Kung Fu Panda (franchise)

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Po, a clumsy, overweight panda, is a kung fu fanatic who lives in the Valley of Peace and works in his goose father Mr. Ping's noodle shop, unable to realize his dream of learning kung fu. One day, a kung fu tournament is held for the elderly spiritual leader of the valley, Grand Master Oogway, to determine the identity of the Dragon Warrior, the one kung fu master capable of understanding the secret of the Dragon Scroll, which is said to contain the key to limitless power. Everyone in the valley expects the Dragon Warrior to be one of the Furious Five—Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane—a quintet of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu to protect the valley. To everyone's surprise, Oogway chooses Po, who had accidentally stumbled into the tournament arena after arriving late.

Refusing to believe that Po can be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu subjects Po to torturous training exercises in order to discourage him into quitting. Determined to change himself into someone he himself can respect, Po perseveres in his training and befriends the Furious Five, who had previously mocked Po for his lack of skill in kung fu. Po soon learns that he must fight Tai Lung, an evil kung fu warrior who has escaped from prison to take revenge for being denied the Dragon Scroll, and despairs he will be unable to defeat him. However, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of martial arts when motivated by food, and successfully trains him to learn kung fu. After his training is complete, Po is given the Dragon Scroll, which he discovers to be blank. However, Po realizes that the key to limitless power lies within himself, allowing him to defeat Tai Lung and restore peace to the valley.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Po now lives his dream as a kung fu master and protects the Valley of Peace alongside the Furious Five. However, he is thrown into internal conflict when he begins having flashbacks of his mother and learns from Mr. Ping that he was adopted as an infant. Shortly after, Po and the Five are sent on a mission to stop the evil peacock Lord Shen from using a newly developed weapon, the cannon, to conquer all of China and destroy kung fu tradition. Po remains tormented by thoughts of being abandoned by his real parents until he is guided by a wise old soothsayer to embrace his past, and remembers that his parents risked their lives to save him from Shen, who had set out to exterminate all pandas after learning of a prophecy that he would be defeated by "a warrior of black-and-white". Po achieves inner peace, which allows him to destroy Shen's new weapon, defeat Shen, and accept Mr. Ping as his father. However, during the last scene of the movie it shows Po's biological father realizing his son is alive.

Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Some time after the events of the second film, Shifu relinquishes his duties as master of the Jade Palace to Po, claiming that the next step of his own apprenticeship is to oversee the Furious Five's training. While struggling with this new responsibility, Po rejoices upon reuniting with his biological father, Li. However, news that the spirit warrior and collector Kai had returned to the mortal realm and is stealing the Chi of masters from all over China reach the Valley of Peace and Po and the others discover from a scroll left by Oogway that Kai can only be defeated by the power of Chi, a technique known only by the panda colonies, thus Po and Li set to the secret Panda Valley in order to have Po learn it. Po eventually discovers that Li had deceived him because the pandas had forgotten at all about how to manipulate the Chi and he just wanted to protect his son from Kai, much to Po's disappointment. Once making amends with his father, Po joins forces with the pandas to make a stand against Kai, mastering the power of Chi in the occasion and using its power to destroy him for good. After returning to the Valley of Peace, Po spends his days spreading the teachings of Chi.

Future

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has said that it is possible that perhaps the series will see three more sequels after Kung Fu Panda 3, bringing it to a six-film series.

On January 13, 2016, Collider asked the filmmakers of Kung Fu Panda 3 about the possibility of a fourth film. Co-director Jennifer Yuh Nelson said, "It’s one at a time. We want to make this a perfect jewel, and then we’ll see what happens after that." Co-director Alessandro Carloni said, "With the sequels, we don’t want to try to have them feel open-ended. We want it to feel like a completed journey, and we feel this movie does. And then, if a fantastic story presents itself, great."

Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness

Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness is an animated television series based on the Kung Fu Panda film series, set between the first two films. The show was originally intended to first air in 2010, but it was delayed and officially premiered on Nickelodeon on November 7, 2011. Of the series's voice cast, only Lucy Liu, Randall Duk Kim, and James Hong reprise their roles from the films as Viper, Oogway, and Mr. Ping. The first season, consisting of 26 episodes, ended on April 5, 2012. The second season aired from April 6, 2012 to June 21, 2013 and also consisted of 26 episodes. A third season began airing June 24, 2013 consisting of 28 episodes.

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five is an animated short film that serves as a semi-sequel (or spin-off) to Kung Fu Panda and appears on a companion disc of the original film's deluxe DVD release. It was later broadcast on NBC on February 26, 2009, and is available as a separate DVD as of March 24, 2009. The film has a framing story of Po (in computer animation), telling the stories of his comrades in arms, the Furious Five, which are depicted in 2D cel animation.

Kung Fu Panda Holiday (2010)

Kung Fu Panda Holiday (also known as Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special) is a 2010 television special that premiered on NBC on November 24, 2010. It tells a story of Po, who is assigned to host the annual Winter Feast by Master Shifu, despite his wishes to spend the holiday with Mr. Ping.

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011)

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters is an animated short film that was released on December 13, 2011 as a special feature attached to the Kung Fu Panda 2 DVD and Blu-ray. It tells the backgrounds of the masters of Gongmen City: Thundering Rhino, Storming Ox, and Croc.

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll (2016)

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll is an animated short film officially released as a bonus feature in the Kung Fu Panda: Ultimate Edition of Awesomeness Blu-ray pack in January 2016. Secrets of the Scroll details the forming of the Furious Five, and their first fight together against a common enemy. Unlike previous Kung Fu Panda short films, Secrets of the Scroll has yet to be released on its own DVD or Blu-ray.

Panda Paws (2016)

A new short film, Panda Paws, was released with the Blu-ray of Kung Fu Panda 3. Panda Paws involves the character Mei Mei competing with Bao at the "Spring Festival."

Box office performance

The films series grossed over $1.8 billion making the Kung Fu Panda franchise the seventh highest-grossing animated franchise (behind Shrek, Ice Age, Toy Story, Madagascar, and Despicable Me) and the third highest-grossing DreamWorks Animation's franchise behind Shrek and Madagascar.

Critical and public reception

Each Kung Fu Panda film has received highly positive reviews, with critics often praising the animation, voice acting, and character development.

Cast and characters

Video games

Arena show

Directed by international entertainment director, Franco Dragone, best known for Le Rêve and House of Dancing Waters, Kung Fu Panda: Arena Spectacular is an in-progress live arena show, featuring characters from the Kung Fu Panda. Combining circus and Chinese acrobatics as well as arena show effects, the production was supposed to be released around the same time of Kung Fu Panda 2. After a multi city casting tour in 2010, the production went behind closed doors until late 2011 when a new set of audition dates were announced for the following year. However, shortly before the announced January 2012 auditions, it was announced that both Franco Dragone and DreamWorks had decided to postpone the live show's opening date, canceling all auditions.

Themed land

A themed area Po's Kung Fu Garden was opened in 2012 at DreamWorks Experience, one of the themed lands at the Australian theme park Dreamworld. As of 2012 Po's Kung Fu Garden consists only of a small area featuring a Po photo opportunity. In late 2012, additional rides and attractions were added to the area.

Chronology

In order of the Kung Fu Panda franchise history:

1. Kung Fu Panda (2008)
2. Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)
3. Kung Fu Panda Holiday (2010)
4. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
5. Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011–2016)
6. Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011)
7. Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll (2016)
8. Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
9. Panda Paws (2016)