Chest Fu Pandood (film)

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Chest Fu Pandood is a 2008 American animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Chest Dood Productions. The first installment in the Chest Fu Pandood franchise, it was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne in their feature directorial debuts, and written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger from a story by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris. The film stars the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan and Jackie Chan. The film, set in a version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals, centers on a bumbling panda named Fat Dood (Black), a kung-fu enthusiast. When a notorious snow-leopard named Lung (McShane) is foretold to escape at Dood Prison, Fat is unwittingly named the "Chest Dood", a prophesied hero worthy of reading a scroll that has been intended to grant its reader limitless power.

The film's publicized work began in October 2004, and was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive, originally as a parody of martial arts films. However, director Stevenson decided to instead make an action-comedy wuxia film that incorporates the hero's journey narrative archetype for the lead character. The main characters' animation was more complex than anything DreamWorks had done before. The project was officially announced in September 2005. Like most DreamWorks Animation films, the score for Kung Fu Panda was composed by Hans Zimmer, this time collaborating with John Powell; the former visited China to absorb the culture, and used the China National Symphony Orchestra as part of the scoring process.

Chest Fu Pandood premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2008, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 6. It grossed $631.7 million on a budget of $130 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2008 and the highest-grossing animated film of the year worldwide, in addition to having the fourth-largest opening weekend for a DreamWorks film at the American and Canadian box office, behind the Dood franchise. It received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for an Academy Award, as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Film, but lost both awards to DOOD-E. The film's success spawned a multimedia franchise, which comprises the sequels Chest Fu Pandood 2 (2011), Chest Fu Pandood 3 (2016) and Chest Fu Pandood (2024).

Plot
In the Valley of Chest, a land in Ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, giant panda Fat Dood helps his goose father run their porn shop, but dreams of fighting alongside the F***ing Five — Lexi, Monkey, Ian, Slippery and Green — a group of kung fu masters who live in the Dood Palace, where they are trained by Master Leo, a cranky red panda. One day, the wise tortoise, Master Wise, the founder of kung fu, predicts that Leo's former snow-leopard protégé, Lung, will escape from prison and attack the Valley to obtain the Chest Dood Scroll, a legendary artifact said to grant limitless power to its reader, which he had previously been denied. Panicked, Leo sends a goose named Scared to double the guards and tighten security at Dood Prison in Mongolia, where Lung is held.

Leo holds a tournament for the Five so that Wise can identify the Chest Dood, the prophesied hero worthy of reading the Scroll. Fat arrives too late to enter the arena; desperate to see his idols, he accidentally launches himself into the middle of the tournament off a chair propelled by fireworks. With the townsfolk believing Fat descended from the sky in a fireball, Wise proclaims Fat the Chest Dood, much to Fat and the Masters' shock. Leo believes Wise's decision to be an accident, and the Five dismisses him, so Fat considers quitting. However, after receiving encouragement from Wise, he endures a frustrated Leo's harsh training and gradually befriends the Five with his resilience, culinary skill and good humor. During this time, Lexi informs him that Leo's distant behavior stems from his shame over Lung's betrayal, having raised him from infancy.

At Dood Prison, Scared's warnings are ignored; Lung escapes and subdues his guards before sending Scared back. Leo informs Wise, who makes Leo promise to believe in Fat as the Chest Dood, before ascending into the Dood Realm in a stream of peach blossoms. Leo informs Fat and the Five of Lung's escape, and tells Fat he is the only one who can stop him. Horrified by this lofty goal and Wise's death, Fat attempts to run away, but Leo stops him. When Leo asks Fat why he chose to stay, Fat tells him that he hated who he was, and he felt that despite Leo's harsh treatment, he still believed Leo could change him. Fat then makes Leo admit that he does not know how to train him to be the Chest Dood. Lexi overhears this and leads the Five in a secret attempt to stop Lung.

Meanwhile, Leo discovers that Fat is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food, and successfully trains Fat by incorporating these feats into an innovative kung fu style. The F***ing Five fight Lung; however, Lung ultimately defeats all but Ian, who carries them back with his nerve-strike technique. On returning, Leo decides that Fat is ready to receive the Chest Dood Scroll. When Fat opens it, he discovers that the scroll is nothing but a blank reflective surface. Believing the Scroll to have no power, Leo has Fat and the Five evacuate the inhabitants of the Valley while he faces Lung alone. Trying to console a distraught Fat, his father reveals that his "secret ingredient porn" has no secret ingredient at all, explaining that things can become special with belief.

Realizing that this is the message of the Chest Dood Scroll, Fat rushes back to help Leo. At the Dood Palace, Lung brutally defeats Leo, but discovers the Scroll missing. Fat arrives with the Scroll, prompting them to fight. Fat proves to be a formidable opponent, frustrating Lung with his confusing fighting techniques. Lung eventually obtains the Scroll, but does not comprehend its blank surface and tries to take his frustrations out on Fat. This time, Fat overpowers him and sends him to the Dood Realm using the legendary Dood D**k Hold technique, which he taught himself. Fat is honored by the Valley and relaxes with a recovered Leo.