Therapist Reacts to KUNG FU PANDA 

In that part where Shifu starts training Po properly, he's not only accepting Po as he is, he is also accepting the present as it is. He is actually having fun while training Po, he's smiling for one of the first times in the movie, even though Tai Lung is on his way. Po was unconsciously teaching Shifu to be at peace and to do things at his own pace. I love this movie so much.

One of the reasons I love Oogway is that he's brutally honest. I lot of people would lie to make Po feel better. "They hate me." "They don't hate you! They just don't know you!" But Oogways like "Yeah, they hate you. . .but that won't last forever-" And that's a lot more powerful.

One thing to point out: Oogway mentions that Po's eating habit is a stress response, that he eats when he's upset. And then we get to the end of the "You are free to eat" fight and he says he's not hungry.

The moment Shifu says "I don't know!" is such a powerful moment to see. It's him finally relinquishing control. He's no longer the man with all the answers. He cannot control this situation. But in admitting he doesn't know, he frees himself from the illusion that his way is the best way.

The “I’m not hungry” line is so cathartic and awesome because Po eats excessively when he’s upset (going all the way back to when he ate an entire crate of radishes after his mother abandoned him to save his life as a baby). Considering his amount of fat relative to his fitness at the beginning, this further illustrates his poor mental health. But by finding friends, a mentor who earnestly believes in him, a deeper connection to his greatest passion and love for himself, he outgrows that emotional crutch.

Remember guys: What makes Po strong is his acceptance of himself. What makes Tigress dangerous is her self-control. What makes monkey a hero is the pain he channels into compassion for others. What makes mantis formidable is his infinite patience. What makes viper ferocious is her unmatchable courage. What makes crane special is his tremendous confidence

When Po said "I'm not hungry" in the chopstick scene at the end, I think that says a lot. His coping mechanism was to eat. Because he was surprising his emotions. He said it himself. That he eats when he's sad or stressed. And even though he was in that stressful situation of having to be the dragon warrior, he still said "I'm not hungry" and learned to cope better with his emotions than he used to before. Sry for my bad English. It's not my first language.

I think it's so appropriate that they got Jack Black to voice Po, he isn't classically what Hollywood looks for in a star, but his dedication to being his unique self is what catches the audience's attention.

My karate sensei loved this film, to the point that he bought a Po costume and wore it at special events for our school. He passed away a few years ago after a long journey with brain cancer, but his legacy lives on in the way we teach. We don't exclude people who aren't able to master our curriculum the way it's written, we make adjustments so that they can still achieve and find their own inner strengths. Kids with disabilities, adults with bad joints, really anyone who most people would write off as having too many barriers, we take them and teach them and make them part of our community. Obviously Oogway's death hits hard these days, but I will always be proud of how we carry out the lessons that my old sensei and Kung Fu Panda both embrace.

"Your Mind is like Water. When it gets agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear.." Master Oogway is the best

Fun story I was actually told I was adopted through Kung fu panda when po was told he was adopted that’s when I was told and this movie means a lot to me so I'm glad y'all are covering it

In my opinion, Po and Tai Lung are two sides of the same coin. They were both adopted , except one was raised with love while the other was raised with expectations. It's honestly sad that Tai Lung was never given the time to heal from his wounds, if only there was another ending where Po tries to help Tai Lung.

When po is talking to Oogway and says he doesn't have what the other five have, and he says "No Venom" it shows how little he actually knows about the people he's anxious to be like. Viper doesn't have venom, she doesn't even have fangs. It's a foreshadowing that Po will not only get to know the five better, but understand what he can really do and defy expectations

As an elementary school teacher, the line that resonated with me was “I cannot train you like I trained the five” When I was in college, they HOUNDED in us that each student is different and has different needs. You have to think of five different ways to say the same thing. I do try to emphasize that with my students. Edit: I appreciate all the likes!

You can see the guilt on Shifu's face when Po told him he believed in him even though Shifu gave him no reason to believe in him. He probably thought Po didn't realize he was trying to get rid of him and kept trying to break his will and humiliate him, but being called out for his actions and the fact that Po didn't have a grudge and still had faith in him must have hit him like a truck in that moment.

"I don't know" is a response that should be more accepted in society. I work as a tech artist in animation so I encounter a ton of stuff I don't know, but I have the confidence to go figure it out. So I wish people would be more excepting of that.

