Kung Fu Panda: Especial de Natal

The annual winter holiday feast is coming fast so Po, as the dragon warrior, must host it perfectly. Although he struggles a lot and does some typical mistakes (for him), everything goes according to plan, but something doesn't feel right. He omitted his dad, his family, and winter holidays are nothing without family. Right? Will he be able to please both parts and deliver a happy ending? What is there to say about this short movie, Kung Fu Panda at Christmas is all you want to see this time of the year, no doubt about that!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Kung Fu Panda films, and while not as good it still had much to like about it. The story while having some nice heart-warming moments is rather predictable and isn't very surprising, and while the dialogue and jokes certainly aren't bad I personally found most of them only amusing in alternative to laugh-out-loud hilarious(like Merry Madagascar, Shrek the Halls and especially Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper). However the animation is simply spectacular with the colours so rich and the characters moving easily. The music is rousing, the characters are endearing especially Shifu though you do empathise with Po and the voice work from Jack Black, Dustin Hoffmann and Angelina Jolie is great. Overall, good holiday special, predictable and not always very funny but beautiful to watch. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is the Christmas related special of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. It isn't necessarily Christmas as it takes place in China but it is a holiday that takes place and contains similar themes to Christmas, so that is what makes it for Christmas. It is about Po figuring more about his role as the Dragon Master for the annual feast at the Jade Palace. He wants to do it at the palace and be with his father. It does help establish Po as a character by balancing what he has to do as the dragon warrior and what he wants. It does show more of Chinese culture with this holiday being part of this Chinese based franchise. I would recommend it.

Mr. Ping has nightmare of his son Po leaving him. Shifu asks Po to host the Winter Festival when the Kung Fu masters gather. Po decides to reject the best chefs of the land in favor of his father to spend more time with him. However, his father refuses to leave his customers behind. Wo Hop is rabbit looking to regain his honor by dying while fighting the Dragon Warrior. Po struggles to make the preparations and finds help from the Furious Five.

This is a functional family holiday fare. It's got the original cast and the familiar characters. Po learns another lesson and it all ends well. It's not particularly unusual.

After Po was chosen to become the Dragon Warrior and defeated Tai Lung in the original KFP, he becomes appointed to host the Winter Feast at the Jade Palace for all 29 kung fu masters despite his needs to help his father Mr. Ping to prepare for the holidays. When he needed the Furious Five to help him prepare the annual at this time of year, he learns that spending time with a father is much more important than the annual feast and goes to his father which results in doing the right thing and the kung fu masters along with the Furious Five arrive for the holiday. Shifu goes there and is persuaded by Po to join him since he has a family.

Although, not as great as the original's plot, the plot in this holiday special wasn't that bad. The computer animation was beautiful with the same lovely visuals. The characters are once again likable and the voice acting was as perfect as the original's. Even the music from Hans Zimmer and John Powell (accompanied by Henry Jackman) was pretty good.

Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special would always be recommended to fans of the franchise as one of Dreamworks' wonderful holiday specials.

Rating: 9/10