DreamWorks Animation hasn’t been as consistently successful with its efforts as Pixar, but with Kung Fu Panda, it struck esthetic and box office gold. A predictable but entertaining story is presented with a wonderful visual style, warmth, and humor. DreamWork’s first truly widescreen CGI production adds scope and grandeur. And an outstanding voice cast completes the package.

This is the story of a panda named Po (Jack Black). He dreams of being a Kung Fu master, but he’s so fat that he can barely stand up after falling to the floor. He works for his father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), the chef and owner of a noodle shop that’s been handed down for generations. Ping fully expects his son to take over the shop from him, and when Po is ready, he’ll tell him the secret ingredient in his famous Secret Ingredient Soup. How Ping, who seems to be a goose, can be a panda’s father is never explained… or mentioned (something Angelina Jolie greatly admired about the script).

Their village is in the lovely Valley of Peace. High above the valley is a Buddhist Temple where Zen Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), a Galapagos Tortoise, and Kung Fu Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), a rare Chinese Bear, reside and train their disciples. They are the Furious Five: Monkey (Jackie Chan), Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross).

Oogway has had a vision. He fears that the dreaded and highly skilled Kung Fu warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a snow leopard, is going to break out of his imprisonment and take terrible revenge on the village and the temple. Tai Lung was Shifu’s adopted son and disciple, but he become so violent and seethed with such anger that Oogway decreed that he was not to be given the Dragon Scroll to become the coveted Dragon Master. Tai Lung reacted with a vicious attack that only the powerful Oogway managed to stop and Tai Lung was sent to a mountain prison to be guarded by a thousand Rhino warriors.

Oogway now believes that it is time to name the Dragon Master and bestow the scroll, said to be the source of ultimate power. The entire village is invited to attend the ceremony. Po can’t pass up the chance to see his heroes in person. He abandons the noodle cart his father directs him to use to sell food to the throngs. He starts the arduous climb up thousands of steps to the temple above. As you might expect, Po isn’t in the best of shape. By the time he drags himself to the summit, the great temple gates had been closed and barred. Fireworks and drums mask his frantic pounding. He tries all manner of desperate entry, all to fail until he launches himself over the tall walls with skyrockets. He lands at Oogway’s feet just as the Zen master raises his staff to point to the next Dragon Master; it’s directed at Po.

Shifu objects; it’s a mistake. Oogway explains that there are no mistakes. Ah, Zen. And this sets up the premise of the film. Neither the Furious Five nor Shifu believe Po should be there. Shifu, in particular, is angered by Oogway’s directive that in days or weeks he must train Po to become what the others have worked toward for many years. And all becomes that much more urgent when word reaches the temple that Oogway’s vision was prescient; Tai Lung escaped.

The film then becomes a series of training sessions and Kung Fu action set pieces. Po strives to be accepted. Shifu must ultimately accept his responsibility of preparing Po. The Furious Five try to stop Tai Lung. And the third act climaxes with not one, but two potentially lethal confrontations at the temple.

Kung Fu Panda may not be a great CGI animated film; the plotline is entirely too predictable. But the visuals are grand, majestic in their scope, colorful, and compelling. The gentle humor doesn’t pander to the audience. Jack Black is downright subdued. The underlying theme of Po’s acceptance, by the Furious Five, by Shifu, and by his father, adds a nice emotional touch. The action sequences have great energy and dynamics. I particularly liked the battle on the rope bridge between Tai Lung and the Furious Five. This is a warm film that easy to like.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in a superb high definition transfer compressed with the AVC video CODEC. The filmmakers created a wonderful blend of iconic Chinese architecture and geological formations with contemporarily styled characters. The landscape ranges from lush verdant hills to mist shrouded rock pinnacles that are almost monochrome. The palette shifts accordingly, but the key characters, with their colorful coats or skins and glowing, iridescent eyes, always remain true. The fireworks are remarkably vivid, and the interior of the temple has impressive, richly saturated blues, greens, and golds. This is a surprisingly colorful film that perfectly shows off the extended palette of high definition. The level of detail is also outstanding; both finely grained textures, most notably the animals’ fur, and small object detail, obvious in crowd scenes, are really exceptional. The video dynamic range is great, from the brightly lit outdoor training sessions to the dark, nighttime sequences. No crush, no bloom, fine shadow detail. I really like this transfer.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is also impressive. The viewer is totally immersed in sound. The surrounds are very active with discrete off-screen noises and pans. EX dematrixing is a must for the best surround field sound. Sound effects are crisp and well delineated, with airy highs and a bottom end that really pummeled my solar plexus. I greatly admire bass content that can be felt as well as heard. The fireworks are particularly persuasive, and explosions and impact are impressive. Studio recorded dialog has a very natural and convincing timbre and is presented with a very pleasing in-the-room sense of presence. The orchestral score by John Powell and Hans Zimmer may apply a few Asian musical phrase clichés, but it’s pleasant, appropriate, and sounds great. This is a terrific audio track that’s a perfect companion to the superior visuals.

Alternate languages are in French, Spanish, and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1. The optional subtitles are in English SDH, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The film may be played with both a directors’ commentary and with a trivia track. I’d recommend running them simultaneously. The trivia is very informative, throwing out factoids about the actors, casting, the Chinese culture, and onscreen details. The commentary by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson isn’t terribly informative, since they spend a considerable amount of time talking about what is obvious to the observer and thanking the talented people who contributed to the film.

