# Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness

Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness is an American animated comedy spin-off television series co-produced by DreamWorks Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio based on DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda films. First released in 2011, the show serves as a bridge between the first and second films, showing Po's training to becoming a successful Dragon Warrior, whereas the second film is, according to the series' developer Peter Hastings, "not unlike a very long, super-deluxe 3-D version of one of our episodes."
The series was originally set to air on Nickelodeon in 2010, but it was pushed back to 2011 instead. The series premiered with a special preview on September 19, 2011, and began airing regularly on November 7. Three seasons were produced. Airing ceased in the United States partway through season 3. Before finishing up in the United States, all the episodes had aired already in other countries, for example on Nicktoons in Germany from 2014–15 and then on YTV in Canada from 2015–16. In 2016, Nicktoons in the United States began running ads announcing the airing of new episodes; it was subsequently revealed that five of the ten unaired episodes would play from February 15 through February 19. As a result, the final episode aired on June 29, 2016.
Besides Lucy Liu and James Hong, who reprise their film roles as Viper and Mr. Ping, the cast features new voice actors for the characters of Po (Mick Wingert), Master Shifu (Fred Tatasciore), Tigress (Kari Wahlgren), Crane (Amir Talai), Monkey (James Sie), and Mantis (Max Koch).
Netflix commissioned a successor series, titled Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, in 2022. Peter Hastings, the developer of Legends of Awesomeness, returned as an executive producer. Unlike Legends of Awesomeness however, Jack Black reprised his role as Po from the films.

## Synopsis

Po and the Furious Five defend the Valley of Peace from villains of different kinds. All the while, Po makes accidents, learns lessons, learns more about the history of kung fu, and meets other famous kung fu masters.

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Network |
| 1 | 26 | 26 | September 19, 2011 (2011-09-19) | April 5, 2012 (2012-04-05) | Nickelodeon |
| 2 | 26 | 26 | April 6, 2012 (2012-04-06) | June 21, 2013 (2013-06-21) | Nickelodeon |
| 3 | 28 | 18 | June 24, 2013 (2013-06-24) | June 22, 2014 (2014-06-22) | Nickelodeon |
| 3 | 28 | 10 | February 15, 2016 (2016-02-15) | June 29, 2016 (2016-06-29) | Nicktoons |

## Voice cast

* Mick Wingert as Po
* Fred Tatasciore as Shifu
* Kari Wahlgren as Tigress
* Lucy Liu as Viper
* Amir Talai as Crane
* James Sie as Monkey
* Max Koch as Mantis
* James Hong as Mr. Ping
* Peter Hastings as Apple Cart Duck

## Development

The series was DreamWorks Animation's second co-production with Nickelodeon. The two companies previously partnered on The Penguins of Madagascar.
The show's musical score is done by the Track Team, most Chinese musical instruments including erhu, zhonghu, gaohu, bawu, hulusi, xiao, dizi, guqin, sanxian, suona, guanzi, xun etc. by well-known multi-instrumentalist Hong Wang. In addition, Sifu Kisu was the martial arts consultant for the show as he was on the Avatar: The Last Airbender series.

## Media

Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness took part in Nickelodeon's revamp to their cartoon season on TV. As an early promotion, Po was featured in a Nickelodeon bumper alongside other characters. On July 23, an exclusive sneak peek of the show was shown at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, with producers and members of the voice cast present at the panel. A sneak peek episode was released for the DVD / Blu-ray release for Kung Fu Panda 2 on December 13, 2011. In addition, two sneak preview episodes aired (one on September 19, 2011 and another on October 21, 2011) before the official premiere of the show. In June 2018, it was announced that the series will stream on Hulu.

### Other dubbed versions

In 2021, Bangladeshi television channel Duronto started to broadcast a Bengali dubbed version of this show as part of the channel's 15th season.

