Kung Fu Panda Franchise Review

Hey, it's your friendly neighborhood Spider -Man

here, and I'm swingin' by the Geekcast Radio

Network. Hey, this is Josh Keaton, and you are

listening to the Geekcast Radio Network. I said,

Panda. I'm coming! Stairs. From DreamWorks. My

lung has broken out of prison! Our only hope

is the Dragon Warrior. The Panda. We're dead.

Jack Black. What are you gonna do? Sit on me?

Don't tempt me. Get ready to feel the thunder!

Hello and welcome to episode 44 of Tooncast Beyond,

brought to you by the GeekCast, Radio Network,

and Audible .com. I'm your host here, Jonah Mike,

and joining me is JT. Hello. How you doing? Uh,

I'll be doing better after this episode. Oh my

god. Today we're going to be learning how to

be kung -fu fighting pandas. Oh my god. I already

looked the part Oh, it's not gonna be that bad

Mike God So really quickly, what have you been

up to? work and Getting back you're back and

painting your nails and I'm I was painting a

patio for the listeners Okay, well not for the

listeners know now just work working on some

of my writing and Still trying to figure out

if and when I can get anybody to come on another

episode of the authentic geek podcast I can actually

get that going and not take a year off like the

lunchroom Everyone has their reasons. Yeah, and

For me we a couple weeks ago. We finished Batman

week. Oh my god. Was that a nightmare that that

nearly killed? No, dude that when we we did that

all things Batman when I stood up afterwards

It was like rusty drawbridge just ow ow ow yeah,

yeah So there's that and yeah, so we're gonna

be talking about continuing on in the season

and dream works here in to cast me I want to

be talking about Kung Fu Panda, the franchise,

we're going to talk about each individual film

as well, but we're going to talk about it in

a franchise discussion, kind of like what we

did a couple weeks ago with the Madagascar films.

I watched these back and so far I'm not a fan.

But to set the stage for Kung Fu Panda 1, the

2008 American Computer animated it. Action comedy

film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed

by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by John

Wayne Stevenson and Mark Osborne produced by

Melissa Cobb and stars the voices of Jack Black

along with Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Angelina

Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David

Cross, Randall Duck Kim. James Hong and many

others. The idea for the film was conceived by

Michael LaChance, a DreamWorks animation executive.

The film was originally intended to be a parody,

but director Stevenson decided instead to shoot

it as an action comedy. Oh boy. It premiered

in the United States on June 6, 2008 and has

since received very favorable reviews from critics

in most of the movie -going public. There's something

wrong with the critics in most of the movie -going

public. Apparently, including the Chinese audiences

like this who are impressed with the film's faithfulness

to their culture. The film currently garners

a 88 % certified fresh approval rating from review

agritator Rotten Tomatoes. Kung Fu Panda opened

in 4 ,114 theaters grossing $20 .3 million on

its opening day. The total will be told later.

