Action, Comedy, And Noodles
Kung Fu Panda stars Jack Black as the voice of the lovable Panda, Po. Po is like a big kid who dreams about meeting and fighting alongside the five masters in the Jade Palace, which sits on top of a mountain near Po’s humble home in a small Chinese village. Unfortunately, Po’s life isn’t pushing him in that direction; he’s the son of a duck who makes noodles, and his father believes that Po will simply carry on the family tradition of creating and selling noodles. However, a series of events take Po out of this life and place him into the heart of the Jade Palace. Some of these events are accidents, like Po’s skyrocketing firework ride that sent him crashing into the center courtyard of the palace during an important ceremony where Palace master Oogway, a turtle, is set to choose the Dragon Warrior. Other events, like Oogway choosing Po to be the next Dragon Warrior aren’t so accidental, as curious as his decision may seem.
The Dragon Warrior is a martial artist who is thought to have the skills, traits, and privilege to be able to safely possess the Dragon Scroll, a scroll mounted high up on a ceiling inside the Palace said to give its holder immense power. When Oogway chooses Po to be the next Dragon Warrior, it surprises everyone, including Shifu, a rodent who has trained the five masters. It becomes Shifu’s burden and responsibility to train Po to receive this great honor. There is more than just the honor of being a Dragon Warrior at stake here, however. Tai Lung, a panther that Shifu took in and trained as a kid, has escaped from a prison guarded by hundreds of rhinos and is coming to the Jade Palace to seek the ultimate power, the Dragon Scroll. When Shifu’s master students – a Tiger, Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper can’t defeat Tai Lung, only he and Po remain, and it’s ultimately up to Po to save the day and become a hero – but only after he believes in himself.
Kung Fu Panda is a wonderful film. It’s very entertaining for all walks of life and there’s never a dull moment to be had. It’s a great story of learning to believe in yourself and never losing your sense of perseverance and indomitable spirit. Po struggles throughout nearly the entire film to learn kung fu, and his peers are at first jealous and unhelpful. Yet Po continues to work hard and be a good ‘person,’ and it pays off. Kung Fu Panda is definitely a very fairy tale type of film, but that’s the case with most of these animated movies and I have no qualm with that.
Kung Fu Panda On Blu-ray
The Blu-ray release of Kung Fu Panda is amazing. Obviously, you can expect an astounding picture as with most CG animated films on Blu-ray, like Shrek, Madagascar, Ratatouille, etc. Kung Fu Panda is no different in that it pops off the screen with amazing clarity, smoothness, and contrast, it’s simply gorgeous. The 5.1 Dolby Digital track doesn’t disappoint either with all of the dialogue, music, and sounds coming through with no complaints.
There are quite a few extras on this release, too. The extras are split up into a few sections, with multiple parts beneath them. Lets break it down:
Inside Kung Fu Panda
-Filmmaker Commentary Track – No surprise here, but welcomed.
-Trivia Track – I love these; includes pop ups throughout the movie about various aspects of the film.
-Animator’s Corner – This is a really cool picture-in-picture feature. The movie plays normally, but with the bottom right corner of the screen dedicated to showing footage of the animators and actors talking about parts of the film as they play; very cool!
-Meet the Cast – A 13 minute feature in HD where the voice actors, including Jack Black and Jackie Chan, talk about the film.
-Pushing Boundaries – A seven minute feature in HD that shows a lot of the tech and behind the scenes production of the film featuring some of the tech guys at Dreamworks who made the movie possible.
-Conservation International: Help Save Wild Pandas – Jack Black sits down for about two minutes using some of his comedic skill to tell us about the danger pandas are in.
Po’s Power Play
-Dragon Warrior Training Game – This is an interactive game in HD whereby players choose from various doors, each with a character from the movie painted on it. Each door has its own challenge in the Jade Palace training room that you must pass to be awarded the Dragon Scroll. Each game is basic, but fun enough to try; they involve the direction buttons and enter button on your remote.
-Dumpling Shuffle – This is another HD interactive game where you are shown a dumpling that is hidden underneath a bowl that is then shuffled for about twenty seconds. The idea is simple, after the shuffling, select the bowl that is hiding the dumpling. Simple, but fun at least for a few minutes.
-Learn To Draw – Step by step narrated instructions on how to draw the five masters and Po, great for kids.
Sounds And Moves of Kung Fu
-Sound Design – Audio engineers and designers discuss what went into getting the sounds for the film; this runs about four minutes and is in HD.
-Music Video – A music video in HD by artist Cee-Lo, it’s a cover of “Kung Fu Fighting,” the classic song from the 70s, also in HD.
-Learn the Panda Dance – A four and a half minute video in HD whose purpose is to teach you the panda dance, apparently from the movie but I do not recall it.
-Do You Kung Fu? – This feature runs about twenty five minutes and is in HD; it’s broken up into sections based on the animals from the movie. Viewers can click on a section and learn some of the basic moves from that animal style as demonstrated by kids; cool stuff.
Land of the Panda
-Food Network visits Mr. Ping’s Noodle House – A neat look at what goes into making a noodle as performed by an asian chef. This is a nearly five minute feature in HD.
-How To Use Chopsticks – About three minutes, in HD, features a narrator and a young asian girl teaching viewers how to use chopsticks, also great for kids.
-Inside the Chinese Zodiac – We’ve all seen the Chinese Zodiac at Chinese restaurants, this interactive feature allows you to choose your birth year and learn about the twelve animals on the zodiac and the meaning of each according Chinese culture.
-Animals of Kung Fu Panda – Another HD feature running about six minutes that profiles some of the animals you’ll see in the film, including snakes, cranes, and tigers, and their influence on martial arts.
-What Fighting Style Are You? – An interactive HD extra where viewers answer about a dozen multiple choice personality questions to determine what fighting style from the movie they are most similar to.
Beyond this great set of extras, there is an Animation Jukebox and a BD Live feature. The Animation Jukebox is simply a host of trailers for other Dreamworks films, and at this time, the BD Live feature is one called Po Around the World, which shows various scenes from the movie played in different languages.
Kah Pow!
Kung Fu Panda is not only an awesome movie, but this Blu-ray release rocks: the presentation quality is outstanding and the extras are great for adults and kids alike. The summation of all this is a superb release that is very highly recommended for purchase.
