Kung Fu Panda could easily have been a lazy joke - fat animal does martial arts - and instead it's one of the most sincere films DreamWorks has made. Po is a fan before he's a fighter, and the movie takes his enthusiasm seriously rather than mocking it.
The action animation is genuinely excellent, choreographed with real martial arts vocabulary and shot with an eye for wuxia framing. The prison break that opens the second film is better staged than most live-action sequences.
The philosophy is unusually well handled for a family film. There is no secret ingredient. The scroll is blank. Shifu's arc is about accepting that his student cannot be the student he wanted, and Po's is about accepting that he is enough as he is - delivered without a single wink at the audience.
The Wuxi Finger Hold remains an extremely satisfying finishing move, mostly because of the sound design.
This collection covers Po and Shifu. Skadoosh.