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.

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.

They were showing this cheap at a cinema in the city.

I'd never heard of it, but I was spending the day with my 6 yr old, and thought it would be a good way to entertain him for a while, as he loves all things animation.

I think we've all been spoiled with the high quality of most animated kids movies - they usually have a good plot, and there are enough subtle "adult" gags and stuff to keep parents amused.

Not so with this one.

The animation was fine, but the writing, plot and dialogue were just daft, and often didn't make a lot of sense. At less than an hour and a half, it is a relatively short film, but I was glancing at my watch most of the way through, wishing it was over.

My son enjoyed it ok, so that's the main thing I supposed. I would have been annoyed if I'd paid full price for us to watch.

Little kids might enjoy if it comes on a screening service.

Grown ups - avoid.

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.

Hi, my name is Parham Mahdizadeh and I'm writing this review because I truly enjoyed watching "Panda Bear in Africa." It was a beautiful film with heartwarming animation, a touching story, and great messages about courage, friendship, and unity. The panda character was very kind and lovable, and the world of the film was full of color and life. I especially liked the interaction between the panda and other animals-it reminded me of the value of teamwork and kindness in life.

I really hope there will be a second movie. It would be amazing if new animal characters were added, like a red monkey, a tiger, or maybe even animals from other continents. This kind of story helps teach children and adults alike about nature, empathy, and adventure. I'm also very curious to know if Panda Bear in Africa 2 is in development or when it might be released.

Thank you so much to the team behind this beautiful film. Please continue the story-we are waiting and excited for more!