features some excellent panning and directionality of dialogue in several instances that never sounds forced or out of place. Bass is well represented. Deep and powerful, but never overextending its welcome, it is simply natural and precise. Kung Fu Panda offers a reference-grade sonic experience from the Dolby TrueHD codec.
Kung Fu Panda has a good selection of special features.
• Audio Commentary — Directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne deliver a relaxed but informative track that covers the genesis of the project, the various decisions made throughout pre-production, the scripting process, the voice casting and recording sessions, the animation and characters, and a variety of other topics.
• Inside Kung Fu Panda Featurettes (HD, 23 minutes) — “Meet the Cast” is a fairly lengthy series of interviews with the voice talent, “Pushing the Boundaries” briefly explores the animation and character design, and “Conversation International: Help Save Wild Pandas” is a PSA with Jack Black.
• Sounds and Moves Featurettes (HD, 35 minutes) — “Do You Kung Fu?” is a hefty twenty-four minute introduction to kung fu for kids, “Sound Design” explores the film’s audio, “Kung Fu Fighting Music Video” features the title song as performed by Cee-Lo, and “Learn the Panda Dance” is a self-explanatory how-to short.
• Land of the Panda Featurettes (HD, 26 minutes) — “How to Use Chopsticks” is an instructional short for children, “Inside the Chinese Zodiac” looks at the Chinese calendar and its representative symbols, “Animals of Kung Fu Panda” focuses on the animals that inspired ‘Kung Fu Panda’s characters, “Mr. Ping’s Noodle House” focuses on a chef making noodles, and “What Fighting Style are You?” is an interactive quiz.
• Po’s Power Play Activities (HD) — “Learn to Draw” introduces the ‘Kung Fu Panda’ artists as they showcase the various characters in the film, “Dumpling Shuffle” is an interactive game involving three bowls and a shifty dumpling, and “Dragon Warrior Training Academy” is a second game that lets players attempt to achieve fabled hero status.
• Dreamworks Animation Video Jukebox (HD) — A now standardized feature that pops up on nearly every Dreamworks Animation release, this jukebox contains short music videos from other notable Dreamworks Animation films.
• Theatrical Previews (HD, 5 minutes) — A pair of trailers are included for the upcoming Monsters vs. Aliens and the recently released Madagascar 2: Escape from Africa.