This drives home the message from Thor: "Everyone fails at being who they're supposed to be. The true heroes are the ones who succeed at being who they are. "

It always gives me shivers when Tai Lung looks at the scroll, sees his own reflection and says “It’s nothing!” He couldn’t and can’t see the value in just himself, beyond the learned kung fu skill and quest for limitless power, so all he sees is this empty image of a failed man. Contrast that with Po’s round, sweet smiling face reflecting back at him in the mirrored scroll, which he has learned to love and accept… This movie has my heart in a Wuxi hold. *skadoosh* 💓

Oogway is exactly like my grandfather who passed when the movie released. He was always at peace, always ten steps ahead of life and the advice he gave always had you staring at the sky in contemplation. So when the character ascended it hurt on a lot of fronts for me, because it felt like losing him again. Im not ashamed to say I take Oogway’s advice with my grandfathers. I seek peace in simple things in life and am much happier because of it. I like to think he’s proud of me. Also, he loved peaches haha

My favorite thing about this movie is that Po is just as confused as everyone else is when the dragon scroll is blank. He internalized that he is able to be strong and be a kung fu master through Shifu, but it only became a conscious thought because his dad loves and trusts him to tell him that there is nothing special in the soup.

I love how Oogway’s revelation and the secret he put in the dragon scroll was so hyped up. He was so respected, that this wisdom was thought to be much grander than it actually was. Because, Po’s father has long since knew the same knowledge being a humble noodle chef and I think that’s so powerful. That the answers to life can be found by anyone and everyone from any source of background, profession, or anything.

Another cool deeper analysis on Oogway’s quote “One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it” -it’s not just a wise theoretical saying in the movie for “panicking won’t stop the threat and will only make it worse”, it’s genuinely literal for Shifu. His panicking made him send that bird to warn the guards to have extra security, but that bird’s one loose feather is the singular thing that led to Tai Lung’s escape. Without the feather, no escape. So Shifu is the one to blame for the escape. His desperation to avoid it became the direct cause. I never truly thought about that whole quote and connection until another analysis channel pointed that out in a video from a month ago. Idk maybe that’s obvious, just as kids you don’t pick up on things like that, but as adults going back it’s like WOAH the attention to detail there is great

The thing that always stood out for me, what separated Po from Tai Lung and what made 1 capable of becoming the "dragon warrior" where the other couldn't, was their interpretation of the dragon scroll when they opened it and see nothing but their reflection. For Po: "It's blank." For Tai Lung: "It's nothing." For Po, he sees a blank cavass, something waiting to be filled in and made complete, full of potential, but for Tai Lung, when he sees an empty scroll, just his reflection, he simply calls it "nothing", as though seeing himself as he is, simply isn't enough, he needs something more to feel complete. In Po's case, calling it blank when he sees his reflection feels like a subconscious admission of his own potential that he doesn't have the confidence to acknowledge, while for Tai Lung, he looks at himself and recognizes that he as he is, isn't enough, but refuses to admit it, he *needs* that extra something to make him special.

One of my favorite little details in the film is when Po first looks at the dragon scroll and sees it, he says "It's blank" but when Tai Lung sees it, he says that "It's nothing." and because it's showing their reflections, it's also them commenting on themselves. Po says it's blank and sees something with infinite potential, a blank canvas that could become anything. Tai Lung instead sees nothing because he thought it would give him ultimate power, but the way he sought power was self destructive and focused on the physicality rather than the equally important spirituality.

Hi! I'm an animator! To answer Alan's question on how to give weight to the action. It's a lot of careful study of where and how long to hold poses before and after the hit. A big wind up helps, but a heavy hit is mainly sold on the overshoot and it's effect on the target. The momentum pulls the punch past where the character settles for a brief moment. Getting it just right takes a lot of frame by frame reference of live action and other cartoons. Then a lot of careful study of the many versions of the shot by multiple people in a studio like Dreamworks to make sure it looks and feels so sooo good. Also! I love everything you do. I'm addicted to your channel, and I'm always looking forward to whatever you do next!

When Tai Lung looks at the scroll and that shot where we see his face in the scroll and he says "It's nothing!", it gives the vibe that his whole story is about being obsessed with getting the Dragon Scroll and when he gets it, he's confused by all the work he put in up until that moment. He's not just commenting on the scroll being blank, it's a comment on himself.

One of my favorite scenes is when Po says that whenever shifu threw a rock or said he smelled it hurt but not as bad as Po being himself everyday. That is a great example of how internal and external pain from an outside source doesn't hit as hard as the negativity you feel about yourself.

As a parent of a teenager with severe depression, the exchange "it could never hurt more than it did every day in my life just being me" and "how are you going to change this..." - "I don't know!" hits me in the feels every time. I want to help my child; but I don't know how.

