Kung Fu Panda franchise

Yeah. I think I am glad KFP 4 was able to be successful without China.

Five bucks says the Blu-Ray’s in June.

I rewatched Secrets of the Scroll yesterday. It's a really sweet short, I like the story of the young Furious Five coming together and becoming a team, and I like how the short keeps the backstories from Secrets of the Furious Five (Crane being a janitor in a temple, Viper being a ribbon dancer living with her father, etc.), placing the two shorts in the same continuity. Shifu being the Butt-Monkey is unusual but still funny, and Boar is a hilariously one-note villain. The only thing I disliked about it is that Mr. Ping is much more of a Jerkass than usual, his greedier side is more emphasized than in other KFP works.

That short just makes me want a KFP animated series in that style.

I really wish someone at Dreamworks realized this.

Why not combine this idea with the desire for a Furious Five spinoff that was brought up a few pages ago? In fact, the show may even be called Secrets of the Furious Five after the initial short that retroactively would become the show's pilot.

Yeah, a full on prequel series would be fun. We've seen their origin stories but not technically their full journey into legends, after all.

Yeah but sadly it doesnt have Po. If it doesnt have Po or characters constantly wondering about him and thinking about him more than they do about themselves, it is absolutely verboten. For some reason Dreamworks HATES the idea of anyone but Po being the focus.

Well, it IS Kung Fu Panda.

I Dunno not using the main character as you know the focus ends very badly with audiences.

Really I think it's generally only the Furious Five that suffers this problem. They don't actually interact much with each other meaningfully besides that one short. Shifu, Oogway, the villains, the Soothsayer, Zhen, they're all defined reasonably by interactions and dynamics outside of just Po.

I think only Tigress got a lot of focus with another character (mostly Shifu) and even that was kinda downplayed from what they could have done with it, such as her being fairly indifferent to Shifu retiring as her teacher.

Even Legends of Awesomeness tended to have their spotlight episodes be duo episodes with Po, they didn't really explore their dynamics with other characters besides being Po's straight men. I think it's why I liked that brief scene in 3 which is just Crane with Mantis. They make a funny duo.

Edited by Psi001 on Apr 6th 2024 at 3:22:45 PM

Mantis and Monkey are Besties, which you can kind of pick up on if you're paying attention, like that Mantis usually sits on Monkey's shoulder, but it's not obvious.

Really 3 being Denser and Wackier I actually think helped since it allowed for more funnier quirks and interactions to seep out of the other characters. Putting not just Po, but Ping and Tigress into the goofy Panda Village was a fun premise.

Hell I think the main reason Secrets of the Scroll did so well with the Five is because they have more clearly defined quirks in that short, being at the start of their character development. I think with works in present day they feel restrained to keep them believably competent and studious, though in fairness you got Po and even Shifu acting goofy otherwise and they rank above them now.

Tomorrow the digital version of KFP 4 will be released along with the short title "dule of the dumplings."

With 4 doing $452 million, how does it compare now to the other films?

Budget vs Box Office for Kung Fu Panda movies:

• Kung Fu Panda 1: $130M budget, $631M box office (4.85x budget)
• Kung Fu Panda 2: $150M budget, $665M box office (4.43x budget)
• Kung Fu Panda 3: $145M budget, $521M box office (3.59x budget)
• Kung Fu Panda 4: $85M budget, $452M box office (5.32x budget)

Kung Fu Panda 4 is the biggest success in the series.

Well, here's hoping they learn something better than the behind-the-scenes drama.

double post

Edited by Ookamikun on Apr 16th 2024 at 1:24:12 AM

Ok, real talk. What's the general reception of the fourth movie? It didn't seem to bomb, but at the same I've seen a lot of people (especially on Youtube) complaining about the movie a lot, with some considering it just as bad as that one Megamind sequel. Here on TV Tropes the reaction seems nicer though (I noticed that the new villain of the movie is listed under "Love to Hate"). I didn't watch it, so I still don't have an actual opinion about it. What do you think?

I liked it, I'm gonna get it on Blu-Ray when it comes out.

I think the consensus is simply that it is inferior to the prior 3 but still a good movie.

Seems to be mixed. People either hate it, love it or liked it but felt it could've been better (like my reaction)

Edited by VengefulBale on Apr 19th 2024 at 1:33:29 PM

Personally though I think it's way better than the third film. But this movie really was brought down by Chameleon being a let down.

I thought it was about on par with the other films in the franchise. Granted, I say that as someone who's not as in love with 2 as a lot of people seem to be, I think all four films are solid 8/10s. All four films have things they did right and things that could have been improved.

In particular, 4 is the most visually gorgeous of the series.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Apr 20th 2024 at 3:03:07 AM