KUNG FU PANDA
Animated kids movies – be it about extinct mammoths, green trolls, fuzzy monsters or Chinese pandas – are all pretty much the same. They all stick fairly well to the same tried and true storyline: The protagonist suffers a series of setbacks as he/she struggles for a goal, they learn a life lesson, and then overcomes the antagonist in a climatic battle.
So why are some better than others? Well don’t ask the animators. Every article, behind-the-scenes, and documentary on animated films seems to focus on the quality of the animation – how many hairs on each creature, how each hair moves and flows independently, how it shines in accordance with expected light sources… YAWN. If that was a true measure of a productions appeal, then animations like The Simpsons would be a terrible flop.
The only comparable difference is that the best animated movies have the best characters; from Kimba the White Lion to Homer Simpson and now, in Kung Fu Panda; Poe.
Kung Fu Panda starts in Poe’s fantasy, a place where Poe is a supreme kung fu master, but soon we realise his reality; he is a flabby panda who waits on tables in his fathers noodle shop. Instantly Poe is likeable (possibly more so by the adults who remembers youthful daydreaming about being our own special hero) and we are quickly drawn into his world.
Jack Black is the voice of loveable Poe, and Black’s humour looses nothing in animation, even his more ‘adult’ fans will enjoy his performance. The film-makers deal with Chinese culture in a way that an audience will appreciate – without getting too lost, and there is enough comic action and dialogue to keep the little ones entertained.
Kung Fu Panda is thoroughly enjoyably with a cast of entertaining characters, but most special is the disarmingly warm appeal of a certain flabby panda.
