Kung Fu Panda franchise

Yeah, I noticed even Tigress' development got kinda skimmed by in the first film. I felt like if it had shown her humility after losing to Tai Lung and signs of her starting to empathise with Po, it would have been a more relevant character arc, but that's sort of the point she fades into the background along with the other Five members. Hell even just having her the one that sympathetically leads Po out of the Jade Palace instead of Crane.

One of the TV show's better ideas was having a couple instances they go back to this plot point and do it more thoroughly, like they realised there was a gap in the films where she hadn't really gained a bond with Po. Unfortunately they also add loads of other times she and the others go back to the "disapproving collective who get their ass kicked as punishment" role again.

A 2D format would be cool (I always feel teased by those little snippets) so long as they made a more consistent style. I mean Tigress doesn't even look remotely on-model in the second short.

Edited by Psi001 on Oct 11th 2018 at 2:33:10 PM

Really? I thought she looked great. Of course, I just love Tigress in that short in general. She's so adorable. :3

I think Tigress's development in 1 works well enough when it's taken in conjunction with 2. First film, she goes from hating Po to respecting him. Second film, she's gone from respecting him to being friends with him. It makes sense with how she's been portrayed, assuming a fair amount of time has passed in between, but it would've been nice to see the full transition there. That's one of many balls LOA dropped. I for one am a little curious how they became not only friends, but pretty much besties, to the point that Tigress is willing to open up about personal secrets to him and not the others. My theory is that it's because Po is an outsider and lacking in the hardcore discipline she and the Five are used to under Shifu that his innocence kind of draws her in. He's not going to judge her for showing weakness because he's not trained to think that way, so she can't help but loosen up a bit more around him. Emphasis on "a bit".

I kinda think the episode "Chain Reaction" works okay as a transition point. While there is some Character Exaggeration, it does have a couple quiet moments between them and Tigress starting to kind of like Po for who he is, as well as a moment they properly vents out their frustrations from the first film.

Unfortunately this was one of the first episodes, with Aesop Amnesia undergoing many times after.

Edited by Psi001 on Oct 11th 2018 at 3:24:21 PM

Its really sad that the whole "Our TV Shows should do the movies justice" movement from Dreamworks didnt start before they did "Legends of Bullshit". Because while I dont watch it at all the Dragons Franchise does wonders with their characters on the TV Show.

In fairness Penguins of Madagascar could be pretty good at times.

I don't think it helped that Kung Fu Panda was one of the first pretty earnest film franchises Dreamworks had made in a while, I think by title alone many could be forgiven for thinking it was a standard contemporary Dreamworks comedy with a rather shallow story and loads of pop culture humour, especially with Jack Black as the lead (though surprisingly he was one who pushed for the final direction) and likely the guys in charge of the TV show went with the same mentality.

One thing Netflix did that Nick didn't was give Dreamworks the budget to make their series adaptations look and move exactly like their movies! Penguins just looked like a ton of plastic toys jerkily trying to move. They couldn't even have the budget for hair or fur or feathers!

In fairness TV budget CGI has also likely improved a bit in the past decade the show started.

Sorry to derail the topix, but I’ve watched all 3 movies & Tigress reminds me of Android 18. Especially since they were both Defrosting Ice Queens.

So I watched all three movies this week, the third one for the first time, and while the first was great, and the second even better, the third was... well, not bad, but it didn't feel quite right compared to the first two.

I think a major part of it is that they went a little overboard with the silly gags, and let the comedy intrude on the drama and action a bit too much. It doesn't help that the village of pandas is a bit too much of a Wacky Wayside Tribe.

What do you guys think? (No, I'm not going to read the entire thread.)

Agreed. It's not bad per se, there's some good drama with Po's two dads, and they let some other masters shine (which is the big criticism I have of the franchise), but the panda shenanigans and weird pacing hurt the movie. Bad guy is potentially interesting, but not well executed.

I do love the final showdown with Po becoming the Dragon. The pandas being chi-experts is kinda weird and then EVERYONE learning the technique kinda kneecaps the potential for the series.

I recall originally there were plans for six of these, which at the time I was on board if they could use six movies to focus on a different master each time, which isn't how it eneded up working.

The second movie does give Tigress decent focus, and this one does attempt to give Crane (and to an extent Mantis) the same treatment, but it doesn't quite work. Ultimately, the series is just TOO centered on Po to keep going for long.

After KFP 2, this series had the potential to become Dreamworks' greatest, but in the end I give that title to HTTYD.

Edited by MrSeyker on Nov 3rd 2019 at 3:16:20 AM

If it was six movies with the quality of 2, I would be very happy with that. Six movies with the trajectory 3 seems to be taking? Gives me Ice Age flashbacks.

Po becoming the dragon is a prime example of a misplaced joke ruining the mood of a dramatic scene. 3 seems to be doing that a lot. 1 and 2 had plenty of jokes too, but I never felt they got in the way of dramatic moments, but somehow the comedic timing seems to be off in 3.

And yeah, everyone suddenly learning the technique out of nowhere really cheapens the technique, and also makes Oogway and Shi Fu look like morons for not learning it faster.

I actually liked the 3rd one better than the second. But I still found some elements in it that pissed me off.

What did you like better about it?

Given how much HTTYD2 dropped the ball, KFP still wins that title for me, even though I somewhat agree with you.

I liked 3 the least, but I still liked it a lot. Kinda just in purgatory right now waiting to see if anything else happens with the franchise before I make any further judgments. I am enjoying the new TV series at least in the interim.

Focusing on the 5 could be a good direction to go with especially because I am not sure what else can be done with Po aside from giving him a student which is what the current show is already doing.

I actually would love to see a Furious Five movie in general. Like, just them. Kinda like Secrets of the Scroll did. To me, that's about the only way you could reasonably give more focus to someone on the Five other than Tigress without it feeling forced.

Not that I see them making a full movie without the face of the franchise, but a man can dream.

Does anyone else find Mei Mei looks a bit creepy? She looks oddly off model amongst the otherwise pretty realistic pandas.

Dreamworks has made pretty clear they dont give a hoot about anyone not named Po. And I liked 3 better because it took itself less seriously and didnt piss me off as much as 2 did.

So what pissed you off about 2? That it was darker in tone?

And what was 2's problem exactly?

Cause taking itself less seriously isn't really a compliment when this series could already balance levity & seriousness pretty well.

Edited by slimcoder on Nov 3rd 2019 at 5:21:36 AM

No, that's not it. Its hard to put into words, but the whole drama with Po was kind of cliche in the end. And I hated those lame characters which the movie decided to put focus without actually developing them. I'm actually growing more and more fond of the second movie since the third came out actually. Since despite being cliche the whole panda genocide is still pretty moving.

OH AND DUMPLING WARRIOR REMIX IS FREAKING AWESOME.

It is when I disagree with you on that.

Edited by AegisP on Nov 3rd 2019 at 5:01:49 AM

Cliche though it may be, I felt 2 handled Po's backstory very well.

Remember, Tropes Are Not Bad. A cliche well done can still make for a good story.

Also, tying the orphan backstory to an (attempted) genocide certainly seems like an original twist as far as cartoons go.

Edited by Redmess on Nov 3rd 2019 at 2:22:05 PM

I know that's why I'm growing more and more fond of the movie. My hatred was irrational and unfair. I still prefer the third movie.

I don't get that last part.

I literally do not understand your hatred at all.

That is pretty normal, some works get better on a rewatch. Sometimes the benefit of already knowing the entire story greatly improves it. This is especially true of works that like subtle foreshadowing combined with lots of complex twists.