Animator’s Corner is an excellent PiP Bonus View that is a combination of the Directors’ Commentary and behind the scenes work, voice actors, CGI artists, story boards, rough animation, and other aspects of the production. If you have a Profile 1.1 or higher player, I’d skip the audio commentary and stick with the Animator’s Corner. The best sequences are the directors explaining the nature of a scene to the voice actors and then watch them deliver.

Meet The Cast (13:18, 1.78:1, HD) begins with, well, cast introductions; the narrator works his way through each of the key players. The slick short then segues to interviews. Jack Black describes how he was brought into the film and then talks about his character. Next are Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogan, David Cross, Ian McShane, Michael Clarke Duncan, Randall Duk Kim, and James Hong. After each performer has a chance to speak about their roles, Jack Black offers his take on the character, usually goofing around. Then the directors admire the actor. And in the spirit of mutual backslapping, the key players compliment Jack Black.

Pushing the Boundaries (7:07, 1.78:1, HD) is the CGI featurette. The short explains how ambitious the film is and the challenges of pushing the state of the art. I was surprised to learn that the software for the characters’ internal virtual skeletons had to be advanced because of the complexities of the fight moves. Fur algorithms were advanced. Clothing on fur contact problems had to be overcome. Special effects were pushed. And all had to be automated to accommodate a production schedule that involved fifteen hundred shots.

Conservation International: Help Save Wild Pandas (2:00, 1.78:1, HD) is Jack Black describing the Panda’s habitat, explaining their endangerment, and appealing to the viewer for contributions to help save the Pandas by protecting the habitat. The short guides the viewer to the appropriate website to learn more.

Po’s Power Play is organized as three supplements: Dragon Warrior Training Academy; Dumpling Shuffle; and, Learn to Draw. Expect BD-J delays to access these supplements. These are simplistic games and activities for the younger viewer.

In the Sounds and Moves of Kung Fu section you’ll find four extras. Sound Design featurette (3:54, 1.78:1, HD) highlights the work of Ethan Van der Ryn. The mix is a blend of Foley and synthesized sounds. I got the distinct impression that he was inspired by Ben Burtt, recording organic sounds to manipulate and combine to create the sound effects. I very much enjoyed the sequences that reveal how the various sounds were made.

Next is the “Kung Fu Fighting” Music Video by Cee-Lo (2:29, 1.78:1, HD), which is purely disposable. Learn the Panda Dance (4:32, 1.78:1, HD) is equally disposable; based on the children in the sequence I’d say the intended audience is about ten. Do You Kung Fu? is another BD-J feature. This extra instructs the viewer on how to strike various Kung Fu poses… after a stern warning that you could hurt yourself. Once again, the participants appear to be about ten years old, a little more flexible than most of us.

The Land of the Panda section has five extras. In the Mr. Pink’s Noodle House featurette (4:43, 1.78:1, HD), Iron Chef America’s Alton Brown takes us to Beverly Hill’s Mr. Chow. We’re treated to a demonstration of noodle making. This is a great example of both cooking techniques and geometric progression.

How to Use Chopsticks (2:55, 1.78:1, HD) is an accurate and helpful tutorial in technique and manners.

Inside the Chinese Zodiac will also require a BD-J load. You’ll be able to maneuver to your birth year to discover under which animal sign you were born. You can then find out about traits, companions, rivals, and other famous people born with your sign. I’m apparently a Monkey, and my wife is apparently a Rat. This is fortuitous, since Monkets and Rats are ideal companions.

Animals of Kung Fu Panda featurette (6:18, 1.78:1, HD) relates Kung Fu styles to animals’ traits and demonstrates some of those styles: tiger, crane, mantis, monkey, and viper.

What Fighting Style Are You? is another BD-J extra. It’s a quiz. After answering a panel of questions, the disc reveals your fighting style and describes your personal characteristics.

DreamWorks Animation Jukebox is the familiar selection of musical numbers from a selection of films: Bee Movie; Flushed Away; Over The Hedge; Madagascar; Shark Tale; Shrek; Shrek the Third; and, Shrek 2. Each choice is shown in HD. Select the DreamWorks logo and they will all play sequentially.

Trailers offers the same previews that open the disc: Monsters vs. Aliens; and, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

This is a BD Live enabled disc. The menu comes up surprisingly fast; perhaps that’s because it’s mostly text. You have two choices: A Day in the Life of a Shaolin Monk in Training; and, Po Around the World. The first featurette is in 1.33:1 standard definition full screen, runs 1:11, and was compressed with MPEG-2. It, too, loaded surprisingly fast, in less than ten seconds. This is a fascinating but slightly superficial short. It reveals a remarkably rigorous training regimen, a bit masochistic. Trainees have an extremely rudimentary lifestyle, but achieve starting flexibility, agility, strength, and skill. The second BD Live feature offers you the choice of twelve languages; you’ll then watch a 33-second high definition excerpt from the film in the selected language. It’s a demonstration of the international distribution of the film.

The 88-minute film is organized into twenty-three chapters.

Final Thoughts

Charming, colorful, involving, eye and ear candy, and ultimately very predictable, Kung Fu Panda will entertain. A fabulous presentation with a generous array of extras that range from the ridiculous to the informative, this release is recommended.


Here’s a note about the apparent duplicate Buy Guide. Our I.T. people are hard at work on a large project and have not yet had the time to modify the underlying site database formatting code to accommodate the new 0-to-10 rating scales. So until they do, for HD on disc, I’ll insert this note and a Buy Guide at the end of the review text and leave the conventional 0-to-5 Buy Guide blank.