Tai Lung and Shifu's father-son relationship is also so well written and told, how Shifu comes to accept his mistakes that led Tai Lung to the path of darkness then also how they animated Tai Lung got affected by Shifu's apology is the cherry on top and hits so different (especially how some kids or parents may relate to this)

A little detail I love about the final fight is that Po is the only opponent that could withstand Tai Lung's attack to the nerves *because* he's such a fat panda that he's protected from such a move, whereas every other kung-fu master is vulnerable against it. It's incredibly literal, so much that we may take it for granted, but it's thematically relevant to the message of everyone having value and their own strengths. It's not something he *learned* ; he's able to pull through the final stretch of the fight simply because of _who_ he is, turning something he was mocked for into a positive. It's a comedy moment first and foremost, but it works as a wonderful microcosm of the point of the film.

17:01 You know what I really love about this angle? Everyone spent the entire movie talking about "turning Po into the Dragon Warrior" or "Po must become the Dragon Warrior". Even Po talked like that. There is exactly one character in the entire movie who consistently said "Po *is* the Dragon Warrior". Oogway.

My son is almost seven and is special needs. Every night he sleeps to “Oogway Ascends,” and it wasn’t until I watched this did I realize that listening to that song, at the end of his day of struggling, growing, and learning, might be his way of achieving inner peace when the day is done and he’s done all he can. It also brings me some inner peace knowing that this movie is such a comfort to him and encourages him to believe in himself, even when he struggles or when his classmates call him a “weirdo.” Thank you Jonathan and Alan for doing this. I have a little more inner peace now❤️

21:55 THANK YOU! As someone with autism, ADHD, anxiety and depression, the school system was not catered to me AT ALL. especially tests. My grades dropped from A’s to B’s and C’s in high school because the learning environment was too stressful, loud and fast paced. I wish the school system was better at helping students who learn differently.

Ping (po's adoptive father) is treated as the comic relief but is probably the wisest character in the series. He is always the one to realize the lesson before anybody else, and is able to explain it to others in a way that isn't needlessly vague *cough cough* oogway...

I put the quote " Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That's why they call it present." On my calendar and even drew a little Oogway to represent the lad. I am so incredibly happy for today. It's really a gift (get it?). This is the happiest I've ever been since the Megamind episode. Love from Missouri

One of my favorite moments is when Tai Lung sees the scroll and he says, "It's nothing." And what I like is after that, Po says "It’s okay. I didn't get it at first either." Po had a chance to taunt and belittle Tai Lung. He didn't have to explain what the scroll actually meant nor did he have to comfort Tai Lung by telling him it's okay that he didn't understand. It's such a powerful scene because the way Po says it, you can tell he means it and has empathy. You can tell he doesn't see Tai Lung as a villain and I think it's so beautiful to show the contrast between Po and Tai Lung and to show how Po's words affect Tai Lung because after Po says that, you can see how shocked Tai Lung looks and I think part of it, other than the shock of learning what the scroll meant, is shock that Po tells him its okay and what the scroll really means. This is the first time Tai Lung has been told by another person that his failure is okay and it's by someone he considers his enemy and the look on his face when he processes that is so powerful and really shows him in a different light for a minute. Sorry it's so long. I just had to share it because this is a really underrated scene.

The 'weighty' feeling in the action scenes have a lot to do with character design and how those designs move. Po's a very heavy character with fat and he fights with that weight. The fat moves with him and his fighting style is influenced by it. He's the only one who could pull off slam moves because of his very round design. The best comparison would be tigress and tai lung, both have the same teachers and fighting styles. Except tigress's design is slimmer and the weight she has is evenly dispersed. Her hits have a very clear sense of control to them. In my opinon for a lot of the movie it looked like she was pulling punches except for the tai lung fight. While Tai Lung has extra bulk on him, his hits look harder because of how his extra weight on his design moves. It also adds to his overall character of being uncontrolled and a bit unhinged with power compared to Tigress who was strictly taught to control herself. Because unlike her his weight is not evenly distributed giving a subtle cue that his mind isn’t balenced. Idk i love the character designs in this film, theyre legendary.

Yesterday I got bored and watched the entire trilogy. It honestly surprised just how good the story AND humor is, even as an adult. It would've been so easy to go down the "fat panda fart joke" route, but they didn't. Po's relentless optimism for every challenge he faces isn't shown as stupidity, but a gift. Be like Po

In the chopstick scene, Po actually plays fair and guesses where shifu hides the dumpling when he flips the bowls around. When Po does this to Tai Lung, he just flips them all around. I like the details in this movie so much.