Alright, so Kung Fu Panda, did you see this in

theaters? Are you someone who goes to theaters

for animation? Yeah, I go to the movies all the

time, but this one, when I first saw the trailer,

I was intrigued. I'm not a huge, huge fan of

DreamWorks, but a lot of the stuff they're done,

it's a bit of all right. Not that doesn't that's

not just a Shrek films, you know, even the Madagascar

stuff like that. It's okay, you know, I've enjoyed

it and I'm somewhat like you going into this

first movie. I was like, it's Jack Black and

he's gonna be doing his wacky, you know, Jack

Black thing and you know, and I know he spoke

off air. It's show how in 3d and I Was pleasantly

so I wasn't expecting to like this film going

into it But I was very surprised how much I ended

up loving the film afterwards you know and More

so and it's honestly a surprise like a lot of

things the voice cast was awesome. Jack Black,

you know They the script played to his whole,

you know hyper Activity, but you know, they melded

that pretty well with the whole hero's journey

story You know, it's it's um, you've seen it

a dozen movies before but it worked and it was

made for the kids But there's enough incorporated

into the movie Although like the script and the

animation everything that there's a lot for adults

to especially You know someone like myself who's

watched a lot of you know Kung Fu movies and

you know martial arts stuff like that So it's

I thought it was a really good film, you know,

it's not perfect, but it was a really good film

Yeah, I Well initially I ignored it Outside of

maybe you know a very small role he had in Oh

God, what's that Bruce Willis movie? The Jackal

yeah outside of a small techie role in enemy

of the state I have really not been a fan of

Jack Black. I think, and it's sad of me to say

this, I know, I think the only movie I kind of

liked him in was... Oh, it's at one with him

and Kate Winslet. Oh, God. Where Kate Winslet

and Cameron Diaz switch houses. Oh, God. What

the hell's the name of that damn movie? I don't

watch chick flicks, Mike, so I couldn't tell

you. But anyway, I'm not really a fan of his,

just like I'm not a fan of Steve Carell, even

though I do enjoy Despicable Me. Just like I'm

not a fan of Will Ferrell, even though I did

like Megamind, which will be coming up in the

podcast in a few episodes. So initially, I was

like, eh, I'll see it when I see it. I don't

care. DreamWorks, since the Shrek films are over,

So far nothing to this point of what we're reviewing

here in the podcast episode 44 Outside of the

Shrek films. Nothing is really like grabbed me

and said oh my god. This is amazing I have to

watch this multiple times. Yeah, it just it just

hasn't So getting into the getting into the voice

cast for the first film as you said you got Jack

Black as Poe The Panda. You also have Dustin

Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie

Chan as the monkey. Oh god, I remember that.

Seth Rogen as the mantis, Lucy Liu as the viper,

David Cross as the crane, Randall Duck Kim as

the oogway. Master oogway. Yeah, yeah, master

oogway. James Hong as Mr. Ping. and a bunch of

other p - oh my god rest in peace but commander

vikere is michael clark duncan i know that's

uh completely forgot about that yeah he did a

little bit of voice work before his untimely

passing you know so we miss you man i just don't

that i i think that's another thing that took

me out of the voice cast is that um uh no man

is a gang boss give me a break Yeah. Overall,

the voice cast is good for what the film is.

I like it. It's all right. It's just it's the

film that I have the issue with, not necessarily

who's voicing the characters. Well, yeah. I mean,

it's again, you know, Michael Clarke Duncan,

it's pretty much he's playing, you know, a prison

guard rhino, which is kind of fun. The one the

one voice like I always recognize his voice.

was James Hong as Mr. Ping, who I always, as

soon as I hear his voice, the first movie I think

of in my head is Big Trouble in Little China,

where he played the villainous Lo Pan. You know,

you got guys like, you know, David Cross, Lucy

Liu, they did it all right. I love the fact,

you know, the animals that some of the voice

actors got were kind of... I guess kind of played

words, you know their personalities or their

voices like, you know Jackie Chan is the monkey

and he's doing all like the super quick, you

know in and out and Everything and you know,

Lucie Lou's kind of slinky and whatnot. So she

does Viper I mean the only and I'm not saying

it's miscast or anything like I I'm a fan of

Seth Rogen I don't think he's like the greatest

thing ever, but I enjoy a lot of his stuff. I

Enjoyed his mantis, you know, it's more so The

ones that I was really pleasantly surprised by

was like I said earlier, you know, I love Jack

Black as Poe because his kind of wacky Self,

you know kind of worked with this, you know mountain

of blubber who becomes this awesome kung -fu

fighter and But the two I love the most in the

voice cast was, you know Dustin Hoffman as Master

Shifu which If you look it up, Shifu is actually

getting its Cantonese or Mandarin for teacher

or mentor, which was a cool play on words. And

freaking Al Sweerigan from Deadwood is Tai Lung,

Ian McShane. And I love the way he played him.

