Kung Fu Panda: A Proper Movie Trilogy (VIDEO SCRIPT)

Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Kung Fu Panda 3. Not only is the franchise one of the most financially successful ones to emerge from the doors of DreamWorks Animation since Shrek, but is also responsible for paving the way for other franchises that would eventually become household names, such as Madagascar and How to Train Your Dragon.

And just like those two properties before it, the success of Kung Fu Panda would spark multiple television series and 2 follow-up movies, turning the film franchise of Kung Fu Panda into that of a trilogy. But is it...a PROPER trilogy? Let’s find out.

INTRO

Kung Fu Panda was released in June 6, 2008. 3 years after the release of the ridiculously well received first installment of Madagascar.

N-no, seriously; I’m still trying to figure out how the fuck that happened.

It tells the Hero’s Journey tale of Po, a panda who works with his adopted goose father at his noodle shop who’s a HUGE fan of Kung Fu and the known warriors of the region, the Furious Five. He finds himself placed amongst their ranks when certain bits of comedic happenstance causes him to claim the title of the Dragon Warrior; a legendary Kung Fu master that’s capable of receiving the legendary Dragon Scroll and absorbing its knowledge. And with the dangerous Tai Lung escaping prison and on his way to claim the scroll for himself, Po needs to find the confidence within himself and the help of Sifu -- the Furious Five’s instructor -- in order to truly become the Dragon Warrior.

The movie was inspired by Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle and, as you would have probably been able to tell, was meant to be a star vehicle for Jack Black from jump. And even though it is a comedy, there were original plans for it to not be taken as seriously as the final product we initially got. And we have the film’s co-director John Stevenson to thank for steering it away from the spoof angle the studio was initially going to go with.

And considering the story that we received, I’d say it was the right decision. And so with a few others, considering the box office numbers. Because with a budget of 130 million, Kung Fu Panda drew in a total of 632 million; just over 500 million dollars in profit. Officially making it one of the most financially successful titles in Dreamworks Animation since Shrek and Shrek 2

Kung Fu Panda 2 was released 3 years later, this time directed by Korean American Jennifer Yuh Nelson, with Kung Fu Panda screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger returning.

This story sees Po and the Furious Five venturing to Gongmen City to fight the peacock Lord Shen, voiced by Gary Oldman, who has found a way of weaponizing gunpowder in the form of cannons initially used for fireworks. But in learning about Lord Shen, bits of Po’s own memories as a child and where he truly came from before being adopted by his goose father Mr. Ping begins to stir. So now Po has to struggle with dealing with this new inner turmoil of his, while also making sure all of China doesn’t erupt in an array of destruction.

For a story that decided to follow up the original with a subversion of the hero with a tragic backstory, Kung Fu Panda 2 proved to be one of the most fresh and compelling installments of the franchise since its execution in 2008. The performances were brilliant, the emotions they stirred and the overall storytelling measures it took were some of the best to have come from Dreamworks Animation in the first decade of the millennium.

So much so that its box office numbers properly reflected that of its predecessor; over 510 million dollars in profit with a slightly increased budget of 150 million, and an overall box office haul of 665 million

Realizing that they had a franchise that was as big as Shrek under their belt, former Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to capitalize on this even before Kung Fu Panda 2 came out, stating that this was a 6 movie franchise at best. And before he left Dreamworks in 2016 after NBC’s acquisition, 2012 marked that plan try and come to fruition with the greenlit of Kung Fu Panda 3, which was released a year later in January 29, 2016 by the same creative team as Kung Fu Panda 2

And while it’s the one installment in the film franchise that brought in the least profit between its two predecessors -- just under a quarter away from bringing in $400 million in profit in comparison to 1 and 2’s $500 million+ individually...

The story of Po reconnecting with his biological father and fellow pandas after discovering Shen’s genocide didn’t stick while also having to protect them from a vengeful warrior from the Spirit Realm seeking Chi in order to grow stronger -- even if 3 more films were initially planned afterward -- seemed to be a fitting end for Po’s journey considering the turn act 3 ended up taking.

It also helps us see where the three films currently stand when it comes to whether we should call this a proper trilogy or not.

CURRENT STANCE

When it comes to the three Kung Fu Panda movies, I always find my stance on them a bit all over the place. Especially when it comes to the first two movies. While the story and narrative of Kung Fu Panda was good, the story and narrative of Kung Fu Panda 2 in my opinion is absolutely superior. And while Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2 is a very well-written villain, Kung Fu Panda’s Tai Lung will always reign supreme.

