Talk:Kung Fu Panda (film)

Comment

This movie is racist. 71.65.35.98 16:47, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Justify yourself if you're going to make such a widespread claim. My initial reaction is that this is a ridiculous claim, and the only thing I could see to justify it would be that some of the "people" of China are pigs--unless there's something offensive I'm missing about ducks and rabbits. As the article discusses, the Pig is a part of the Chinese Zodiac, and therefore a significant portion of the population is already classified as "pigs." Not to mention, I would readily acknowledge that a significant population of Americans are also pigs. Other than that, although my knowledge of Chinese culture is slightly limited, I do not feel that this film does the culture any disservice; it adopts Chinese culture as a backdrop. I also was a fan of the way the messages of the film are not beaten into the viewer's skull, instead the viewer is expected to figure it out for themselves and take it away--the thematic phrase "there is no secret ingredient" can apply to self-confidence, but you as a viewer must determine what it means.

Incidentally, is there a name for the theme of "Destiny meet[ing] us on the road we take to avoid it" (as Oogway calls it)?--Epynephrin (talk) 14:42, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

On a more useful comment, perhaps it is my long exposure to it but I can't help but think of Ranma 1/2 and Ranma's father martial artist turned panda thanks to some magical pools Saotome Genma every time I see this. I just wonder is anybody with this project knew of Ranma 1/2.--BruceGrubb (talk) 05:25, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

i do... 84.59.229.95 (talk) 15:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I meant did anyone on the film project know of Ranma 1/2.--BruceGrubb (talk) 20:38, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Comment

The films that the actors have been in is not part of what species of animal they play in this movie! Also the trivia bit at the bottom makes no sense!!! Nathan 13:28, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Tigress the love interest

I have a stinging feeling that Tigress will be the love interest of Po. It says on her movie bio, "But even the strongest can be wrong, and Tigress soon finds out that destiny arrives in unexpected ways." 71.215.20.200 (talk) 23:51, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Maybe they'll have kids at the end(although I can't imagine what tiger and panda offspring look like) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.81.141.36 (talk) 22:58, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Alternatively, it might mean that Tigress is wrong about Po being a failure and you are babbling. 218.186.254.124 (talk) 09:44, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm going with Anonymous Person #243 here, I was half-expecting there to be a love interest, and was actually relieved and glad that it was not the case. My feelings are that ditching that angle removed a significant portion of the Cheese factor from the film. --Epynephrin (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 14:43, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Connection to Sly Cooper

Does anybody notice that the kung fu panda is kinda like the panda king from the sly cooper video game series? If the panda king makes fireworks then sucker punch productions may have to sue dreamworks. Rubixmike14 22:40, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

They're both anthro pandas. That's the only similarity i see. But if he makes fireworks, they might file a lawsuit. -Lord Of Demise(not logged in) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.181.243.232 (talk) 22:11, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Shifu is a Red Panda?

Really? Where did that answer come from? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.142.77.40 (talk) 05:51, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

The trailers, its quite obvious —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lowsgt (talk • contribs) 08:16, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Dustin Hoffman

Why isn't he listed among the main cast, while other people are? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lowsgt (talk • contribs) 08:19, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Sources

Just listing some very useful articles for use on this article (I myself might get back to it later):

• 'Kung Fu Panda' pushes boundaries of cartoon art
• Kung Fu Panda Co-Director John Stevenson

-- Harish 109:31, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

• 'Kung Fu Panda' character designs —97198 talk 10:01, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Plot

Is anybody agree that the plot is too long and too detailed? I hope it can be edit to shorter version so that it won't become a big spoiler. Tan pang (talk) 17:13, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

ducks or geese?

i personally found chinese population in the movie depicted in a somewhat symbolic way. the pig, for example, is a part of the chinese zodiac; pork is widely used in chinese cuisine. the rabbit is also a part of the zodiac; though i cannot its meat being that widely used, i kind of see a somewhat ... sarcastic remark (?) concerning the rapid way the chinese population has been expanding. and then you have ... geese? or ducks. not parts of the zodiac, neither. but at least peking duck is considered one of china's national foods ... so why geese? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nevena Stoeva (talk • contribs) 05:36, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

References to Chinese and Martial Arts styles

The Furious Five (Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper and Crane) are references to Black Tiger Kung Fu, Monkey Kung Fu, Northern/Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Snake Kung Fu and Fujian White Crane Kung Fu.

Tai Lung represents Leopard Kung Fu, and the Dragon Warrior represents Dragon Kung Fu.

Also, shifu literally means "master" in Chinese, and wugui means "tortoise".