He's really kind of vicious, but he's got a sense

of humor, and he's kind of sarcastic. That whole

scene when we get into the plot where he's fighting

the Furious Five on the rope bridge. Yeah, it's

kind of lying there and like talking smack, you

know, so I mean you look down further on the

voiceless You got Jack Black's partner from tenacious

decal glad how Kyle cast has got a bit part in

here Which is kind of cool. So I mean overall

it's a pretty solid cast I think Yeah, it is

a solid cast as I said, you know, it's that that's

not my issue. My issue is just the overall you

know animal hero plot story I mean how many times

have we seen this before and you know I guess

I I I understand it's it's Hollywood things get

recycled more than actual recycling gets done

in the world you know but it's just one of those

things where this movie just didn't just didn't

appeal to me all that well yeah I mean it's not

for everybody but like I said it's for kids and

adults so yeah You know, I think it's a great

popcorn time waster kind of movie like I'm a

fan and I'll go if it's on TV. I'll probably

stop and watch it. You know, I've got the DVD

maybe once or twice a year I'll probably pop

it in and watch it because I really do love this

movie You know, like I said going in I wasn't

very hopeful but coming out I was like damn so

You want to just break down the plot of the first

film really quickly for those that don't know

or haven't seen it or have been living under

a rock for the last four years. Yeah, so there's

not even a spoiler warning at this point, folks,

because if you haven't seen it by now, tough

cookies. Yeah, Jeff said so yeah the plot of

the first movie centers around this big bumbling

panda named Poe Who's a kung -fu nerd? Basically,

he idolizes the furious five which is tigerous

monkey mantis viper and crane he dreams his whole

life of being a kung -fu master and Through a

whole lot of wacky hijinks. He becomes Kung Fu

master himself in form. He's the prophesied dragon

warrior who's going to save the Valley of Peace

from the evil leopard Tai Lung who's you know,

the the requisite exiled villain coming back

for revenge and He gets like the hard the school

of hard knocks kung fu training from Master Sifu

who basically thinks po is a big pile of poo

and Not in a good way Yeah, I mean we can get

more into the thing, but that's the basic thing

is po gets basically bumbles his way into this

kung fu academy and ends up having to save the

world more or less from this evil villain who's

looking for this scroll who's going to give him

like ultimate power so he believes and i mean

i like i said before i think the script not necessarily

the script but the way it's played out yeah we've

seen it a hundred times before But there's something,

you know, it's kind of a timeless kind of story

the whole hero's journey Sort of thing Yeah,

I think the difference in the plot for me as

far as what I'm gonna be comparing it to her

in a minute The difference for the plot is Poe

wants to actually get into the school. He's not

already he's not hardly He's not already there

and just being the dumbass, you know He wants

to train with these people and the comparison

I will make and I was gonna make when you were

doing the plot is that I know exactly where I've

seen this plot before. Where's that? May he rest

in peace, but Chris Farley is the Beverly Hills

Ninja! Damn, I... Wow, you know, I have not made

that connection before. Okay, just when you were

reading the plot, outside of the fact that Poe

wants to join the school and is not already in

the school, this is Beverly Hills Ninja. You

send, you know, because part of Beverly Hills

Ninja was... He was already in the school, but

he was a dumbass. He was a screw -up He couldn't

get his training right and plus no offense and

we're all well at least between JT and I were

all fat here you know Chris Farley was was a

larger man and and and hit a lot of his characters

obviously had to portray that and and that was

part of the thing of his training of you know,

he he finds his journey throughout Beverly Hills

Ninja the same thing with Poe here in this where

he's finding his way to become a master of kung

fu whatever yeah it's you know the big bumbling

boob yeah um and that's uh that's you know and

and yeah and not to uh like you said you know

knock on wood not to disparage you know Mr Farley's

comedy right and not and certainly like I'm a

kind of fan of Jack Black so I'm not knocking

him either If Farley had not passed, he would

have been voicing Poe. Like, I would lay money

down on this. I mean, and then a lot of people

probably wouldn't have given them, maybe initially

wouldn't have given the film a lot of like, oh,

it's an animated Beverly Hills ninja, you know?

See what you will about the movie. I love Beverly

Hills ninja. I Mean being well, I mean, I'm not

I wasn't really all that fat as a kid But I mean

growing up and all that any time it's a big bumbling

boob who becomes the hero like that and Gets

the girl at the end of the move, you know after

a fashion. That's my boy, you know Plus it who

doesn't want to live in a van down by the river

But yeah, no, I mean the plot Mean the first

part of the film where you know, it's you meet

po. He's his dad is a goose and Anywhere he basically

lives in like a tofu and noodle shop, you know,

he's such a nerd. He's got the posters all the

wall He's got these little carved wood action

figures, you know when you first meet po he's

rolled out of bed He's like trying to throw the

ninja stars Into this target and it only like

bounces off the target falls to the floor. He

tries like two or three like he's got no skills

and Then he you know, it's this You know, they're

gonna pick the dragon warrior today So part of

the comedy is, you know, there's very slapstick

way he tries to look through a porthole or tries

to flip over the wall or and he finally ends

up, you know lighting a wagon full of fireworks

on fire that launches him in like this arc like

way up into the stratosphere and he crashes down

and Master Oogway the turtle is like you're him

And everyone at the same time has got this WTF

mofo look on their face and the thing is it's

like this character specifically to Kung Fu Panda

not necessarily Beverly Hills ninja, but this

character is that character of Where are we gonna

find someone dumb enough to do our dirty work?

That's really what I felt watching this was yes.

I know throughout the film he you know he progresses

he learns he he you know he he he eventually

masters the technique but at first it's like

it's kind of like that scene in uh... uh... jameson

bob strike back jameson bob movie who would pay

money to see that in the middle of the world

you know it feels to me like one of those gags

at first because it's like it just feels like

a joke and then as the movie progresses you see

that he does have you know Well, first of all,

he does have a heart, and he does want to do

the right thing, and that's all well and good.

