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Video Review: Kung Fu Panda
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Portly Panda Pursues His Passion.
With his pee-wee team headed for the playoffs, your son is dreaming big. Next stop: the Super Bowl! Never mind that he spends more time on the bench than on the field. Your wistful little wide receiver seems oblivious to the obstacles around him. Until the day he meets a lumbering linebacker – head first.
Slightly shaken, your son considers his options: give up or keep playing. It doesn’t take him long to decide to follow his dream. Where it leads, nobody knows. But, oh, the fun he’ll have getting there! Believing in yourself goes a long way in making your dreams come true. That’s the same lesson learned by the furry star of Kung Fu Panda, available this month on DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment. Watch it with your family and then use our Talk Together points to plan your own dream map. Then play Use Your Noodle to remind your kids that pursuing their dreams is fun and rewarding.
In Kung Fu Panda, Po is a portly panda who dreams of joining his heroes, the Furious Five, in their adventures. But his dream seems far, far away from the noodle shop where he works alongside his unsuspecting father. All that changes when Master Oogway has a vision that the evil Tai Lung will come back to terrorize the Valley of Peace. Oogway calls for a special ceremony where he plans to name the Dragon Warrior who will battle Tai Lung. Everyone assumes it will be one of the Furious Five: Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper or Crane. Instead, it is Po!
Kung fu Master Shifu begins the seemingly impossible task of training Po for a face-off with Tai Lung. But in spite of Po’s enthusiasm, he is uncoordinated and unprepared for the job. Finally, Shifu discovers a sure-fire motivator for his plump protégé: food! Then word arrives that Tai Lung is on the loose and headed for the Valley of Peace.
Satisfied with Po’s progress, Shifu allows him to open the sacred Dragon Scroll, which promises unlimited power to the one who opens it. But Po is devastated to discover the scroll is blank. With his father’s help, Po realizes that true power comes from believing in yourself. So he meets Tai Lung in battle – and defeats the evil snow leopard. Through hard work, Po fulfills his dream of becoming a kung fu master and he saves his village.
Talk Together
Po longs to be a martial arts expert but he is stuck working in the noodle shop. Why doesn’t he share his dream with his father? How do you think his father would respond? Share a goal you have and tell how you could work to make it happen.
Po’s dream seems impossible once he starts training with Shifu. But Shifu finds that with the right reward, Po can succeed. What motivates you to keep trying to reach your goal? How can your family help you reach that goal?
Remember a time that you faced a challenge and won. What steps did you take to get there? Did you study hard to earn an "A" on a test? Or did you practice the piano every day before your recital?
Play Together: Use Your Noodle
You will need:
- Index cards
- Colored markers
- Crepe paper streamers, cut into 12-inch strips
- 1 streamer marked "Dragon Scroll"
- Large bowl
- Large spoon
- Blindfold
Write a different "dream" on each index card. Some examples are: play professional football, record a CD, become president of the United States. Put a different colored dot on the corner of each card. Place streamer strips and the "Dragon Scroll" streamer into the bowl. Each player draws a dream card. To play the game, blindfold players one at a time and let them scoop out a spoonful of "noodles." The first player to collect five streamers in the color indicated on his or her card wins the game. (Be sure to put unwanted colors back in the bowl!) Whoever collects the "Dragon Scroll" streamer wins automatically. Just like Po, your children will learn that believing in yourself pays off in the end.
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