Fulltime Casual - An Australian Film and TV Podcast

Childrens > Animated

CG Animation has grown up a lot since I was playing with Lightwave and learning to use Maya. While I’m very out of practice these days watching great animation still gets me as excited as when I was 13 years old, watching the T1000 morph and ooze for the first time. Kung Fu Panda gave me all that buzz and more, I loved almost everything about it.

The film opens with a 2D dream sequence which on its own was enough for me to justify the ticket price. It oozes quality from the outset: the character design is striking, and the landscapes, scenery, and buildings were beautifully realised. The animation is excellent: the lead performances filled with such personality and presence you can’t help but be empathise with the characters. This is by far my favourite Dreamworks Animation title to date.

Kung Fu Panda is often genuinely funny thanks to both slapstick elements that would be at home in early Warner Brothers cartoons and great one-liners. While it’s story about an unlikely hero is a film staple, it’s delivered with such a deft touch and obvious care by the production team that you can forgive the story elements and character development being a little light. The action sequences were really entertaining to watch and Po’s post-training dumpling fight (it’s better than it sounds) was the very definition of great comedy timing. If anything the film felt too short, but with a running time of 92 minutes that may have just been me wanting to see more. The kids in the cinema loved it, and the adults who brought them (or who just brought themselves) were wrapped as well.

This is my favourite film so far this year, the credit sequence was really nicely done and if you feel like it there’s a cute little something at the end of them. Now where did I put my copy of Maya Personal Learning Edition?

4.5/5 Stars