Honestly, I can't help but feel that when Tai lung opens the scroll and says "It's Nothing"- he's saying that while not only referring to the lack of words or secrets, but to himself as well. He stares directly into his reflection as he says it, it's only for a second before his gaze shifts, but he looks directly into his own eyes (time stamp 25:49). I think that the scene reflects his own inner thoughts about himself. His self talk. That he believed that he wasn't enough. That he was "nothing". I don't know if I'm right or not, but that scene felt so sad too me and I couldn't quite put my finger on it until now. Aslo, if someone has already said this I'm sorry, I haven't gone through and read the other comments, yet. I love the review by the way! It was so entertaining and heartwarming to watch.

The "I'm not hungry" also carries so much weight because of what Oogway had said earlier in the movie. He mentioned Po has a habit of eating his stress away. When Po says the line to Shifu, in a way it's him saying "I'm more confident now, I'm in control"

I always loved the message in this movie, there is no secret ingredient, it's just you. For something to be special, you just have to believe that it's special.

I love that Shifu is also treated like a main protagonist with his own arc. In traditional storytelling, the protagonist loses his mentor and learns to overcome his obstacles himself. Think Obi-Wan, Gandalf, Dumbledore, etc. But here, Po needed to gain a mentor to move his arc forward. Shifu is the one who needed to lose his mentor to grow as a character. The story is absolutely about Po but I think he shares the protagonist spotlight with Shifu.

i hoped alan would touch on the filmmaking choice of showing ty lung's reflection in the scroll when he says "it's NOTHING!" kind of obvious, after seeing po's reflection and his revelation, but still important to realize that ty lung's insecurities, his maliciousness, his drive to dominate, all comes from a place deep down inside where he believes HE is "nothing."

21:46 this smile ... When you see the disheartened adoptive feather feeling he caused the lost of his son finally able to have fun. I love Shifu.

As someone who's been a longtime Kung fu panda fan (and it LITERALLY being one of my favorite movies of all time lol), I HAVE to mention a scene that wasn't mentioned in this video. PREPARE FOR AN ESSAY. The relationship between Shifu and Tai Lung has always been incredibly fascinating to me. Even as a kid, I was never able to look at Tai Lung as a villain. He was a kid when Shifu took him in, and was told his entire life he would be something great, that he was above everyone, and that he would have talent enough to literally get what no other warrior could ever get: The key to limitless power. Of course, when you're told that throughout your entire life by the person you basically consider your father, it messes you up in a way. So when Shifu turned his back on him, Tai Lung was, in my opinion, understandably angry. Does that justify rampaging the city? No. BUT, does it justify Tai Lung's obvious resentment towards Shifu at the end of the movie? Yes it does. Shifu always told him “you will be '', and never “even if you don't, i'll be proud of you”. It's basically telling Tai Lung that if he doesn't become the dragon warrior, he will have failed him. In their big fight scene, Tai Lung tells Shifu “All I ever did, I did to make you proud! Tell me how proud you are Shifu!” And you can tell that Tai Lung almost softens up when Shifu apologizes and actually says those words he had been longing to hear, but that it's gone in a split second, because Tai Lung feels he is owed something that Shifu PROMISED HIM. So then again, when Po reveals that the “secret ingredient is you”, everything Tai Lung has worked for crumbles. Because in his opinion, just being himself was never enough for Shifu. It's so tragic, and it makes him the best villain in the trilogy imo.

I love Shifu's expression when he tosses the chopsticks and grabs his cane - that Dumpling fight is the most fun he's had in YEARS. Also Po's food-based kung fu is pretty much taken to it's logical conclusion in the third movie where he EATS the villain's weapon when fighting him in the Chi World.

I love how Master Shifu and Master Oogway are just these wonderful examples of Confucian and Taoist thought. Shifu wants to exert control and keep everything in its proper place and Oogway is content to just let life happen and react as it does. This is such a good movie.

I love the part of Po and Shifu's fight, when Shifu realizes that he's also having fun, and enjoying the exercise for its own sake. Considering that he never invested himself fully in a student after Tai Lung, seeing that switch in the character is the best. And it's done completely without words.

Mr. Ping, Po's dad, is probably one of my favorite fathers in animation. I love that his advice and guidance grants Po a path to success in each movie, even accidentally, and putting his son first is just so... wonderful, to see.

To me, the part with the tree when Oogway talks about belief before he leaves, shows life (tree in full bloom), death (blossoms blow off of the tree, during winter trees lose their leaves, not really a death but a slumber), and birth at the same time (the peach seed being buried in the ground, representing the start of life). It also reminds me of the fact that Oogway has made his impression on his pupils, when he buried the seed it especially gave me a symbolism of “planting the seed” or teaching others his experience in Kung Fu and Inner Peace - then the blossoms blowing away from the tree as Oogway travels to the spirit realm, or “dies” was just incredible. This movie is just so spectacular and rich in symbolism, quality, quantity, and relatability.