Kung Fu Panda 3 however, while good in its own right, just doesn’t really hit me like the first two do. And despite being voiced by JK Simmons, Kai as a villain -- just like he was portrayed in the movie -- is easily forgettable.

Don’t get me wrong; the story of Po finally reuniting with his birth father and seeing him find out that there’s a tribe of pandas that survived Shen’s genocide was just as entertaining, funny and heartwarming as I thought it would be. Especially if you equip it with the exposition of Master Oogway already knowing about pandas contribution to the universe of Kung Fu Panda

But there’s just something about Kung Fu Panda and ESPECIALLY Kung Fu Panda 2 that just gets me. Whether its seeing Tai Lung struggle with deciding what’s more important between rebuilding his relationship with Sifu and getting the Dragon Scroll, or seeing what Po has to go through emotionally in order to obtain inner peace. They found a way to emotionally root themselves deep within my soul to the point where I get teary-eyed every time I watch these two movies.

And while I’m greatly appreciative that we HAVE a third Kung Fu Panda movie to tie up loose ends regarding the role pandas play in the ecosystem of the universe, along with the final leg Po has to make on his journey of enlightenment, I wish it took a different approach in regarding explaining the difference between paying something forward and being selfish in a way that better impacted me like 1 and 2 did.

Especially since this film marks the most that American treasure James Hong’s Mr. Ping has been on screen in this film franchise if you count how much we see of him in 1 and 2 COMBINED.

However, my opinions about the third movie doesn’t impact its overall stance of the three films as a trilogy, let alone a PROPER one. So, the question must be asked: Looking at the films and films alone, do the three Kung Fu Panda movies count as a Proper Movie Trilogy? Yes. Yes they do. It just takes a bit of work in order to understand WHY they do. Let’s discuss the thread.

THE THREAD

Despite my opinions about Kung Fu Panda 3’s story, I’d be lying if I said that the movie didn’t provide all the tools to make the franchise into a proper movie trilogy that we learn about in Scream 3. It challenges Po’s knowledge of the past in order to help drive the narrative (whatever you know about the past? Forget it. The past is not at rest). Unlike Tai Lung and Shen before him, the villain Kai is a spirit and doesn’t adhere to the same rules as Po’s mortal antagonists (you’re gonna have a killer that’s superhuman). We also see that the Furious Five, and even Oogway despite being dead are capable of suffering from and falling victim to fatalities WAY past what Tai Lung did to them in the first movie. And worse, even PO almost fell victim to the same fate (anyone including the main character can die).

I mean, yes, this is still a franchise aimed at young children, so of COURSE they had to get better. But the comparison still stands!

But one thing that Kung Fu Panda 3 did that I DIDN’T expect was that it used the concept of the Thread as a red herring. Specifically by using a lesser thread from the first movie to disguise the ACTUAL thread being used to bring the entire trilogy full circle.

Now remember Readers. In order for a trilogy regardless of its medium to be considered a proper one, the main thing that plays a factor is that there always has to be an element of the first film’s plot that plays a significant role in the third in a way that makes all three films work together as one cohesive story.

From there, you can use the third film to reveal new information about what's being carried over from the first, and expand upon it in various ways; the most common form being a plot twist.

And following the narrative of the movie from beginning to end, Kung Fu Panda 3 does exactly that with one concept the first movie introduced within the first half hour; the Wuxi Finger Hold

(Not the Wuxi Finger Hold)

What makes the Wuxi Finger a perfect candidate for being the narrative thread that connects the three movies into a proper trilogy is that we’re given so little information about it from the first movie. Thanks to Po being a fanboy for Kung Fu, all we know is that its extremely dangerous and that whoever has an individual in such a hold can perform a devastating blow to their opponent by just the flex of their pinky.

Even when we see Po defeat Tai Lung with it, we’re not given any more information regarding what was actually done. All we see is a rippling tide of gold energy with only Po standing with no trace of Tai Lung at all.

Then the use of the Wuxi Finger Hold returns in Kung Fu Panda 3. And with its return, we learn exactly why there was no trace of Tai Lung when Po used it on him at the end of the first movie. Because not only do we learn that what the Wuxi Finger Hold does is banish the one caught in it to the Spirit Realm, but thanks to the defensive maneuvers of Po, Tigress and the hidden panda village, the teleportation aspect of the hold doesn’t work on those who are ALREADY one with the Spirit Realm unless drastic measures are taken.

