Kung Fu Panda (2008)

In the Valley of Peace, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the clumsy panda Po helps his adoptive father Mr. Ping to run their noodle restaurant, but dreams of fighting alongside the Furious Five – Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Viper, and Mantis – a group of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu. The wise Master Oogway, Shifu’s mentor, predicts that Shifu’s former protégé, the evil Tai Lung, will escape from prison and attack the valley to obtain the Dragon Scroll, a legendary artifact he had previously been denied. Panicked, Shifu sends Zeng the goose to increase the security at Chorh-Gom Prison in Mongolia, while he holds a tournament for the Five so that Oogway can identify the Dragon Warrior, the prophesised hero worthy of reading the Scroll, which is said to grant limitless power on its reader. Po arrives too late to enter the arena; desperate to see his idols, he accidentally launches himself into the middle of the arena, where Oogway acclaims him as the Dragon Warrior, to the astonishment of everyone present.

Believing Oogway’s decision to be an accident, Shifu tries to dispose of Po with a harsh training regime, while the Five dismiss Po as an enthusiast with no potential in martial arts. Po considers quitting, but after receiving encouragement from Oogway, he endures his training and gradually befriends the Five with his resilience, culinary skill, and good humor. During this time, Po learns that Shifu’s cold and distant behavior stems from his own shame over Tai Lung’s betrayal, having raised him from infancy. Meanwhile, Zeng’s warnings are ignored, and Tai Lung escapes from prison by picking his locks with one of the goose’s feathers and vanquishing the guards. Having learnt about this calamity, Shifu informs Oogway, who makes him promise to believe in Po; Oogway then passes on to the heavens in a stream of peach blossoms. Upon hearing that Oogway has died and that Tai Lung is fast approaching, Po, still unable to make any progress with kung fu and fed up with the harsh treatment he has endured, makes Shifu admit that he does not know how to train the panda into the Dragon Warrior. Tigress, the preeminent member of the Five, overhears this and leads her team to confront Tai Lung.