With an ever-excited fanboy at the helm as our protagonist of Kung Fu Panda, there's always a heart to be melted during his journey as the Dragon Warrior.
Subpages
- Kung Fu Panda
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Kung Fu Panda 3
- Kung Fu Panda 4
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness
- Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny
- Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight
Secrets of the Furious Five
- When Shifu comes to help Tigress, whose self-esteem is so low that she tearfully calls herself a monster, only to have the great master firmly contradict her, "You are not a monster. You are just a little girl".
- The fact that everyone is afraid of Tigress because she has no idea of her own strength (being a tigress cub among ducks and rabbits), and they won't even play with her. When Shifu comes, he brings a game with him, and later adopts her because no one else was willing to. Considering the last big cat Shifu trained...
- Viper and her father smiling at each other (it's significant, alright) after Viper had defeated the gorilla bandit.
- Consider the situation beforehand. Viper is born the daughter of a Kung Fu master fabled for his poisonous fangs. Only little Viper is born without fangs or venom. You might expect that such a proud warrior would be disconsolate at his successor lacking his abilities, maybe even taking it out on his child. Master Viper? Whilst yes, he is disheartened, as it means he must protect their village far beyond his youthful strength, he nevertheless loves his daughter. Never are we led to believe he feels anything but the utmost pride for his little one, who learns ribbon dancing just to make him happy. All the rest of the Five have neglected and sad backstories, but Viper? She had a family who loved - and still loves, as far as we know - her with every fiber of their being.
- Monkey's backstory, particularly after Oogway saved him from certain death. That Monkey is the only one who uses a staff also becomes heartwarming, considering Oogway uses one too.
- Oogway not only shows the obvious trait of compassion in that short, he shows great humility by straightening out a small-town prankster—a problem which most would call too insignificant for a grandmaster's attention.
- Mei Ling in Crane's backstory gloriously averts the Cats Are Mean trope. In spite of the fact that she's the best student at the academy (and Crane is only a janitor), she's the first to see Crane's potential. She's the only one nice to him at the kung fu school and she encourages him to train and unlock his inner potential.
Kung Fu Panda Holiday
- The holiday in the special is not made up, nor is it a expy of Christmas. The Chinese celebrate the mid-winter solstice festival on 21 December every year (one of the Chinese holidays that follow the solar calendar) and everyone wears red, and tries their damnedest to get home in time for dinner with the family and friends.
- The whole special is devoted to showing how hard Po tries to balance his family life with his professional life since becoming Dragon Warrior in the first movie. He still lives with his father and helps him in the restaurant despite keeping to his studies and helping protect the village. He even tries his hardest to appease both Mr Ping and Shifu by letting the former act as chef at the Jade Palace's winter feast.
- Despite it being the highest honor a chef could achieve, Mr. Ping turns down the chance to serve his food at the Jade Palace because he always keeps his restaurant open late on the solstice so that those who have no one waiting for them at home don't have to spend the holiday alone.
- When Po finally decides to abandon the ceremony and be with his dad, he tries to pull this off in the most respectful way possible, noting how honoured he is to be among warriors such as Master Rhino and Master Sheep, and as much as he wants to be a good host, he knows he must be a good son first. The other warriors give glances implying they are quite touched by this sentiment.
- Master Shifu comes to the restaurant and finds that true perfection he wanted at the banquet is at the informal dinner at Ping's restaurant; where the lonely have a place in a holiday where togetherness is everything. When Shifu turns to leave, feeling he does not belong, Po comes out and tries to persuade him to come in.Shifu: Oh no, I couldn't. These are your people; this is your family.
Po: You're my family too. - Tigress has SEVERAL. Wishing Po a happy holiday with a genuine smile was one, feeding a baby piglet playfully another by saying, "I'm gonna get you!". Considering how much of an anti-social jerk she was in the first movie, these examples only turn the D'awwwww factor up to twelve and begin the Po/Tigress Ship Tease.
- That and Tigress reminiscing with the others at the formal party how much she enjoyed the holiday when she was a child. Though she wasn't the only one, the other masters joined in pretty quick.
- When Master Rhino visits Ping's restaurant he is urged by the children to sit with them. He is later shown enthusiastically telling them a story of one of his adventures to the children's delight.
- The suicidal Wo Hop finally getting Thrown A Bone and given the Golden Ladle, restoring his honor.
