Kung Fu Panda free essay sample

Kung Fu Panda textual analysis Kung fu panda is set in the Valley of Peace, where the people of the valley are threatened by the late arrival of the evil snow leopard, Tai Lung. An ancient prophecy states that a hero, also known as ‘the chosen one’ will appear out of nowhere to save the people in the valley, and the masters of martial arts have devised a competition in order to find this individual. However it is assumed that the chosen one will be a member of the Furious Five-the level-headed Crane, the easygoing yet formidable Monkey, the fast and quick-tempered Mantis, the charming and strong Viper, and Tigress, the boldest and strongest of the group- but when Po arrives he is the one selected by the master, Oogway. Po is in love with kung fu, we see this at the beginning when he wakes up from his dream and looks at his posters and models of the Furious Five. Regardless of him being big, clumsy and working in a noodle shop he still dreams of meeting the furious five. Po doesn’t want to disappoint his father and so decides not to share his love for kung fu but to keep it a secret. Although he is friendly, Po has very low self- esteem and believes that his failure is due to his obesity. When he feels depressed or upset, he usually stuffs himself with food to ease the pain. Master Shifu is Oogway’s student and the furious five’s trainer. We first see him as a peaceful character who is old friends with Oogway. He never smiles at first because of his past. However, further on in the film he smiles because Po defeats Tai Lung and brings peace to the valley and most importantly to him. At the beginning of the film Shifu is unwilling to train Po and doesn’t believe that he has what it takes to defeat Tai Lung and makes Po’s training unbearable to achieve. After much convincing from Oogway, Shifu realizes that he must believe in Po in order for him to be successful. Master Oogway is an old tortoise. He is presented to be very wise and superior. The people of the valley and the furious five all look up to him and treat him with respect. Early on in the film, just when Oogway convinces Shifu to believe in Po, master oogway dies and leaves Shifu to continue his quest by training the dragon warrior(Po). Master Mantis is the smallest amongst the furious five, but is the strongest for his size. We see that size doesn’t matter when the mantis holds a roped bridge on his own with the Tai Lung standing on it. The mantis is also a good acupuncturist although he struggles when dealing with Po at first. Master Viper is a green snake and is the most sweetest, and caring of the furious five. Although she doesn’t have fangs, which is weird for a snake, her fast kung fu moves are amazing. She is one of the first to comfort Po whist the others see him as a ‘waste of time’. Master Crane is presented to be the most patient of the Furious five and he is also the first to start a conversation with Po although it is awkward at first. Crane is like the ‘mother hen’ of the group although he is a male. In fighting situations, Crane flies around scanning the area for any danger and keeps a look out for any of his team falling and preparing himself to catch them. Master Monkey is the friendliest out of the five, and the easiest to approach. He was the first out of the five to recognize Po’s determination for kung fu. Master Monkey is the only one that calls Po from his first name and respects his kind loving nature. Monkey uses a traditional kung fu weapon to help him in his battles, a staff. Master Tigress is the ‘protector’ of the group. She is the strongest and boldest however she is the least sociable. It is obvious throughout the film that Master Tigress was meant to be chosen as the Dragon Warrior but after Po’s unexpected arrival she is not. This leads her to dislike Po and not respect him. When her group and Po are laughing and joking together she doesn’t participate. Tai Lung is presented to be the ‘evil villain’ of the film. The whole valley is scared of him. Tai Lung was sent to Chorh-Gom Prison, a maximum-security institution, until his escape two decades later, this suggests he has excellent martial arts skills and is dangerous. When faced with Po,Tai Lung insults his obesity and the fact that he is a panda ( pandas are not seen as an important animal in Chinese culture). Mr Ping is Po’s father and owns the most popular noodle shop in the Valley. He hopes that his son will continue to operate the shop, wishing to share with him the familys secret recipe to great noodles. Ping is shown to be selfish in a way as he does not let his son follow his dream of martial arts. Despite this fact, father and son share a deep mutual love and respect; this shows why Po does not wish to disappoint his father. The place where master oogway ascends is an important scene. The scene includes a peach tree which holds a special significance for Master Oogway. The way it is presented is very calm, with leaves flying in a peaceful manner. The tree is a symbol of longevity and renewal and its wood is said to ward off evil and its petal to have magical properties. He carved his staff from the wood of this tree and sprinkled a handful of petals in the Moon Pool in the Jade Palace every morning. Oogway called the tree that grew from the seed the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. It is a sacred place for him, the place he comes to meditate. Other places in the film are presented similarly. They are shown to have significance. For example when master Shifu and Po are in ‘jade’s palace’, the palace is sacred and is the great kung fu school, home of Chinas greatest heroes, the Furious Five. Although the social groups in the film are made of animals, they have human-like behaviours. At the beginning of the film when Po is serving noodles to his customers and hears that Oogway is choosing the dragon warrior, he rushes to serve his food and the customers (a mother rabbit with her children) look frustrated and he children start crying. There are many stereotypes shown in the film, the most obvious one is about fat people. Po is seen to be an unlikely candidate for