I don't know. I just got lost in the unoriginality

of the plot, I think. Well, yeah. No, it's, like

I said, we've seen, and I've said it before,

I'll say it again, we've seen this before. But

it's still, like I said, I enjoyed. One of my

favorite scenes is Tiger's head. Thanks pose

an idiot, you know, and he kind of makes friends

of everyone else like one of my favorite scenes

is where you know mantis and Viper are helping

po out with some acupuncture after this day of

training and I Love mantis is like, oh, no, I

tweaked his facial nerve because he makes like

this Look at Tigress and she's ready to whomp

some ass It's like no, he's like he just hits

the wrong nerve and his face just goes like that

and you know later on we're like you know Sifu

has sent you know Tai Lung escapes from this

prison I thought that was kind of a badass way

he escaped where you know he's basically got

like this turtle shell shackle you know stock

on him that this feather has floated off this

other goose and his tail picks it he picks the

lock and you see him bouncing off like the crumbling

cliffs and using these arrows that are stuck

in the wall from the guards you know tylong's

on his way for revenge so the furious five go

to meet him and like i said earlier they have

this awesome fight scene i i think even you would

have to admit that fight scene the bridge was

pretty cool No, the fight scenes and all the,

yeah, the fight scenes, the animation, the voice

acting, all of that I absolutely love about the

film. But if a plot doesn't, if a story doesn't

reach me or if a story doesn't pull me in, I

can't on a whole like a film just for three or

four parts, I have to like it on a whole for

the entire thing. And the plot is, Is my biggest

problem with the film. Yes, I totally agree.

The bridge scene was absolutely freaking amazing,

you know. You know, the animation is amazing,

the voice acting is amazing, but it doesn't...

Sadly, it doesn't help. The plot sucks. Yeah.

No. Again, just get the move... I agree. It's...

You know, you're not a fan, obviously. Like,

you're not as big a fan as I am. And, I mean,

as the plot moves on, another... My second favorite

scene is the one where... Shifu figures out that

Poe does have skills But he's motivated by his

hunger and that's see where you know He he stand

he sees Poe basically Poe has been Punching through

solid wood doors in order to get the food because

he's like one of those stress eaters You know

which I can certainly relate to because there's

a lot of days where you know I'm pissed off from

work And I shouldn't be eaten a foot long sub

at four in the morning, but damn it. I'm hungry

so you know he's punching through he's got the

skills he can do this and then she from oh yeah

there's like this jar of pecan cookies up there

that's where monkey keeps him and he turns away

for like two seconds and then he goes back in

and not only is po all the way like seven feet

off the floor he's doing a perfect split and

holding it so you know thus begins this you know

food food style that po you know it just shifu

knows that this is how po works so now he can

help he can figure out uh you know kind of uh

incorporate that into teaching him kung fu yeah

like the whole scene where they're just like

have a dumpling and it's like they're having

a kung fu fight with chopsticks and then he turns

it into like a five card monte thing and just

poke it's not the proper way to use chopsticks

oh no but i mean but you see that at least that's

how they show the the hero's journey that you

know he has not necessarily deficiencies but

he he's like he's wired this way way of learning

yeah everybody else like the tiger the the or

whatever whatever the hell else the other animals

are yeah All of those are traditional fighting

styles, and Poe has to use a unique and different

fighting style to get him to want to do it, and

I understand that and I get that. That's all

well and good. I absolutely love that about it,

because it is slightly different, but at the

same time, doesn't take away from the poor plot.

I'm sorry to be pulling a bin on you and ramming

it down your throat as far as that I think the

plot sucks, but it just... It's this movie just

didn't grab me at all Yeah, although, you know

as you get towards the end where he finally confronts,

you know Tai long and That I love the fact that

you know, he's taken out the furious fight with

these nerve strikes, but Poe is just so fucking

fat Earth strikes don't work. He's like that

tickles and he's like what the hell so finally

Poe gets it in gear He's kicking Tai lungs ass

And I love he's like he grabs him. He you know

pops up the pinky He's like the who she finger

hold no one knows the who she finger hold yeah,

I figured it out myself He's like, but you're

just a big fat panda. I love that line. He's

like no I'm the big fat panda, you know, and

then he does the finger hole and he saves the

day. So But yeah, it's Like I said the movie.

Yeah, it's not for everybody. But I mean, I think

it's a song for a solid It's got a solid plot,

at least. I mean, we've seen it before, but it

still works. It's one of those regurgitated,

cliched sort of things that I don't mind seeing

in a movie. Of awesomeness. My fist hungers for

justice. That was my fist. Kung Fu staring contest.

Go! You guys look amazing, by the way. Alright,

and now we move on to Kung Fu Panda 2. Oh boy.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is a 3D American computer -animated

action comedy -drama film directed by Jennifer

U. Nelson, produced by DreamWorks Animation,

came out in 2011. Distributed by Paramount Pictures

as a sequel to the 2008 film Kung Fu Panda in

which Po and his friends battle to stop a would

-be conqueror, Lord Shen, with a powerful new

weapon with a giant panda discovering a disquieting

link to the past and the process. Cast the original

film reprises their voice roles while the new

villain, Lord Shen, is voiced by Gary Oldman.