So by definition, the use of the Wuxi Finger Hold follows the rules of the thread; an element of the first film’s plot that plays a significant role in the third and is being expanded upon in various ways.

Yes, I know they probably explained what the Finger Hold did in the two animated series leading up to Kung Fu Panda 3. But we’re only looking at the movies here!

But it’s like I said before, Readers. While this is still a thread, the expansion of what the Wuxi Finger Hold does and its limitations isn’t the one that TRULY ties together all three movies. Because by the time we reach the aftermath of Po and Kai’s final bout, we see the thread that TRULY ties all three movies together. And it was the moment Oogway declared Po the Dragon Warrior. Let me break it down for you.

THE BREAKDOWN

The first Kung-Fu Panda at its core is a very simple story of self-worth. The message of “there is no secret ingredient” that makes you special and that it’s just you -- especially in a world that normally only ranks you according to who you are, what you’ve done and what you think you deserve -- is one that can easily be applied and expanded upon in situations past the first movie.

So when we see how Kung-Fu Panda 3 expands the thread of Po becoming the Dragon Warrior in the first movie -- to take a story thread from the first movie and EXPAND upon it in the third -- we also get a better understanding of the lessons the entire trilogy is trying to teach us regarding the Zero to Hero Everyman Po represents over the course of it.

Including how they’re also mirrored by Oogway

You see, because of how they went about crafting 2 and 3 before it, the Kung Fu Panda trilogy is a trilogy that takes into consideration both a corresponding THREAD from the first movie, as well as the trilogy’s overall THEME.

Now, as some individuals in the comment section of my PREVIOUS installments of A Proper Movie Trilogy have displayed, the overall THEME of a trilogy can sometimes get confused with the story thread used in the third movie that was carried over from the first. But that does not mean the Theme of the trilogy and the thread that the trilogy uses always work hand-in-hand with each other, nor does its presence immediately deem the trilogy a proper one if no thread from the first installment is present in the third in order for new knowledge to be expanded upon it.

Captain America: Civil War has no narrative threads from Captain America: The First Avenger that can be expanded upon in order for it to be declared a proper movie trilogy, but there is a consistent theme of who Steve Rogers is and what he’s willing to do in order to do the right thing that’s always present over the course of his three solo movies.

While the only real thread that’s present in the Alien trilogy is the reveal that Xenomorphs can impregnate and take on the physical traits of ANY living creature -- not just humanoids -- Ripley’s Marxist-like protest of Weyland Yutani via survival and, ultimately, death is a prominent theme over the course of the first three Alien movies.

Kung Fu Panda is the first proper movie trilogy I’ve seen in a very long time in which the thread from the first movie that’s used to be expanded upon in the third is actually interwoven into the trilogy’s overall THEME. And the theme is enlightenment.

Like I said before, Readers. Because of the lesson Po learns when he solves the puzzle of Master Oogway’s Dragon Scroll, the first movie is about knowing your self worth. But that’s not the only bit of wisdom Po learns in the first movie after being declared the Dragon Warrior. Oogway, in their first and ONLY conversation before leaving the physical plane, tells Po this saying:

(Yesterday is History...That is why it is called the present)

Little did we know, this was actually Oogway planting the seed in Po’s subconsciousness in order to learn the moral necessary to overcome Shen in Kung Fu Panda 2

(You gotta let go of that stuff in the past because it just doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is who you choose to be NOW)

But what tells us that the theme of the trilogy as a whole is enlightenment is when we find out that the main message of Kung Fu Panda 3 is basically learning to pay things forward, even if the way you’re capable of doing so is considered to be unconventional to some.

And its only when Po takes all three of these lessons over the course of his journey to heart in order to obtain his own enlightenment and defeats Kai that we learn the TRUE thread brought over from the first movie that the third subtly expands on. It wasn’t a random cluster of comedic happenstance that caused Oogway to pick Po to become the Dragon Warrior. It was OOGWAY that caused Oogway to pick Po to become the Dragon Warrior.

Now some might argue that the revelation regarding why Master Oogway chose Po in Kung Fu Panda 3 goes against what he stated about the universe picking Po in the first movie, but I disagree. Because while the third movie tells us that Oogway always intended for the Dragon Warrior to be a panda with the exposition given in Kung Fu Panda 3, the events over the course of the entire trilogy showed us the importance of why -- out of all the pandas we found out are still alive -- it had to be Po.

