History YMMV / KungFuPanda2

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: This film has genocide, mental trauma, and ParentalAbandonment as main plot points.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
** Po's nightmare in the boat before the team's arrival in Gongmen. [[spoiler: He reunites with his parents, only to find that they've replaced him with a radish which is quieter and better at kung fu than him. Said radish then proceeds to kick his ass.]] [[DownplayedTrope This sounds like a straight up version but it is less BLAM than it appears]]. Po is wrestling with issues of identity, where he came from, and his origins. The fear that his parents gave him up because they were trying to replace him or that they simply didn't want him is a very real fear of some adopted people, and his mind shows this quite clearly. He wishes to know ''why'' his parents gave him up, and why they wouldn't come back for him. The radish, though, was entirely BLAM, but it was a dream. The brain uses dreams to sort out bits and pieces of information that it gathers during waking hours, and since radishes played a large role in his father's tale, it's understandable that it would make it into the dream. Kung Fu is also a massive part of his life, so it would be incorporated in as well...
** While trying to [[spoiler: convince Masters Ox and Croc to escape the prison]], Po delivers a RousingSpeech about how they will defeat Shen and destroy his weapon. A [[https://kungfupanda.fandom.com/wiki/Master_Boar random prisoner]] then enthusiastically agrees, but he's never seen again. Oddly, he was a boar and had a completely unique character model. It turns out that this character was ''going'' to be in the movie as a fourth master (alongside Ox, Croc, and Rhino), but was cut for one reason or another and the character model was used in the place of a random criminal.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The panda genocide could have been used for a LastOfHisKind scenario with Po, but the last scene means this is now impossible.

* HarsherInHindsight: Po's ObliviousAdoption, joked about in the first film takes on a darker note once we learn he's [[spoiler: a genocide survivor]].

** Po's nightmare in the boat before the team's arrival in Gongmen. [[spoiler: He reunites with his parents, only to find that they've replaced him with a radish which is quieter and better at kung fu than him. Said radish then proceeds to kick his ass.]] [[DownplayedTrope This sounds like a straight up version but it is less BLAM then it appears]]. Po is wrestling with issues of identity, where he came from, and his origins. The fear that his parents gave him up because they were trying to replace him or that they simply didn't want him is a very real fear of some adopted people, and his mind shows this quite clearly. He wishes to know ''why'' his parents gave him up, and why they wouldn't come back for him. The radish, though, was entirely BLAM, but it was a dream. The brain uses dreams to sort out bits and pieces of information that it gathers during waking hours, and since radishes played a large role in his father's tale, it's understandable that it would make it into the dream. Kung Fu is also a massive part of his life, so it would be incorporated in as well...

* OneTruePairing: Suffice to say, this film made ''a lot'' of fans ship [[InterspeciesRomance Po and Tigress]]. It doesn't hurt when even producers and [=VAs=] like Creator/GuillermoDelToro and Creator/AngelinaJolie have supported the ship.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: [[spoiler:Li Shan fighting off the Wolf Boss to protect his son and wife is even more heroically badass when the third movie reveals that he has ''no knowledge'' of kung fu whatsoever...and went up against Shen's forces armed with nothing more than [[PapaWolf a father's love.]]]]

* OneTruePairing: Suffice to say, this film made ''a lot'' of fans ship [[InterspeciesRomance Po and Tigress]]. It doesn't hurt when even producers and [=VAs=] like Creator/GuillermoDelToro and Creator/AngelinaJolie have supported the idea.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The animation as a whole is [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome fantastically fluid]], but it also provides us with not one but two gorgeously 2D segments in [[ArtShift different art styles]]: Shen's backstory in the prologue, told in the form of [[GeniusBonus Chinese shadow puppetry]], and [[spoiler:Po's memories of his childhood]], done in an incredibly vibrant and colorful style that rivals if not excels Disney at its peak.

