I'm pretty much on board with you whole "if you can't do 3D animation right, you shouldn't do it at all" theory. There's some shows that can handle this to an acceptable level, but when you're trying to adapt movie characters onto TV, there's going to be a noticeable difference. Legends of Awesomeness doesn't pull this off, and it can be quite an eye-sore at times when the animation is less than mediocre. Of course, the animation has little to do with the actual quality of the writing in question. For instance, Planet Sheen had some pretty decent animation for a 3D cartoon show, but it just fell flat when it came to everything else. Legends of Awesomeness, as you sad, isn't bad per say, but its lacking. The general mediocrity of the series just makes it feel empty and unlike anything Kung Fu Panda related to me.
I went back to Legends of Awesomeness recently, with certain memories of it being merely a flat cash in on the first film. While it's true some episodes are pretty poor, I was surprised to find just as many that had legitimate effort put into them and were pretty enjoyable. The formula with Po being an impetuous ass and the Five being The Worf Brigade is annoying and happens too often, but there are actually a lot of breaks from it where they almost get them right (Tigress tends to be consistently more of a Squidward-esque comedic stiff in this however, even if they do attempt some Character Development with her to transition her between the first two films). Most of the best episodes in the show tend focus on Po's dynamic with another character, or shift him Out Of Focus altogether for one of them to get centre stage. There's even the odd episode that tries to call back to side lore like the Five's backstories (having an instance Tigress actually remembers her early humble days starting off and equates it to how high and mighty she is now was something they never done in the films and I appreciate the show for trying).
The recurring villains like Fung and Taotie are fun (and they even surprisingly attempt some Character Development for them in their last appearances), the humour tends to be a big redeemer for even the worst episodes, and even the animation, while obviously lower budget, I think is a case by case situation. Some episodes compensate pretty poorly, but others like "Ladies of the Shade" do make up for lower budget work with loads of good storyboarding and visual gags. It reminds me of how Disney Afternoon shows had these episodes that were blatantly given to their better or worse studios.
It's a shame Legends of Awesomeness wasn't a bit more consistent, otherwise I think it would have remembered as a humble but enjoyable companion piece to the films. Remember however the show started production just after the first film was released and when Dreamworks was still known for their edgy zany comedies. It would have been simple to assume the sequels would go the same way instead of the more subtle and poignant pieces they turned out to be.
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Meh.
As a big fan of the Kung Fu Panda movies, I’m pleased to say that this show surpassed my expectations, but only in the sense that I think it’s just mediocre instead of horrible.
Right from the get-go, my biggest concern was how this show would treat the characters I’ve come to know and love. Unfortunately, it treats them very badly. First of all, there’s Po himself. No longer is he the fun and lovable panda from the films. Instead, he’s now an insufferable Jerkass who not only causes most of the problems he ends up having to solve, he is also prone to bouts of Aesop Amnesia, meaning that he never truly learns NOT to be an insufferable Jerkass. He is easily one of the most unlikable protagonists I've ever seen, and being the main character makes this a pretty big problem.
Shifu and the Five aren’t nearly as bad, but they still have their occasional OOC moments. They were also nerfed quite heavily from the films. When the episode isn’t focused on them, their only role seems to be getting their butts handed to them by the Monster of the Week so Po can come in and save that day. But to their credit, the episodes that do focus on the side characters tend to be the best that the show has to offer. Anyone who is a bit sore about the Five getting snubbed in the films can get some real enjoyment out of episodes like “Hometown Hero”, “Serpert’s Tooth”, and “Kung Fu Daycare”. It’s these kinds of episodes that keep me coming back to this show.
There are some other positives as well. Every episode has a segment done in traditional animation that tends to be rather well-done. I only wish the entire show was done like this because the 3D animation is much less impressive. I understand that they couldn’t make the animation as good as it was in the films, but it’s my opinion that if you can’t do 3D animation right, you shouldn’t do it at all. That said, some of the fight scenes can be very creative and fun to watch. A lot of the new characters, especially the villains, are also pretty good, even if most of them are mainly comic relief.
Overall, it’s an okay show, but nowhere near as good as the films it’s based off of and I refuse to consider it canon. Still, it does have it’s moments and I urge any Kung Fu Panda fan to at least give it a look.