The first movie likes to utilize Oogway’s choosing of Po as the Dragon Warrior as a way of playing up laughs; a subtle illusion of comedic happenstance that Sifu and the Furious Five have to entertain because there’s wisdom in Oogway’s decision-making process. That’s because our main takeaway of Po at that time is that he’s an out-of-shape fanboy who -- according to certain members of the Furious Five -- doesn’t take what they do seriously. And because of his own sense of self-consciousness and learning Master Sifu’s initial intentions regarding scaring him off before deciding to take the time to train him in ways he can easily digest -- no pun intended -- even Po starts to believe that there’s no point.

Then he learns that the point of the Dragon Scroll is to show him his own self-worth; that there’s no “secret ingredient” he can add to the broth that he isn't already capable of adding himself. And its not only that realization upon accepting the responsibility of the Dragon Warrior that carries him through Kung Fu Panda 2, but also utilizing that same understanding of himself in the face of obsession regarding learning about his past in order to learn to live in the present and achieve inner peace.

Then Kung Fu Panda 3 comes along. We learn that Oogway was taught how to harness his Chi from a village of pandas and redistribute it to help with the flow of the universe, and that Kai STOLE the Chi from the pandas that knew hew in order to grow stronger. Combine this with the panda genocide Shen tried to enact on the descendants of said panda tribe hundreds of years later that resulted in those surviving retreating back to the mountains, and you can understand why it took the panda village so long to finally re-learn their ability of manipulating chi.

But what makes the act of Oogway choosing Po in Kung Fu Panda as the main thread that Kung Fu Panda 3 expands on to make it a proper movie trilogy is what he kept telling Sifu when the decision to make Po the Dragon Warrior was nothing more than an accident.

“There are no accidents”

And this has more meaning when it's revealed in Kung Fu Panda 3 that Oogway purposely chose Po.

The Dragon Warrior was always going to be a panda, because it was the pandas that taught Oogway the importance of balance and living in the moment. And because of his origin, his upbringing, and the connection to the root of Oogway’s philosophy, Po had within him all of the means to experience what his ancestors taught Oogway CENTURIES ago over the course of the three movies; acknowledging self-worth, living in the now, and paying it forward. So much so, that by the time he was ready to take Oogway’s place in the physical plane that he didn’t even KNOW he had reached such a state of nirvana.

(I mean you’re enlightened and everything)

So while Oogway might have played up Po being chosen to be the Dragon Warrior as an action of the universe, the truth of the matter is that he knew exactly what he was doing since jump. And while, I will admit, they could’ve used the 3 minutes and 30 seconds dedicated to Po and Oogway’s Spirit Realm conversation to better explain part 3’s connection to the “there are no accidents” thread outside of the fact that he DID choose Po and leaving us the means to put together the puzzle ourselves. But considering that coming to the understanding of how Kung Fu Panda 3 comes full circle to Kung Fu Panda is just as much of a journey for us as the one Po went through over the course of the three movies, I’d have to say that’s a fair trade.

CONCLUSION

While the trilogy’s overall theme doesn’t necessarily have to play a factor into the thread the third installment uses from the first in order to help in its attempt to connect all three movies, it’s always pleasant to see the two play a factor into establishing a proper one.

But considering what was done with Kung Fu Panda 3 in order to use the thread that it DID use in order to expand on the reason why Po was chosen to become the Dragon Warrior, not taking a chance to view the morals of the 2 movies before it and not mixing the overall theme of reaching a state of enlightenment that people the likes of Po strive to achieve in the first place would be the very definition of a mixed opportunity.

Like it took Po a bit to understand that there’s no secret ingredient in his father’s noodle broth, the connection might not come immediately like some other trilogies that use the third movie to expand on a story thread from the first one.

But once you see how all the pieces fit not just in the thirds connection to the first, but how both the thread and the theme perfectly intertwine with each other, not only will you understand why the Kung Fu Panda series deserves to be up there with Dreamworks Animations Top 5 franchises, but why the series itself deserves to be declared a Proper Movie Trilogy.

Right now you can stream the entire Kung Fu Panda trilogy on Amazon Prime, Google, and YouTube for the minimum rental price of $4 per film.

But if you don’t own them yet and you want to help financially support the channel, I’ll have affiliate links to each movie in the description box down below.

So with that being said Readers, your homework assignment for the day:

Write in the comment section below what YOU thought of the Kung Fu Panda trilogy if you’ve seen it.

And if you have a trilogy in mind that you want me to cover in this segment -- proper or otherwise -- make sure you leave it in the comment section as well.

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But until then, this is Readus 101. Class dismissed.