One of my favorite moments is "I stayed because I thought, if anyone could change me, could make me not me, it was you." Po basically admitting outright that he kind of hated himself and wanted to change, only to realize later he didn't need to is just good stuff. It's something a lot of people might not realize they need to hear. Movie 2 expands on this and grows his abilities rather than regresses, he has to learn how to overcome a traumatic event to find inner peace, vs being okay with who he is to find inner peace. And then it comes full circle in the third movie where HE has to learn how to kind of chill, and BE A PANDA cause he's been a fighter most of his adult life. Po actually changes and grows over the course of the trilogy and that's why it's so good. And Jack Black's performance is gut wrenching at times. He really delivers in all three movies.

The debate between Daoism and Confucianism in that scene with Oogway and Shifu never fails to get my brain ticking. I love it.

What makes the scene where Po talks to Oogway so great is that, when Po says that the Furious Five hate him and he sucked on his first day, he doesn't deny those things. He validates Po's feelings, instead of telling him that he's overreacting or that it's not that bad. This enables him to impart onto Po the message that, while things might be bad right now, there is a chance to make them better.

When Tai Lung held the scroll in his hand, he stared right back at him and said "It's nothing!", symbolising that he, although being a master of Kung Fu, always believed he was nothing unless he got the dragon scroll. He even lost faith in his Master, and only considered the scroll to be what would give him the power he wanted. This is a contrast to Po, who also believed he was nothing, but trusted in his master more than his prophecy, as someone who would make him the person he wanted to be. This is a neat detail of the last Fight. And the fact that even after hearing Po, Tai looked back at the scroll, and still did not get it

The only thing I wish they discussed more was Tai Lung and Shifu’s relationship. I feel like that is the most underrated element of the movie to discuss, especially when Shifu apologizes. I’d love to see their take on the scene where Tai Lung says “All I ever did I did to make you proud!” Great video nonetheless!

The line I relate to the most is when Po says "nothing could hurt more than every day of my life spent just being me". There's nothing else to that I'm just really self loathing.

One sad thing is with Tai Lung, he always trained to be the best of the best of the best ever since he could walk. He's broken his body countless of times to become better and was encouraged by Shifu that he could become the Dragon Warrior. It gave him false hope, so he became overconfident and egotistical which was why Oogway didn't let him become the Dragon Warrior. When he was told this, he lost his mind because he basically threw away his entire life to make Shifu proud. He thought he wasn't good enough for Shifu or Oogway's approval. But when Shifu says that he was always proud of him Tai Lung attacks him. When Po says there is no secret ingredient, Tai Lung hears that he always had the potential to earn the Dragon Scroll, despite thinking he let his father down. That's why he freaks out and attacks Po when he learns the truth

Something really interesting about Po mentioning the Five under the tree is that, Viper doesn’t actually have venom! She was born without fangs, and learned to fight entirely independently from how a snake is “expected” to fight

The training resonated with me so much... It gave very much "Neuroduvergent/physically handicapped student finally finds a teacher who understand they aren't incapable, they're just equipped with a different set of tools, so the teacher finds the best approach to transform those tools into skills. And they become the best student ever".

The beauty of it all is that Kung Fu Panda really taught me that "You aren't created with greatness, You create your own greatness." Po being able to find belief in himself is what created his greatness. Anyone could've been the Dragon Warrior, but not everyone could have been able to believe they can be.

One lesson I like to make clear with the "control is an illusion" discussion between Master Oogway and Shifu, they're not both talking about the same thing. Shifu's "control" is him putting his own effort on trying to influence the world, so eventually just a short term cause and effect, as in (outside of other factors) yes you can control your own body and therefore things you do with your body can effect things you interact with. When Master Oogway is saying when he is talking about "control"is that Outside of your direct or indirect involvement you can't 100% control what will happen, and even if you do get involve there will be no guarantee things will go 100% your way.

14:45 I think one of the most painful parts of this scene, which I don’t see brought up often, is the role reversal. Before, Shifu had no belief in Po as the Dragon Warrior, but Po believed Shifu could turn him into it, or at least make him more than he was. And now, when Shifu finally has some faith in Po (or at least faith in Oogway’s faith in Po) he realizes Po’s faith in him, and that it’s now gone, or at least diminished, as he questions how he’ll turn him into the dragon warrior. I dunno, I just think that realization that someone you never believed in always believed in you, only for that belief to vanish after you finally decide to give them a chance, to be a pretty devastating feeling

As a teacher and a black belt (not in kung fu though) this is one of my favorite animated movies and it means so much to me on so many levels. One of my favorite scenes occurs after the credits where Shifu and Po are sitting under the tree eating dumplings and in the foreground you can see the tree that Shifu planted during his last conversation with Oogway starting to sprout. It’s a simple scene, but I get tears in my eyes every time I see that.

