Serial Panda

A fondness for pandas resides in this house. Ter still has the black and white bear she was given as an infant and I have vague memories of a somewhat larger panda being deposited in the bedroom I shared with my sisters when I was a preschooler. Whether or not it was intended for me I don’t recall, but it was most definitely a panda.

Nowadays, a clutch of pandas fights for space among the gang of polar and brown bears who rule our roost like little furry dictators. Fortunately, the pandas are more laid back than their ursine compatriots. It must have to do with them being strict vegetarians. They demand nothing and welcome cuddles.

A few years ago, due to Ter’s affection for the critters, we watched Kung Fu Panda and fell immediately in love with Po, the adopted son of the noodle-slinging Mr. Ping. Played by Jack Black, Po loves kung fu and dreams of joining a crime-fighting quintet known as the Furious Five; how he gets there is a series of misadventures so hilariously presented that I was in tears by the final credits. Laugh-out-loud moments are scarce in animated films—I’ve been disappointed with most of the ones I’ve seen—but something about Po strikes every note with a purity that’s made me a fan.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is equally good, if not a touch darker in that it delves more deeply into Po’s beginning (how did a panda come to be adopted by a goose, anyway?) and he must face the villain responsible for making him an orphan. Tear jerker moments to be sure, but hey, if they’re well done, I will embrace them despite the joke that a cartoon character never dies; the artist simply stops drawing it.

Fabulous as Po is, however, my favourite character is Master Shifu, brilliantly voiced by Dustin Hoffman. Shifu is a Zen master with patience issues, especially when Po lumbers on scene and set about tossing his serenely balanced world on its ear. The dialogue is sharp, the action is paced at warp speed, and the hero is as real as you and me. Not since The Emperor’s New Groove have I enjoyed an animated film so thoroughly. Snappy repartee and non-stop martial arts aside, the beauty of Kung Fu Panda is the simplicity of its 

message:

There is no secret ingredient.

Life is about being who we are as we are, about being our best, and finding peace within ourselves.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is released this weekend. The first two movies are so good that Ter and I are going to brave the knee-high throng and see it at the theatre. With popcorn … and maybe a panda hiding in my hoodie.