The film was released May 26, 2011 in Real D,

3D, and Digital 3D. It was nominated for a 2011

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the

84th Academy Awards. Have you seen this one?

I actually have. I have too, but I did not see

it in theaters. No, I got it off of Netflix when

it came out on Netflix, so I wanted to see it

in theaters. But unfortunately around that time,

you know money wasn't exactly there. So yeah,

you know, what are you gonna do? I mean the one

thing I was intrigued to see this a you know,

I love the first film and It's not often that

teaser trailers kind of hook me and I don't mean

just like oh boy I have to see it but if a teaser

trailer kind of catches my fancy Watch the next

trailer goes a long way towards me. Maybe I'll

drop real money at the theater and just the way

the like the teaser trailer starts is you know,

it's You know po, you know flexing like practicing

a kata or so, whatever they call it in kung fu

I don't know the proper term and he's like doing

the oh -ho -ho -ho from like the kung fu fighting

song Yeah, and then he's like kung fu staring

contest which I Not so sure I'm not so sure that

I should be ashamed but I actually did enter

into a staring contest with the fictional character

in a movie trailer You know, and then you know,

he does like just staring. He's like you guys

all look really good You know, it's like Kung

Fu Panda, you know summer 2011 I was gonna check

it out and then you know, like you said you look

at some of the voice cast They're all the same

except for the new villain Yeah, well even some

of the like to get the new voices like you got

three additional kung fu masters Yeah, there's

master ox who's voiced by Dennis Haber. You know

is the you know was it all state or Yeah, all

state. He was also the president in 24. He is

also kilowag in Justice League unlimited Oh,

he says snake doctor on the unit which was a

great TV show. Yeah, you got guys like you got

I'm going to say it. Yeah, yeah. Van Dam's in

here as Master Kroc. What the hell is Guile doing

in here? You look at it, they got Master Rhino

who, a character that, you know, we'll get into

the plot, a character who does not last that

long. I think tragically so because he's voiced

by Victor Garber. And this guy, you know, he

did Sinestro in Green Lantern First Flight. Thought

he's he's got a great talent for voice acting

the one that I was kind of surprised to see in

here is Michelle yo who plays this the goat soothsayer

and I was just you know, it's cuz you know, I

know her from stuff like supercop and Was it

tomorrow never dies James Bond that she was in,

you know, she's and was the that god -awful third

mummy movie Jet Li did only for the money. Yes.

Yes the dollar dollar bill, but yeah, no, I mean

the the the new voices were pretty cool. I mean

You know, like I said, you don't they don't use

master rhino that much but that's because of

the plot and the scenes you do see master ox

and master croc and Dennis Haber does most of

the voice acting like if unless you knew beforehand

Who is voicing master croc? You probably wouldn't

even realize It's JCBD Yeah, although he does

have the one line where they're They're in this

jail and they're you know master oxen croc aren't

gonna fight because they don't want to die or

They're kind of chickening out and they're going

in the cell and master crocs like I want top

bunk Which I just kind of ended up snickering

for a couple minutes because that was pretty

funny But yeah, no, it's overall this, you know

decent voice cast a lot more voice actors in

here than before but no real names that I recognize

outside of You know, they got like Danny McBride

from eastbound and down is in here voices like

one of them head villain henchmen so yeah uh...

overall again for the second film i do thoroughly

enjoy the voice cast uh... you know i think all

all all the new additions are are absolutely

great Why don't you break down the plot of the

second film for us? All right. So years before

the events of even the first film, Lord Shen,

who's voiced by Gary Oldman, who this guy can't

do a bad villain, voice or not. Here's of this

prophecy that you know He's harnessing fireworks

to create weapons and rule overall and he hears

this prophecy that a warrior of black and white

will defeat him So he basically and this is pretty

dark for a kid's film. He commits genocide or

so we think on the panda population of China

because apparently This is in a world where they're

all anthropomorphic animals Nothing else. I mean,

it's just the way it is whatever so he kills

all the pandas his parents who were like the

rulers of this Gongmen city, which is based kind

of the capital they kick his ass out and he Threatens

revenge. So already we're pretty much back to

square one with the plot and Then fast -forward

to the modern -day pose still the dragon warrior.