* AwesomeArt: The animation as a whole is [[VisualEffectsOfAwesome]], but it also provides us with not one but two gorgeously 2D segments in [[ArtShift different art styles]]: Shen's backstory in the prologue,

* ContestedSequel: Opinion is pretty strongly divided - the first movie is generally regarded as having a stronger structure and a classic theme, while supporters of the second point to superior characterization and animation.

* EvenBetterSequel: Opinion is pretty strongly divided - the first movie is generally regarded as having a stronger structure and a classic theme, while supporters of the second point to superior characterization and animation.

** While trying to [[spoiler: convince Masters Ox and Croc to escape the prison]], Po delivers a RousingSpeech about how they will defeat Shen and destroy his weapon. A random prisoner then enthusiastically agrees, but he's never seen again. Oddly, he was a boar and had a completely unique character model. It turns out that this character was ''going'' to be in the movie as a fourth master (alongside Ox, Croc, and Rhino), but was cut for one reason or another and the character model was used in the place of a random criminal.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Many fans (such as Creator/DougWalker) who claim this film to be an EvenBetterSequel cite this trope as the reason why.

* MostAnnoyingSound: As sad as it is, the sound of baby Po crying every time Po has a flashback can get annoying to listen to after a while.
* NightmareRetardant: Thoroughly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. When people heard the BigBad of the film was a peacock, of all things, many ''assumed'' Lord Shen would fall into this[[note]]Though peacocks ''can'' be intimidating in real life as well[[/note]]. With some amazing animation, design, gripping backstory and a devious voice provided by Creator/GaryOldman, however, Lord Shen has often been considered among the greatest animated villains of all time.

* AnimationAgeGhetto: Despite the success of the films (particularly this one) one might easily assume a lot of people will still never watch them based on the kid-appeal titles and covers.

** [[spoiler: When Po discovers what Lord Shen did to his parents, and for that matter ''species'', his response is to...let go of his pain and find inner peace. Shen, who has never got over his own deep-rooted issues, is utterly shocked.]]

** Boss Wolf mentioning how "Cuddly" Po is on a few occasions.'

** Boss Wolf mentioning how "Cuddly" Po is on a few occasions.

* MoralEventHorizon: Lord Shen ''starts the movie'' far on the other side of this trope by massacring an entire panda village in an attempt to avert the prophecy that "a warrior of black and white" will stop his plans to conquer China. He further goes over when he [[spoiler:coldly kills the [[TheDragon Wolf Boss]] ''just because the Wolf Boss didn't want to murder his own men'']].

* MoralEventHorizon: Lord Shen ''starts the movie'' far on the other side of this trope. He massacres an entire panda village in an attempt to avert the prophecy that "a warrior of black and white" will stop his plans to conquer China. He further goes over when he [[spoiler:coldly kills the [[TheDragon Wolf Boss]] ''just because the Wolf Boss didn't want to murder his own men'']].

* MoralEventHorizon: Lord Shen ''starts the movie'' far on the other side of this trope. He crosses it when he massacres an entire panda village in an attempt to avert the prophecy that "a warrior of black and white" will stop his plans to conquer China. He takes it further when he [[spoiler:coldly kills the [[TheDragon Wolf Boss]] ''just because the Wolf Boss didn't want to murder his own men'']].

* MoralEventHorizon: Lord Shen ''starts the movie'' far on the other side of this trope. He overheard a prophecy that a panda would be the warrior to stop his plans to conquer China. His solution? '''''Order the genocide of the pandas.'''''

%%* MagnificentBastard: Lord Shen.

* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown: Downplayed. For all the good reviews and the high Cinemascore audience grade of the film, the film unfairly underperformed at the box office in North America although the domestic gross it earned did more than pay for the production budget. Timing was the issue here as it had the misfortune of being forced to contend with the highly anticipated ''Hangover 2'' which won over the box office; since then, time was much kinder to this film than to ''Hangover 2'' which is now seen as little more than a bad retread. Internationally, however, especially in China; the film became the #1 animated feature film worldwide of 2011.

* OneSceneWonder: Master Rhino.