## Critical reception

Mary McNamara of Los Angeles Times called Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness "a show that won't drive every adult in earshot absolutely crazy. And these days, that's saying something." Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club said that the show "rips out the elements that made the original film such a surprise, leaving behind a derivative, cliché-laden children's show that recycles moral platitudes adequately but is otherwise indistinguishable from countless other programs" and "isn't a show that's aiming to be cutting edge or original, just mildly entertaining, which it is....This isn't going to harm any kids, but it's not going to impress them either." Despite the mixed reviews, the show has received four Emmy Awards and nominated for four Annie Awards.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2012 | Annie Awards | Best Television Production Children | | Nominated |
| 2012 | Annie Awards | Character Animation in a Television Production | Michael Franceschi | Nominated |
| 2012 | Annie Awards | Directing in a Television Production | Gabe Swarr | Nominated |
| 2012 | Annie Awards | Editing in a Television Production | Hugo Morales, Davrick Waltjen, Adam Arnold, Otto Ferrene | Nominated |
| 2012 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | | Nominated |
| 2012 | Daytime Emmy Awards |
| 2012 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Editing – Animation | Joe Pizzulo, Paulette Lifton, James Lifton, Benjamin Wynn, Jeremy Zuckerman, Rob McIntryre, Anna Adams, Jason Stiff, Molly Minus, Matt Hall, Andrew Ing, Roberto Dominguez Alegria, Aran Tanchum, Chris Gresham and Lawrence Reyes | Won |
| 2012 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Mixing – Animation | Justin Brinsfield, Matt Corey and Thomas J. Maydeck | Won |
| 2012 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Casting for an Animated Series or Special | Sarah Noonan and Meredith Layne | Won |
| 2012 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual in Animation | Joel Fajnor | Won |
| 2012 | British Academy Children's Awards | International | Peter Hastings, Gabe Swarr, Randy Doormans | Nominated |
| 2013 | Annie Awards | Storyboarding in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production | Ryan Kramer, Paul Linsley, Kenji Ono, Le Tang, Alice Herring, Mike Mullen, Aaron Hammersley (for "Enter the Dragon") | Nominated |
| 2013 | Annie Awards | Writing in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production | Doug Langdale (for "Kung Fu Day Care") | Nominated |
| 2013 | Annie Awards | Editorial in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production | Hugo Morales, Adam Arnold, Davrick Waltjen, Otto Ferrene (for "Monkey in the Middle") | Nominated |
| 2013 | Annie Awards | Editorial in an Animated Television or other Broadcast Venue Production | Hugo Morales, Adam Arnold, Davrick Waltjen, Otto Ferrene (for "Enter the Dragon") | Won |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | Peter Hastings, Bret Haaland, Randy Dormans, Gabe Swarr, Andrew Huebner | Won |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program | Gabe Swarr, Michael Mullen, Lane Lueras, Juan Meza-Leon, Peter Hastings | Nominated |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual in Animation | Joel Fajnor (for "Kung Fu Day Care") | Won |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual in Animation | Bill Dely (for "Kung Shoes") | Won |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing in Animation | Peter Hastings, Doug Langdale, Gene Grillo, Paul Rugg, Kevin Seccia, Scot Kreamer | Nominated |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Editing – Animation | Joe Pizzulo, Gary Falcone, Jeremy Zukerman, Benjamin Wynn, Rob McIntyre, Anna Adams, Marc Schmidt, Andrew Ing, Jeseey Drake, Roberto Dominguez Alegira, Cynthia Merrill | Nominated |
| 2013 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Mixing – Animation | Justin Brinsfield, Thomas J Maydeck, Rob McIntyre | Nominated |
| 2013 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Program | For episode: "Enter The Dragon" | Nominated |
| 2013 | British Academy Children's Awards | International | Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness | Nominated |
| 2014 | Annie Awards | Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children's Audience | | Nominated |
| 2014 | Annie Awards | Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Katie Matila | Nominated |
| 2014 | Annie Awards | Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Adam Arnold, Hugo Morales, Davrick Waltjen | Nominated |
| 2014 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Children's Animated Program | Peter Hastings, Bret Haaland, Randy Dormans, Gabe Swarr, Joann Estoesta and Andrew Huebner | Won |
| 2014 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program | Gene Grillo, Peter Hastings, Scott Kreamer, Doug Langdale and Paul Rugg | Nominated |
| 2014 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program | Aaron Hammersley, Lane Lueras, Michael Mullen and Peter Hastings | Nominated |
| 2014 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Sound Mixing – Animation | Justin Brinsfield, Matt Corey, Thomas J. Maydeck and Rob McIntyre | Won |
| 2014 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Sound Editing – Animation | Gary Falcone, Jeremy Zuckerman, Benjamin Wynn, Jessey Drake, Andrew Ing, Anna Adams, Roberto Alegria, Cynthia Merrill, Rob McIntyre and Marc Schmidt | Nominated |
| 2015 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Sound Editing – Animation | Gary Falcone, Rob McIntyre, Marc Schmidt, Jeremy Zuckerman, Benjamin Wynn, Anna Adams, Andrew Ing, Thomas J. Maydeck, Roberto Dominguez Alegria and Cynthia Merrill | Won |
| 2015 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Sound Mixing – Animation | Justin Brinsfield, Matt Corey, Thomas J. Maydeck, Rob McIntyre and Roberto Dominguez Alegria | Won |