He's kicking ass alongside the furious five Master

Shifu has kind of advanced in his own training

you know, as a kung -fu master, and they introduced

the idea that Po, in order to, you know, he still

has to find his own path and, you know, master

his style of kung -fu, and he needs to achieve

inner peace for this. And while fighting off

these bandit wolves who are stealing metal from

the village near the side of the kung -fu academy,

he sees this symbol on one of their, one of the

wolves, and it gives him this flashback that

he's thinking about his mom. they end up getting

a message that Lord Shen has returned, he's taken

out Master Rhino, he's taken over Gongnen City,

so the furious five and the Dragon Warrior are

off to kick ass and save the day. And along the

way, Poh kind of screws up a couple of times,

not in the usual Poh way, like he literally sees

a symbol and he starts having a flashback and

he just freezes. And you find out that Lord Shen

killed his parents. And the way he came to live

with Mr. Peng, like the goose, his mom tossed

him in a box full of turnips and this got, you

know, was shipped off to Mr. Peng and he ended

up getting adopted by him. So it gets this whole

idea in the story of Poe doesn't know where he

comes from and who is he and he has this basically

an existential identity crisis. And the whole

way this Lord Shins found a way to defeat Kung

Fu and how do you defeat Kung Fu? With guns.

He's created all these cannons. He's gonna take

over China and then the world and He sees kind

of a parallel to Poe and that he knows where

he comes from but his family rejected him so

it's this weird kind of yin -yang between the

hero and villain and Along the way, you know,

you meet master storming ox and croc who basically

are not necessarily chickening out They just

don't want to die and see kung -fu totally dead.

Yeah You know, it gets a lot more involved in

the plot, but the film basically ends as Lord

Shen's gonna send this armada out with all these

cannons to take over China, and at one point,

Po takes out the armada with Kung Fu with an

empty hand technique where he catches cannonballs

and throws them right back. yeah that was awesome

I do have to say that was an awesome scene and

and I've never like I've always wanted to get

into studying kung fu because I think of all

the martial arts that I should take that probably

would have the most beneficial elements to me

and that you know you kind of get your mind straight

before you break a board and yeah it's just the

way watch the matrix again you'll learn pretty

fast yeah I'd probably get taken out by an agent

But yeah, just that scene at the end where all

these ships all the wolves are firing these cans

He's catching he's like how well but just the

move it's all smooth and flow and everything

It's so it's such fluid. It's such a fluid scene

as far as the animation as far as the effects

It's so amazing. Yeah, and we sorry you go well

when you said earlier about how Shen plans to

use guns to kill the to to destroy kung fu why

am i flashing to you better take my guns daimyo

it's the only way you're going to get rid of

these kappa yeah honestly i kind of 16th century

japan and ninja turtles oh he who dings the shell

must pay but anyway but yeah no it's i love that

scene is and it's beautifully animated and it's

just great and then he gets into the final you

know fish the cuffs with lord shen and you know

hubris takes out lord shen when like this five

ton cannon you know crushes him to death basically

and yeah i the one of the things that got me

about this movie like at least personally i'll

mention a minute but how they end the film is

he goes back home because the whole idea is when

he goes off to gongman city initially you know

his dad mr ping Basically thinks he's never gonna

see his son again and then and then the whole

idea like I need to find out who I am and he

comes home and he tells his dad like I know who

I am I'm your son and You know, he gives him

that hug and like honestly when I saw this man,

I teared up hardcore Because you know, I I lost

my own father a couple years ago to a heart attack

So a lot of you know, a lot of this father -son

stuff gets me but I mean it's something like

that. It's just like You know, it's it's kind

of beautiful in a way you know it's it's it's

it's also true and but on the flip side of this

whole father son love thing right i'm gonna throw

a wrench into this because i just realized uh

poe and uh and mr ping are luke and obi -wan

and at the same time poe's biological father

i think It is shown to be living in a far off

hidden village inhabited by surviving pandas

and suddenly he senses his son is alive. Oh,

I am your father. I don't think it would be quite...

I think Mr. Ping and Poet's more like Uncle Owen

and Luke than anything, but... Well... No, I

get what you're getting at. Yeah. It's just,

yeah. See, that's the thing, the flip side, you

had this great tender moment, you know, and they

could have just ended it there, but no! No, I'm

not against a third film. I just hate it when

they have in movies where they have like such

a great moment and It's basically a lead -in

to sequel bait because you know of my son's alive

Yeah, no, and I think it's great You know pose

not the last panda because I mean that's kind

of what you're led to believe with this whole

panda genocide Yeah, the panda side if you will

But yeah, it's just I I love the way they ended

the movie I also hate the way they ended the

movie just that they use such a great moment

Almost it. I know I know they didn't mean to

do it, but it seems like it's used trivially

or trip It's not used to the fullest effect or

at least how I would have liked so yeah So yeah,

that's that's the overall plot I I actually,

I don't know. There are some film franchises

out there where I enjoy a sequel more than I

did the original film. And I really did enjoy

this a lot more than the first film. Because

there's an actual story here. There's an actual

plot. There's actual heritage and all that stuff.