I love how in the dumpling fight you can actually see Chifu enjoying and playing, not because he is toying with him but because he loves what he does and reconnecting with what you love is such an ecstatic sensation!

This is most likely the best opening on their channel. The emotion behind their line delivery and the soundtrack makes it truly exceptional

Another moment I love is during the Tai Lung fight when the Dragon Scroll lands near the top of a building. Po shows that he learned how to motivate himself further by imagining the scroll was food. It gave him the energy to scramble up the building to retrieve it. Tai Lung thinks the scroll gave Po added power, but he was wrong. Po did it all himself.

Did anyone else notice when Oogway hits the tree the peach perfectly lands in Po's hand but when Shifu hits the tree the peaches are all random

This line "I am not hungry" after the training is refering to previous scene when he was cought by Oogway eating peaches. He said then "I eat when I am nervous/when I am worried". It was really good showing that Po is now confident and at peace, he trained, got better at kung fu, got recognised by his master and finally accepted himself.

I like the character comparison with the guessing game: Po actually followed the dumpling and guessed the right bowl, while Tai Lung got impatient and just brushed all the pans aside. Tai Lung is one of the best fighters, but Po pays more attention and isn’t just focused on his own wants.

I love the fact that the design for the old, patient sage who doesn't worry about the past or future (Oogway) is a _turtle_ . It shows that your size, speed, and really anything about your physical characteristics don't matter as long as you *believe* , which is right in line with the theme of this movie. Brilliant character design! I also love that even after Po becomes the dragon warrior and even after he defeats Tai Lung, he's still a friendly, humble Kung Fu nerd (as shown in the entire franchise). He truly is the best embodiment of the "be yourself" message in modern films. Edit: Just rewatched the movie and realized something. Oogway and Po aren't the only powerful characters despite their physical appearance. Mantis tells Po in the first movie: "Who am I to judge people based on appearance? Look at me!" He never saw his tiny size as a disadvantage, instead using it to make enemies underestimate him before taking them down.

To quote Death from Discworld: "You have to believe in the things that aren't. How else are they to become?"

I remember seeing a rather profound statement on Tai Lung seeing the scroll which I agree with; that he says "it's nothing" when he opens it contrary to Po who realizes that it's all him without a secret ingredience. Tai Lung only believes in inherent power and ability, if he does not see that he sees nothing, which says a lot of about his mental state. Almost implicates a fragile self image behind his ferocity and prodigous skill.

A lil connection between this movie and the 3rd that I noticed, is that in the 3rd movie Po says he can't hit Shifu and he refuses to fight him. Here in the first, during that final training scene with the dumpling, Po never hits him. He stalls, blocks and parries, but he never *hits* him.

I love _love_ *love* Xiran Jay Zhao's video on this movie. She tires to answer why China fell so hard in love with this western movie and the tldr answer is that the two core conflicts are: a series of super cool martial arts fights, and a structured debate of Confucius and Taoist philosophy. Basically this silly American panda story is the most Chinese movie ever made.

As an animator I'd like to say a few things. One of the many ways you can get impact in a scene is actually a decrease of frames. Video in and of itself is simply flashing images, right? To make something seem faster, decrease the number of frames. I've seen it done in normal film as well, a frame will be removed when someone is punched so it seems like the punch itself was much harder or faster than it was. Animation has the exact same principle. To get impact, you need to make it look like something that went from Point A to Point B (such as fist) much faster than it did and having less frames to process does that. So why do you have problems in animation when it has no impact? That's due to a little mistake some animators make of trying to make animation too smooth. Sure, let's make the film 4k Ultra 120 fps legendary quality animation. While this can make something look smoother, it can also make hits and impacts look and feel soft because you're seeing more frames between point a and point b. If somebody moves so fast that you "couldn't even see them" then that should be literal unless you're going for a slow motion scene. That's all I have to say about that. I hope it made sense. Love the videos, keep the great work.

24:35 "Inner peace then comes from Im enough and I always have been" Jono saying this inmediatly reminded me of Oogway talking about the peach seed and peach tree. The peach seed already contains all of what it will be, all it needs is time and care

I'd be interested in seeing John talk about the sequel in terms of family. He is a family therapist, and going from here to where Po is in the second one. Also would love to hear Alan's take on the film quality of the sequels amd what makes a sequel good or bad, and key reasons people reapond well or poorly too them. As much as I LOVED this film, to me the sequel (2) is even stronger and I adore the moment on the water.

