Kung Fu Panda (2008)

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

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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:

1.33 : 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:

The opening scene is an homage to Japanese anime, as both directors are big fan of the genre. They wanted to distinguish the opening dream sequence, so they faked 3D into 2D.

Goofs:

Continuity: During Tai-Lung's escape scene, he tosses 4 spears into the air. When he jumps up he only kicks 3 spears, but 4 are shown crashing into the prison wall.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References The Lion King (1994)

Soundtrack:

Kung Fu Fighting

Wasn't Expecting much - Got a very good movie

I was almost dreading seeing this movie - we won tickets to the screener and from the first scene I found myself laughing out loud. The movie is so much better than I thought it would be (and that was bad) - I expected the comedy to be slapstick/junior/potty but it wasn't. The story was also good enough to keep my kids focused glued to the screen. The animation is wonderful. Music is tasteful. I can't imagine anyone but Jack Black pulling off the voice though - he definitely made the movie for me. The only thing distracted me was that most of the movie I spent trying to figure out who was doing the voice of Tai Lung (Ian McShane). As mentioned previously in the forums about the pop culture references in this movie - I don't remember one - very nice indeed - it works with some of the other movies but I can do without. This is the first movie in a while I'd like to see again.