| Photos (see all 12 | slideshow) |
| Jack Black | ... | Po (voice) | |
| Dustin Hoffman | ... | Shifu (voice) | |
| Will Shadley | ... | Nerdy Bunny (voice) | |
| Eamon Pirruccello | ... | Impatient Bunny (voice) | |
| Grace Rolek | ... | Shy Bunny (voice) | |
| Max Koch | ... | Mantis (voice) | |
| Tom Owens | ... | Ladybug (voice) | |
| Carol Kane | ... | Sheep (voice) | |
| John Di Maggio | ... | Gorilla / Crocodile (voice) | |
| Stephen Kearin | ... | Crocodile #2 (voice) | |
| James Sie | ... | Viper Dad / Pig (voice) | |
| Meredith Scott Lynn | ... | Viper Mom (voice) | |
| Jessica Di Cicco | ... | Young Viper (voice) | |
| Stephanie Lemelin | ... | Mei Ling (voice) | |
| David Cross | ... | Crane (voice) | |
| Jim Cummings | ... | The Instructor (voice) | |
| Tara Strong | ... | Young Tigress (voice) | |
| Jaycee Chan | ... | Young Monkey (voice) | |
| Randall Duk Kim | ... | Oogway (voice) | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Elizabeth Ann Bennett | ... | Ant / Bunny | |
Directed by | |||
| Raman Hui | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| Todd Berger | screenplay | |
| Jed Diffenderfer | story concept | |
| Paul McEvoy | screenplay | |
Produced by | |||
| Melissa Cobb | .... | executive producer | |
| Karen Foster | .... | producer | |
| Hameed Shaukat | .... | associate producer | |
Film Editing by | |||
| John Venzon | |||
Production Management | |||
| Mary Bills | .... | production manager | |
| Corrie Coughlin | .... | production supervisor | |
| Pete Herzog | .... | production manager | |
| Suzannah Szabo | .... | production manager | |
Art Department | |||
| Stephan Franck | .... | storyboard artist | |
| Steve Hickner | .... | storyboard artist | |
| Dan Krall | .... | background painter | |
Sound Department | |||
| Bryan Bowen | .... | sound effects editor | |
| Laurent Kossayan | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Michael Miller | .... | original dialogue mixer | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| John Anderholm | .... | technical director | |
| Ulysses Argetta | .... | digital compositor | |
| Brent M. Bowen | .... | digital compositor | |
| Scott Brisbane | .... | matte painting supervisor | |
| Jason Brubaker | .... | compositor | |
| Laura Bussinger | .... | animation coordinator | |
| Christopher Buzon | .... | lighting artist | |
| Frédéric Côté | .... | animator: Reel FX (as Fred Cote) | |
| Richard Gouge | .... | lighter & compositor | |
| Michael P. Hamler | .... | lead lighter | |
| Andy Jolliff | .... | compositor | |
| Steve Kolbe | .... | visual effects supervisor | |
| John Nesselrodt | .... | lighter & compositor | |
| Andrew Pearce | .... | director of reseach and development | |
| Wonchan Song | .... | lighter | |
| Julie Terrell | .... | texture artist | |
| Erik Tillmans | .... | compositor | |
| Michael A. Wallace | .... | cloth artist | |
| Michael A. Wallace | .... | layout artist | |
Stunts | |||
| Xihuaru Kilcher | .... | stunt performer | |
Editorial Department | |||
| James Beshears | .... | editorial and post-production executive | |
| Lauren Lear | .... | assistant editor | |
| Peter Lonsdale | .... | additional editor | |
| Paul Neal | .... | editor: high definition | |
Music Department | |||
| Jack Dolman | .... | technical score assistant | |
| Peter Oso Snell | .... | assistant music editor | |
Other crew | |||
| Karla M. Alvarado | .... | production assistant | |
| Tim Archer | .... | post supervisor: Reel FX | |
| Oliver Benavidez | .... | production assistant | |
| Allison Bernardi | .... | media coordinator | |
| Christopher Ell | .... | production coordinator | |
| Wayne Hellinger | .... | post-production office supervisor | |
| Cohl Klop | .... | adr voice (as Cohl Kenneth Klop) | |
| Rob Renshaw | .... | production accountant | |
| Jon Young | .... | media coordinator | |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Animation section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
As Dragon Warrior, Po has had to face many challenges but on this day he must face one that would intimidate any great warrior training the newest recruit of bunnies in the way of kung-fu. Left alone to fend for himself by Shifu, Po finds his class are only interested in the fighting part of the art and are keen to get down to kicking one another as soon as possible. In order to educate them in the true ways of the art, Po tells them of the Furious Five and how they became masters by learning life lessons of patience, courage, confidence, self-control and compassion.
As with the animated films from Pixar, Dreamworks included this short film on the Kung-Fu Panda DVD and I decided to give it a try. In a way it is a fitting inclusion to the main film because to my mind both the film and the short are enjoyable for what they are but at the same time are not quite up to the quality of the products produced by Pixar. With this film its main problem is that the plot is just too obvious in the moralising compared to some of the brilliant shorts from Pixar that can deliver the same message but are generally very inventive and clever. I didn't really get this here but, if you ignore this weakness of comparison then the short is still quite entertaining.
It is not really ever hilarious but it does consistently amuse across the twenty minutes and it doesn't really ram the moral down your throat (although it does push it into your mouth). The animation is mixed perhaps for financial reasons but it does work within the context of the short. The bits with Po and his class are of the same quality as in the main film but the stories that make up the majority of the running time are delivered in a more hand-drawn style that looks cheaper (because, by comparison, it is). However don't let this take away from how good it looks because it is still stylish sort of like the animation that opens the main film albeit it not as striking or as well done as that. Each story is relatively straight forward with a moral at the end of each one but they do more or less work.
The voice work is a little distracting though not so much for what they do but more the obvious absences. Black and Hoffman are good, each reprising their voices in the main part of the short film Black in particular puts a lot of energy into it, but the Furious Fives themselves not so much. Cross is good as Crane (probably having as many words as in the main film) but the others are mostly absent. Some of the characters are children in their stories so therefore it would not have been sensible to use adult voices but it is a bit strange why Chan or Rogen couldn't have found a bit of time to record the couple of lines needed for this especially considering how few lines they had in the main film.
Either way the short is solid and entertaining with a solid if obvious moral message for the kids (and bunnies). That said it does feel a bit lacking in inspiration and does give the impression that it was made because it had to be rather than made out of a good idea or passion for the project a cynical view perhaps but it is hard not to feel that at points, not due to something the film does but things that similar films do so much better.