I highly recommend watching xiran jay zhao's video on this movie's cultural accuracy. It really gives you an idea about both shifu and oogway their belief systems and how it thematically ties to the story

I’m an animator, and even though I’m an amateur, I have a theory to how weight is added here. First of all in this scene 20:24 they use a bit of a bounce effect where po bounces up and then reverts to normal when he sits. And I use that all the time, or you can make the camera mildly shake, as a blink and you’ll miss it. 26:29 you can feel the weight of his fists hitting the camera because he becomes more rubbery, and the fists go out of focus and expand as the get closer. Throughout the film is also the use of shadows and how they can change shape or position based on how much weight is applied. And finally. Sound effects play a huge role in immersing you, so if I do a choppier animation that’s like, three frames, of two people high fiving. The animation itself isn’t great at conveying what’s going on, but if I add a high five sound effect, peoples brains tend to fill in the blanks, and makes the animation not so noticeably choppy. But those are just theories.

The more that this show goes on the more Alan and Johnathin seem to be just two big kids making movies to put on the internet, and I'm here for it. Thanks for making these videos and thank you for for helping me when I was going through a very troubling time. I'm so excited to see you guys hit the big 1 million subscriber milestone, you guys deserve it.

Thinking about the concept of Inner Peace when battling ADHD for years, and then seeing it at the end of the tunnel when finally getting medicated at 30... that is WILD

I just noticed that when Po says "I'm not hungry" he previously mentioned that when he's angry/upset, he eats. He used to drown out his feelings by eating. As if to say "I'm content". I've watched this movie 4 or times already and it keeps showing me ways how it's even better than I previously believed.

22:17 see, he’s not hungry because he eats when he’s upset, and he’s not upset anymore!!

This movie is a massive part of my initial interest in martial arts. Now I've been in taekwondo for about 17 years and I'm an instructor. I love this whole trilogy!

At 21:47...the joy on Shifu's face says it all. As a martial arts instructor myself, there is not greater gratification than seeing your training pay dividends with a student. Combine that with the simple exhiliration of practicing the art, and that 1.5 second look of sheer happiness packs a great deal of punch!

I love this movie, hell all the trilogy. The action and designs are amazing, but the messages are so strong. I think one of my favourite parts is at the end where Tai Lung is looking at the scroll- he sees his own face and says 'its nothing!' Whereas Po sees his own face and smiles, saying 'its just you'. Both Po and Tai Lung have a form of Imposter Syndrome - Po because he never thought he would be good enough to be a master of Kung Fu, Tai Lung because even though he WAS a master, he never was allowed to attain Dragon Warrior status and so never thought he was good enough either. It's a nice parallel between two characters who are very different, but went through a similar journey.

I think it's a powerful little moment when Tai Lung looks at the scroll and only sees his own reflection and says "It's nothing!". Telling us that beyond his hunger for (kung fu) power he has nothing going on in his life, it's void of joy.

Hey guys, I just found this and I really like what you guys are doing. I'm a therapist as well and have been doing a version of cinema therapy in group settings in treatment centers for several years. This is actually one of the movies I have used and I developed a worksheet to go with the work we do. My focus is pitting the stories of Po against Shifu against Tai Lung. I feel like you could do a "villain therapy" video on him alone as the counter to Po's story. Po had someone who believed in him but never pushed him towards growth, Tai Lung had someone who pushed him towards growth but in doing so also filled him with dreams of "more than self." Tai Lung refuses to accept the truth about himself and is what drives the split between him and Shifu. Shifu who is doubly scarred from his relationship with Tai Lung (emotionally cold with Tigress and literally walks with a limp from his injury). All of these characters suffered at the hands of a "must". Tai Lung "must" have the scroll to be enough even though he is literally the most skilled. Po "must" be the dragon warrior and learn Kung Fu in order to be enough and satisfied with self. Shifu "must" train THE dragon warrior (who "must" present a certain way) in order to redeem himself for failing Tai Lung. These fatal musts lead to a breakdown at some point, but Tai Lung refuses to recover due to his adherence to rigidity/expectations. Finally, something else to flesh out, is the difference between influence and control. Shifu believes he has "control" when he talks about the "influence" he has over the peach tree. Oogway tries to teach him that he has a choice over the type of influence he exerts or exemplifies but will not understand it until he lets go of his illusion of control. Thus, we have the cliché: "we gain control when we surrender it." P.S. let me know if you ever want a fellow therapist/movie nerd to phone in an episode from Florida!