And I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it a lot

better than the first one. Getting into the,

you know, reception and information and all that

stuff, the first film had a worldwide total of

just north of 631 million. Kung Fu Panda at the

time was the highest -grossing non -Shrek film

from DreamWorks Animation in the United States

and Canada before being surpassed by How to Train

Your Dragon in 2010. It was also well -received,

as I said before, in China and made nearly 110

million Chinese yen. by July 2, 2008, becoming

the first animated film to make more than 100

million yuan in Chinese box offices. So that's

good. The first film has been nominated and has

won several. It's won three Annie Awards. It's

been nominated for a bunch of others. Actually,

no it's oh my god. It's won more Annie Awards

than than three holy crap all that was Annie

Awards Wow, it's been it's nominated for a bunch

of other stuff as well Overall the first film

like I said it you know it The plot for me just

needed to be better as far as the second one

the Let's see where's the ninth highest grossing

animated film ever released and the 53rd highest

grossing film of all time The sixth highest grossing

film was 2011, and its first weekend earned 108

.9 million worldwide, ranking third behind Pirates

of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides and The Hangover

Part II. So they both did well. I see why DreamWorks

is going to be doing sequels of them. Yeah. I

mean, both films basically made like five times

their budget back in those seats, so they'd kind

of be stupid not to milk the cow a little bit

more. Yeah, I could see maybe one more film,

but we'll get to that here in a minute So we

are the IGN crew for those that don't know listening

to the podcast the way we rank the movies and

the shows here on Tooncast Beyond is one don't

watch this even if it's free to worth a watch

if it's free on TV three worth adding to the

Netflix list if it's on Netflix, I don't think

these are and For this is a must add to your

DVD collection. I will give Kung Fu Panda 1,

a 3. It's worth getting on iTunes or something

like that or just renting it online somewhere.

What about you for the first time? What do you

rank it? Give it a four like I like I said, it's

it's a plot, you know, we've seen it a dozen

times But I think what makes up the movie the

other plot the animation the voice acting I think

it's definitely worth being a part of your collection

because it's a great movie overall and Like I

said, it's great for young and old. So it's definitely

something I think you should have on hand Yeah

As far as the second one, I'm going to give it

a four. I enjoyed it much more than the first

film. Again, between both films, the animation

is solid, the animation is great, the effects,

the fights, they're all great, the voice acting

is great. What about you? Oh, a solid four as

well, like I said. It's one of the few. It's

kind of like... When when I judge sequels, I

use Ghostbusters 2 as a barometer. No, I love

Ghostbusters 2 But for a second there, I was

gonna have to jump through this internet. No,

no, no I love Ghostbusters 2, but I don't think

it me personally. I don't think it really did

anything more Than the first movie did like it's

a good sequel It's just I think sequel should

try and do a little bit more and I don't think

they really accomplished that with Ghostbusters

2 Whereas Kung Fu Panda 2, you know, you've already

got the characters established You know what

they're about and they come on with this great

story about identity and where you come from

and What kind of what really matters? You know,

does it really matter where you came from and

how you got your start? This is where you are

now So I think in the terms of the story I think

it's you know, it's a better sequel because of

that But again, like we said the cannonball fight

at the end there. There was absolutely beautiful

animation. It was fluid. It was Well choreographed,

you know as much as you can with animation. So

yeah, no, I give it a straight -up four. Yeah

getting into the The DVD information all this

stuff both films are on DVD and blu -ray You

can find them both on on iTunes to either buy

and rent so that's that as far as the uh... i've

heard rumors i saw a new story back when i was

still doing nerd news network on this week in

geek dot net i saw a new story at one time where

they said it was there was going to be ten kung

fu panda movies in total uh... since then the

information i have now is that there is a third

film titled Kung Fu Panda 3. It's announced a

co -production between Dreamworks Animation and

Shanghai -based Oriental Dreamworks Kung Fu Panda

3 is expected to be released in 2016. If they,

as long... I don't have a problem with a third

film if they're just gonna make it a trilogy.

As long as they pick up where they left off at

the end of the second one and they give a finality

to it in the third film... Like either some sort

of happy ending or something. Yeah, I don't want

to see four five six seven eight nine. I don't

want to see thousands of Kung Fu Panda films

over the next 20 years, you know 50, you know

20 years 50 years what whatever I I just don't

The show does have a manga or not. The movies

do that did did did have a few more releases

i don't do comics if you want to talk about the

i don't know if you've seen these things oh it's

been released in japan so there's more about

it there is a television series kung fu panda

legends of awesomeness television series tell

The Simptologist said is airing on Nickelodeon

since it premiered in November 7, 2011. From

the cast of Kung Fu Panda, only Lucy Liu and

James Hung are reprising their roles of Master

Viper and Mr. Ping. In the series, Po continues

to defend the Valley of Peace from all kinds

of villains while making mistakes, learning about

the history of Kung Fu and meeting other Kung

Fu Masters. We will be covering Kung Fu Panda,

Legends of Awesomeness. in a later season, when

we get to the Nickelodeon season of Tooncast

Beyond. I've seen advertisements for it, but

I've yet to actually see the television series,

so... Yeah, that's neither here nor there. Have

you had a chance to even see it at all? I've

seen a couple episodes. Okay, is it any good?

