The Hero's Journey

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2011)

In one respect, the concept of a "kung fu panda" is an appropriate one. Kung fu is Chinese; pandas come from China. In other respects, however, it seems hilariously inappropriate. Pandas are widely regarded as placid, inoffensive animals, the least carnivorous of the Carnivora. Indeed, for many years zoologists denied them their rightful place in the bear family, categorising them instead as a sort of overgrown raccoon, as if unwilling to allow the noble name of the family Ursidae to be sullied by the inclusion therein of a creature which subsists on a staple diet of bamboo shoots. Even the name by which the giant panda has become known in English was borrowed from a much smaller animal, the red panda.
"Kung Fu Panda" is based upon a similar concept to the Disney cartoon of "Robin Hood" in that anthropomorphic animals are used to represent humans. The story is one which could have been the subject of a Chinese live-action martial arts film; an evil warrior (represented by a snow leopard) escapes from prison and spreads terror throughout the land, but is finally thwarted by an unlikely hero when the greatest kung fu masters have failed to do so.
The story is treated as a comedy, so Po the panda becomes a comic figure. He is cowardly, clumsy, overweight and greedy, although being an anthropomorphic panda his favourite dish is not bamboo but noodles. Nevertheless, the wise old sage Master Oogway predicts that Po is destined to overcome the evil snow leopard Tai Lung and tells his disciple Master Shifu to begin training the panda in the martial arts. (Oogway is a turtle- a creature associated with wisdom in Chinese culture in the same way as the owl in the West. The name "Oogway" is derived from the Chinese for "turtle". Shifu, whose name is Chinese for "master" or "teacher", is supposed to be a red panda, although he does not bear much resemblance to one). At first Po seems to be completely unsuited to the disciplines of kung fu, and is resented by Shifu's other, more talented students, a tigress, a snake, a monkey, a crane and a mantis. Shifu eventually realises, however, that the way to motivate Po is by playing on his love of food.
The story has been described as a comic take on the "hero's journey" narrative which underlies many Hollywood movies as well as traditional myths and legends. (The "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" films are also based upon this narrative). The "journey" in such stories can be spiritual rather than physical, and Po's journey is one from self-doubt to self-belief. A key moment comes when Po's father (not, as one might think, another panda but a goose) reveals to him that his famous "secret ingredient soup" does not in fact contain a secret ingredient; what matters is that people believe it to be something special. Similarly, Po starts to become special the moment he starts to believe in himself.
In a departure from my normal practice, I am not giving this film a mark out of ten; cartoons like this are primarily aimed at children, who tend to judge them by very different standards from adults. Nevertheless, I will say that this is a film which I enjoyed. My wife, who is herself Chinese, enjoyed it even more that I did, as it reminded herself of the "wuxia" films with which she was familiar in her own childhood. (The wise old master, the self-doubting disciple who learns to believe in himself and the kung fu master who follows the way of evil like Tai Lung are all stock figures from these dramas). The Chinese-inspired style of the computer-generated animation helps give this film a distinctive local flavour and the amusing antics of Po make him a great comic character.