I'm hoping Jono talks about imposter syndrome. That's what I thought this reaction would've been about, especially with Po's breakdown at the stairs. But I loved that you guys talked about Oogways philosophies instead! Very original and very cool. Also, that ad was awesome. So unique and well made :) As per usual, another awesome video.

Possibly unrelated, but as a fat guy who has constant struggles about his appearance, this franchise helps me feel a lot better who I am as a whole, even the roundest, biggest people can do great things

15:48 is such an important part of the film for Shifu because it's a reiteration of Ooogway's original "I don't know." Whereas Oogway was comfortable just going with the flow, Shifu is, despite promising to believe still finding it hard to do the same thing, and the next portion is him learning.

I don’t see enough people commenting on the fact that Tai Lung, who in a lot of ways, was raised and expected to become the dragon warrior, so much so that becoming the dragon warrior would have given him “worth”. There are two reasons that he looks at the dragon scroll and a reflection of himself and says “it’s nothing”.

A fun fact about this movie: the team themselves struggled to figure out how to deliver the message to Po that there "is no secret ingredient", and they pondered things like a mirror in a box. At the end of the day, the answer (the dragon scroll) was right in front of them the whole time; effectively mirroring the movie's message. Another fun fact is about the rope bridge battle. It was done *specifically* because they wanted to do something that would be completely impossible in live-action. It was also one of the most difficult scenes for them to pull off. There are so many amazing touches and methods that were used in the making of this movie; I highly recommend looking up some behind the scenes stuff for it. The way they used colors is perhaps my favorite.

This movie and Ip Man ( true story) are what reignited my dream and desire to learn martial arts 🥋 as a kid! I finally decided to start taking Tang Soo Do ( Korean Karate 🥋) classes 7/2/2019. I am currently in my final color belt rank before black belt! It’s going to take me multiple years before I test for my black belt, but I have worked extremely hard for every achievement, enjoying the journey, and have found a solid community of brothers and sisters to train with and we support and push each other! I am literally Po’s personality! ❤😂 Love all martial arts movies especially this one! ❤❤

I think there’s also something to be said about Po being adopted in all of this - especially given how the sequels go. There are literally *no other pandas* where Po lives, and a lot of his “Panda Nature” is shamed because of that lack of understanding for what pandas do. All the stuff he does is completely and utterly natural for him, and fine for Pandas specifically.... but in this non-panda place it’s very strange to the non-pandas, and I think Po internalizes this feeling of being intrinsically Bad and Weird. I think this could be analogous to a *lot* of situations, namely adopted cultural diaspora. However, I also personally relate to it as an Autistic ADHDer in a house of non-autistics (although my mom also has ADHD).. in a world where my nature is odd & shamed, I feel a lot of intrinsic worthlessness. But most of what I can’t do is actually just stuff that I do wonderfully when I am allowed to do so differently. (Disclaimer though that Autism & ADHD are STILL disabilities, there are still things I 100% cannot do, such as just putting up with overstimulation. That’s just the nature of it, but that is inherently a part of me too, it’s just how my brain works. As much as I’d like to turn off overstimulation, I can’t control my surroundings nor my neural wiring. Instead, I can control what I do before I get to my meltdown limit - which is to leave the situation in order to regulate, or to put on headphones, or any number of stimulation regulation techniques. It’s odd, it’s different, and frowned upon by a lot of people, but just like “being able to do stuff when allowed to do it differently”, having to cope with the disabling factors of my disability are just another thing that I do differently. Like using an inhaler for an asthma attack or insulin for blood sugar, I regulate my health and it just looks different from others)

I gotta say, I always appreciate when Alan takes the time to appreciate animation, and he's right there's a lot that goes into making it feel weighty and impactful. Seeing the physical effect the action has on the characters and the world around them goes a long way, and the sound effects really help to sell it too (the scene of Tai Lung hitting Po, and Po redirecting the energy back it him is a great example!)

15:53 this is perfectly timed lol. As Alan just finished saying they should add commentary Po said "That's what I thought"

I love the double meaning of "You must Believe". Not only does he have to 'believe' in his student, but also believe in himself! That he can train Po! (And typically, Sifu misunderstood the lesson)

I usually don't let my 4-year-old watch movies, but we watched this series and now she's OBSESSED with it. She encourges herself when she's afraid by playing she's Tigress (like today, while getting her blood sample taken) or a Kung Fu master. It's always been of my favourite movies, but after watching this episode, I just love it SO MUCH MORE!