I watched a couple episodes of this show. I'm not going to lie. I TRIED. I really, REALLY tried to justify its existence to myself. I just couldn't do it.
I will give the devil his due a little: Is the show funny? At times, yes. Very much so. Is the voice acting good? In some cases, yes.
This show IS actually much better than some of the other kids shows on television these days. It DOES succeed where many other cartoons tend to fall flat on their face.
Okay, enough devil due giving.
What I truly dislike about this show, is that it has taken a movie franchise that appealed to ALL ages, and turned it into something that appeals ONLY to little kids. Why?
Where the movies were humorous, the show is downright silly.
Where the movies had dramatic, tense moments and PLOT, the show has none.
The characters in the movies had depth and the viewer could really care about them. Not so in the show. The characters in the show are very static representations of their basic dispositions in the film.
Po is pretty much a clumsy fool. Shifu is flat-out strict and almost unpleasant. Monkey is just a goof-ball through and through. Mantis is CONSTANTLY landing wisecracks. Crane's sarcasm is actually palpable. Viper is......well...Bubbles. Tigress is just a grouch.
Where the animation in the movies was excellent and even beautiful at times. The animation in the show is just agonizingly stiff and clumsy.
Also, really, here's the gist of almost every episode of the show: Po causes problem. Rest of the characters grudgingly help Po solve said problem. Rinse, repeat.
Now, for a kid's show, it's a perfect formula. And, as I've said, it's quite funny when it wants to be. But, why did they have to do it to THIS franchise? They really couldn't have picked anything else? I dislike this show not because it's a kids show, but because it has sucked out everything that I love about the feature films. Why couldn't they have produced a show that was story driven but still kid friendly like the movies? It's not like Nickelodeon hasn't aired a show like that in the past. Most Nickelodeon watchers will remember a show a few years back by the name of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
All in all, it's a solid cartoon for kids to enjoy, but it's a severe discredit to the films.
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