Panda Bear in Africa

Pang (Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing) is a black and white and fluffy panda bear who goes on an adventure to Africa to rescue his friend Jielong (Georgina Verbaan) after she is kidnapped from the land of Asia where they live.

Directed by Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich, Panda Bear in Africa seems to take from other sources to construct its story. From a Panda land reminiscent of Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), an adventure across the ocean to an unknown continent as in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), balloon modelling like in Shrek (2001), to many elements resembling The Lion King (1994), e.g., a setting in 'Lion Rock' where an orphan and young lion prince has an evil uncle craving power, and the bad blood between lions and hyenas, the movie is full of derivative elements.

The story progresses in the predicable paths where our fluffy and inexperienced hero will find different difficulties and new characters in his journey to Asia. One of those characters is a little monkey named Jojo (Maurits Delchot) whose mercurial personality will prove many assumptions wrong. He will accompany Pang to Lion Rock where his friend is held against her will as the pet of lion prince Ade (Namisa Mdalose).

Despite that it could be considered an exercise in unoriginality and its more than desired use of conveniences to further the plot is testament to bad writing, Panda Bear in Africa manages to elicit some laughs and provide entertainment for the most part. Its cute little characters make the movie watchable and it certainly could be much more appreciated by a younger audience.

The story is rubbish (with bad remakes of The Lion King), the graphics are rubbish and look like they were made by penguins. What about the text? It's borderline pathetic. Everything sounds fake and ugly. I think that with three pots of modelling clay and two days to spare I could make something nicer than this dreck.

Even my 6-year-old son came out of the cinema looking a bit grey. And he's not fussy at all, he loves Paw Patrol.

The story is rubbish (with bad remakes of The Lion King), the graphics are rubbish and look like they were made by penguins. What about the text? It's borderline pathetic. Everything sounds fake and ugly. I think that with three pots of modelling clay and two days to spare I could make something nicer than this dreck.

Even my 6-year-old son came out of the cinema looking a bit grey. And he's not fussy at all, he loves Paw Patrol.

The plot of the movie is interesting and enjoyable. The graphics, well not the best, looks very good.

They also captured the atmosphere perfectly, from the beautiful forests of Asia, to the jungles and deserts of Africa, the animators perfectly captured the biodiversity.

The characters are also good, we have a panda, dragon, etcetera (the list is a bit long ). Almost every main character felt like they have something to do in this world.

The music fits perfectly with the mood. From the peacful chinese music to the traditional African singing in the Hieana village, this movie has fine music.

Overall, this is an excellent movie and I'll totally recommend it.

A European co-production aimed at the whole family, this animated film stands out mainly for its colorful and competent visuals. While not groundbreaking, the animation is lively and appealing enough to hold the attention of younger viewers. The characters are charming and well-designed, adding the right amount of humor and warmth to keep things enjoyable.

That said, the storyline doesn't offer much in terms of originality. Strong influences from films like Kung Fu Panda and The Lion King are hard to miss, with familiar plot turns and well-worn moral lessons. Still, the movie manages to be pleasant and achieves its main goal: to entertain.

The pacing is smooth and steady, and the constant appearance of new animals and environments keeps things visually fresh and engaging for children.

In short, this is an animated adventure that may not break new ground, but successfully uses classic ingredients to deliver a fun, visually rich experience designed for family enjoyment.

Panda Bear in Africa is about a panda saving a dragon that has been imprisoned by African lions. The plot overall has odd references to Kung Fu Panda but especially The Lion King, having a Chinese village populated solely by pandas, an evil lion uncle, hyenas and lions being at odds and dead royals. I hesitate it to call it a rip off, since it does new things with these elements - the hyenas, for example, are not evil - but it is still pretty jarring at times.

The animation is subpar, being a low budget CGI. The plot, despite its concise core, is meandering and ll over the place. Most of the jokes don't land, but I do find myself laughing at a few, especially at the dumb crocodile henchmen.

Overall worth it for the good hyenas, but otherwise not recommended.