It's... It's decent, you know like the guy they

got it's kind of like the guy they got voicing

Tony Stark in Avengers Earth Mightiest Heroes

the guy they got voicing Poe is doing his best

Jack Black as Poe You know, so it's it's kind

of a sound of like but it's it was decent and

yeah the only one they got in there is like,

you know James Hong and Lucy Lou were voice voicing

their characters, but haven't really seen enough

to really comment on it. Right, right, yeah.

There was a video game and there are plenty of

online games that you can check out as well.

So we're gonna, huh, are we gonna say something?

I was gonna say the game for the first movie,

eh, it was okay. It's a hell of a lot better

than the Iron Man movie games, I shall say. Oh,

yeah. Alright, so we're gonna take a quick break.

You're gonna hear some ads and all that good

stuff. Is this thing on? Oh goody! Why hello

there! It's your deviled Uncle Joker here. I

bet you're asking yourself, what could I be possibly

doing here of all places? Well, I'm laughing

at the fact that this new podcast presented by

Keycast Radio is called Legends of the Dark Knight.

Who the heck knew the bat was so popular? Ugh!

Join Steve, Mike, and sometimes Tava for reviews

on the greatest DC animated universe, Cartoon,

to ever meet Gotham City. So join moi for the

talk of the town, or I'll send Captain Cloud

after you. He gets mighty angry when he doesn't

get to have his garbage scow. So put on a nice

big smile. and join us for the next Geekcast

Radio Network Popcast, Legends of the Dark Knight.

Like animation? Come listen to Animation Aficionados.

And if you disagree with us, you can be a guest

on a future show. Available on iTunes, the Zune

Market, and AnimationAficionados .com 2012 marks

the 30th anniversary for Masters of the Universe.

We here at the GCRN are celebrating with a brand

new series of podcasts. The Powers of Grayskull

series will cover every episode of every MOTU

cartoon. Yes, even that crappy new adventure

stuff. Join Optimus Solo and TFU and Mike as

they tell tales of Eternia, discover the myths

of Etheria, become Masters in Space, and finally

Masters of Grayskull. You can find the POG's

podcasts in iTunes and the web at www .geekcastradio

.com. Good journey! Welcome to a collaboration

between the GeekCast Radio Network and the Pop

Culture Network. This is from the command center,

the podcast. I am your host, TfG1Mike from the

GCRN, and joining me is Zordon himself, oh wait,

I mean Scotty Cash. That's right, Scotty Cash

from the Pop Culture Network and today we're

introducing you to the audio version of From

the Command Center, the podcast that will entail

our intake on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the

episodes, the seasons, and all that other good

stuff. You can now hear the Keycast Radio network

while on the go with Stitcher Smart Radio. Stitcher

is a free use and talk mobile app available for

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find Stitcher in the App Store. During registration,

hit the promo code box and enter Keycast Radio,

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Always available to you on demand. No sinking.

It's Stitcher Smart Radio. Don't forget to enter

promo code KEYCASTRADIO when you register. For

you, the listeners of Tooncast Beyond, Audible

is offering a free audiobook download with a

free 30 -day trial to give you the chance to

check out their service. Go to audible trial

dot com slash keycast radio. Final thoughts on

the franchise of Kung Fu Panda so far, sir? I'm

loving the movies. I'm going to check out the

TV show. And if you don't already own either

of them on DVD, I would highly recommend picking

them up. They're totally worth the money. Awesome.

I've seen the first film. I've rented it. The

same thing with the second film. I had seen both

of them before. And I rented them again just

to be prepared for this. And I just... The first

film just does not grab me whatsoever. The second

film, I absolutely love it. Second film's so

much better, I think, because it actually tells

a real story versus, hey, I'm shallow hell, everybody.

Yeah, no, I can get that. I mean, and it's weird

when you think about Jack Black doing voiceover,

if you look at kind of the dichotomy between

him doing Poe, And then voicing the character

Eddie Riggs in the brutal legend video game like

he has a Very limited range, but he makes the

most of what he does. So yeah All right, you

got anything you want to pimp out or anything

yet going on that you want not great now, okay

then Thank you for joining us here on Tooncast

Beyond. There are some ways to get in contact

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in the DeLorean and heading back to 1985 to talk

about that Canadian animal show, The Raccoons.

Yay! Okay, at least somebody's excited for that

crap. Hey, I love that show, man. For now, I'm

TFG1Mike with... JT from Saskatoon. Thank you

for listening, until next time!