Kung Fu Panda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the film. For the franchise, see Kung Fu Panda (franchise). For the baseball
player nicknamed "Kung Fu Panda", see Pablo Sandoval. For the video game, see Kung Fu Panda
(video game).
Kung Fu Panda

Theatrical release poster

Directed by

John Stevenson
Mark Osborne

Produced by

Melissa Cobb

Screenplay by

Jonathan Aibel
Glenn Berger

Story by

Ethan Reiff
Cyrus Voris

Starring

Jack Black
Dustin Hoffman
Angelina Jolie

Ian McShane
Seth Rogen
Lucy Liu
David Cross
Randall Duk Kim
James Hong
Dan Folger
Michael Clarke Duncan
Jackie Chan

Music by

Hans Zimmer
John Powell

Cinematography

Yong Duk Jhun

Edited by

Clare Knight

Production

DreamWorks Animation

company

Distributed by

Paramount Pictures1

Release dates

May 15, 2008(Cannes Film Festival)

June 6, 2008 (United States)

Running time

92 minutes

Country

United States

Language

English

Budget

$130 million

Box office

$631.7 million

Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American computer-animated action comedy martial arts film produced
by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures.1 It was directed by John
Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb, and stars the voices of Jack
Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall
Duk Kim,James Hong, and Jackie Chan. Set in a version of ancient China populated
by anthropomorphic talking animals, the plot revolves around a bumbling panda named Po who
aspires to be a kung fu master. When an evil kung fu warrior is foretold to escape after 20 years in
prison, Po is unwittingly named the chosen one destined to bring peace to the land, much to the
chagrin of the resident kung fu warriors.[1]

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 an
action comedy wuxia film that incorporates the hero's journeynarrative archetype for the lead
character. The computer animation in the film was more complex than anything DreamWorks had
done before. As with most DreamWorks animated films, Hans Zimmer (collaborating with John
Powell this time) scored Kung Fu Panda. He visited China to absorb the culture and get to know
the China National Symphony Orchestra as part of his preparation. A sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was
released on May 26, 2011, along with a television series, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of
Awesomenesslater that same year as a part of a franchise. The third installment called Kung Fu
Panda 3 debuted in January 2016.
Kung Fu Panda premiered in the United States on June 6, 2008, and has since received favorable
reviews from critics and much of the movie-going public. The film garners an 87% "Certified Fresh"
approval rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Kung Fu Panda opened in 4,114 theaters,
grossing $20.3 million on its opening day and $60.2 million on its opening weekend, resulting in the
number one position at the box office. The film became DreamWorks' biggest opening for a nonsequel film, the highest grossing animated film of the year worldwide, and also had the fourth-largest
opening weekend for a DreamWorks animated film at the American and Canadian box office,
behind Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After.[2]