I'm not sure where to place this info on the article page. :) Nighthound (talk) 20:57, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I support you that these facts are interesting. I have already added this to the article but then the names part was erased again and considered superflous. The name Master Shifu is actually one of the funny part in the movie, because literally his name is Master Master. And the reference to the tortoise is, I think, because Chinese writings (therefore Chinese wisdom), is considered to be originated from a tortuise shell found by an ancient Chinese king (I forget who). I would opt that the erased part is added again with added facts references. --Agus elex 2005 (talk) 19:34, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

I realized the obvious homages to the martial arts and the play of words with the names too, but you need supporting sources. I believe the editor who removed the name thing was correct in doing so. It should not be added back until you have a solid source that specifically says "Oogway is Wu Gui" and Master Shifu means "master master". --Ghostexorcist (talk) 19:47, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Complication

I wrote this simple section in the Reception section:

Kung Fu Panda was released in the midst of the 2008 Tibetan unrest, when Western popular anger at China was extremely high.

Since I added it, two different anonymous editors have attempted to delete this addition without any explanation whatsoever. It seems relevant (as the Tibet uprising was still relatively fresh in the media and public consciousness when the film was released), though someone may disagree. If it's relevant, it should stay in. But its appropriateness as a sentence should be discussed, and the sentence should not be removed without explanation, especially anonymously. Perhaps relevance needs to be proven by sources of discussion over the issue, or something. Either way, discuss. - Gilgamesh (talk) 03:57, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't see how Kung Fu Panda is related to the 2008 Tibetan unrest whatsoever. Can you explain how it's relevant to the movie? Because I don't see it.--NotYouHaha! (talk) 04:03, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, it only seems empirical. (Then again, I have no real common sense to speak of.) Since the Tibet events are so recent there has been a great deal of anger at China in the West. Would it not be considered poor taste to reward China with China-themed artistic homages shortly after such a catastrophic event? I did not say in the sentence whether this makes the movie wrong—that would be blatant arrogant POV. I saw the movie, and it wasn't bad. But while watching it, every minute or so I was thinking, "Is it right to enjoy this if Tibet is still cracked down upon this very day by the Chinese government in apparent support by the Chinese people around the world?" I thought certainly this corrolation would cross countless minds. And when I wrote the sentence, I had zero doubt about it. But if it is not really an issue, I wouldn't have a problem with the sentence being removed. But that's the question—is it an issue, given the timing of this and the ugly news coming out of Tibet and China and briefly out of London, Paris and San Francisco? It's not as easy to suspend disbelief for a tranquil China setting when reminded of what's been going on. - Gilgamesh (talk) 04:13, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree this last part is superfluous. You may as well attach this footnote to any and everything either made in China (which this wasn't) or based on Chinese influence before during or after that time. I would suggest at least citing a source that shows this was in fact a complication to the movies release. Although I agree that the Tibetan Incident is indeed unfortunate, I don't think it has a place here. -KSM (Next time I will create an account so your third author is not anonymous.)

Below is the entry, so that you don't have to rewrite it.

Complication

Kung Fu Panda was released in the midst of the 2008 Tibetan unrest, when Western popular anger at China was extremely high. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.20.151.1 (talk) 04:15, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Well, at least this is a discussion. BTW, I reverted the third anonymous deletion because it was not explained in the edit summary and the edit history for the IP address was brief. If an established editor deletes it and gives reason while discussing it here, then maybe I'll trust the page isn't being vandalized. But while it happened three times, it seemed alarming—I thought for certain it must be Chinese nationalist editors I've encountered now and then in other articles and their talk pages. - Gilgamesh (talk) 04:20, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

I say that we should add a controversy section about this---- only if the media says something about this, and controversey stirs up. One sentence doesn't explain enough.--NotYouHaha! (talk) 04:22, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Now you see? That sounds more like common sense. Considering I have none, I can only rely on intuition, weighing what seems correct. BTW, I just did some Google searches...I can't find controversy associated with this. Which means...it was probably just in my mind. I'll take responsibility for this—I'll remove the sentence myself. - Gilgamesh (talk) 04:36, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Seriously it's an animated movie about talking animals. I simply suggest adding some kind of reference for what comes off as an opinion.

Comment

Just wondering if anyone noticed the similarity of Po to the Pandaren of the warcraft universe.

I think the part about the ceremony isn't completely correct - Po doesn't light the fireworks and wait for oogway to choose the dragon warrior, he lights them and waits for them to go off so he can see who the dragon warrior is. Also, it didn't seem master oogway was inspired by his sudden appearance - he sensed that was where the dragon warrior was going to be (not an accident like he mentions).