heroism merely because he doesn’t look the part. His overweight body, clumsy personality and eating habits imply than he is not worthy to become the dragon warrior. The movie has a very clear message of respect for bodily differences. The Furious Five, a tigress, viper, monkey, crane, and mantis, all have different bodies. The mantis is tiny and fragile, and a great fighter. While there is a lot of humor and mockery based on fat jokes at the panda’s expense, he learns to believe in himself. Jack Black was the directors’ first choice for the role of Po; Po represented Jack Blacks personality, a charming, innocent, goodhearted character. Jack black has used his voice for many characters but this was the first time he used his own in Kung Fu Panda. Stevenson, the director did a lot of research into making the film seem as real as possible; â€Å"It’s not a particular time period, but down to the details of roof shingles and water buckets and the tables and the cutlery, we did a lot of research to make sure that there was nothing in terms of the architecture or the references that would be incorrect. Initially the directors wanted to address the film with a Chinese backdrop throughout. The target audience for Kung Fu Panda is initially for kids, after the screening, the kids in the audience were practicing their kung fu chops, obviously excited by the action of the film. It is aimed at children who enjoy kung fu and action. The gender is for both girls and boys and conveys a good message. Since the film is based on kung fu it is obvious that the film originates from a Chinese background. The texts meaning effects the target from a passive persons point of view because it can lead people to agree with the fact that all fat people are lazy and don’t get anywhere in life. From an active persons point of view one might disagree and say that not all people are like that. To keep the audience entertained, the producers have used high quality animation effects and bright colors. The characters each have different personalities which make the audience enjoy it more because they don’t get bored of just one character. Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by John Wayne Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb. The film was supposed to have been a parody but the director decided to shoot it as an action martial arts comedy in the spirit of Hong Kong. The film initially started showing in America on June 6th, 2008. The reviews were excellent. Kung Fu Panda opened in 4,114 theaters, and was a hit! Grossing $20. 3  million on its opening day and $60. 2  million on its opening weekend. There are many camera shots used within the film. At the beginning of the film when Po stops dreaming, we see a long shot of Po and his surroundings. Within his surroundings we see Chinese bowls and dishes with chopsticks stacked in a pile. These images suggest that he is in a Chinese restaurant. We then see an extremely long shot which then shows us more dishes and pots. The camera angles we see when Po gets up are a ‘high angle shot’ which looks down upon Po making him seem slightly small at first. The mise en scene throughout the film includes images and objects of kung fu warriors as well as Chinese cutlery and objects. This makes the audience feel as if they are in a Chinese surrounding and gives them an idea of the objects and people in a Chinese environment. The clothing of the people is also of a Chinese culture; the girls wear a traditional Chinese dress. Master Shifu has a long thin mustache which is traditional in the Chinese culture. The actions of the furious five in battle are kung fu moves which again reflect the Chinese culture. One of the denotations in the film is when master Shifu accepts to teach Po kung fu and Po then gives up and starts running away, master Shifu then stops him. This scene captures the moment, we see a soft side to Po and how he feels about his weight. The connotation suggests that even a big animal such as Po needs someone to guide him no matter how tough he looks he still needs someone to believe in him in order to succeed. Ideology is a key aspect in the film. At the beginning we see that the whole valley idolizes master Oogway. However after his death we see that master Shifu is equally respected. Po idolizes the furious five and dreams of becoming like them. We notice from the very start of the film his love towards the furious five. The film uses a linear narrative. The film is shown in chronological order; we can assume what the ending is going to be like. This is good technique for children as they do not get confused as to where the story is going to end. The film uses Propp’s narrative theory: there is a hero(Po), villain(Tai Lung), mentor(Master Oogway), helper(Master Shifu), dispatcher(Mr Ping), blocker(Furious five) and a prize(Dragon scroll) involved in the film. The genre for Kung Fu Panda is an Animation, Comedy theme. We identify this through the funny comments Po makes and some of the situations involved for example; when Master Shifu has a mini battle with Po over a rice cake. The film is a sub-genre as it involves comedy. This means that the audience will be expecting to see funny scenes throughout the film. The film addresses these expectations and has achieved the title of being a ‘fun, animation comedy’. Overall, the film conveys a variety of messages; the most obvious one is that the individual who believes in himself will succeed, even if the odds are against him-This is explained by Po’s determination and his victory towards the end. The furious five learn that they should not judge by first impressions, and that their own superior knowledge and skills do not entitle them to humiliate those who are less competent. The secret of the dragon scroll also indicates the powerful role played by belief in structuring human behaviour. When Po’s father explains to him that the secret is in his noodle soup is ‘nothing’ and that things are only made special if people believe they are special, Po is able to relate it to the dragon scroll. He realises that things don’t just happen, you have to believe in yourself in order to achieve.