Animated Fun
Must Watch: The Closing Credits of ‘Kung Fu Panda’
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 16, 2008
If there was one movie thus far this summer that was most surprising, in that I did not expect to be mentioning it so often, it would definitely be Kung Fu Panda. For one, ole’ Jack Black has the tendency to over do it a bit. Additionally, Dreamworks Animation isn’t a studio that has wowed me in the past. Thankfully Kung Fu Panda has come along and wiped all of that away, leaving me with nothing more than the satisfaction of an immensely entertaining experience.
One of my absolute favorite parts about the film is the beautiful animation — it is on a level that we have not seen in the past from the aforementioned Dreamworks Animation team. And two particularly cool parts are the opening moments, a beautiful dream sequence that mixes flat, sketch-like animation with the fully rendered CG, and the closing credits, which delivered much of the same. With that in mind, I am more than happy to share with you the following clip, which is the entire closing credits from the film. Hopefully you will see what I mean when I talk about the beauty of the animation:
Designed by Shine, a studio that has worked on title sequences and promos for such projects as “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and the Marvel Entertainment opening (with the flipping comic book pages), the closing sequence also features a cover of the classic jam “Kung Fu Fighting” by Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo Green and Jack Black. The sequence could serve, at least in my opinion, as a featurette in itself, as it shows of tons of great concept art from the film. It is just one of those little things that so many people often overlook, but when you really think about it a lot of hard work and creativity goes into this part of the production. Sometimes it is worth it to stay until the end of the credits, even when you know that Samuel L. Jackson won’t be showing up.
For more on the work of Shine, check out their site at ShineStudio.tv. For more on Kung Fu Panda, I would humbly recommend our Kung Fu Preview.
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6 Comments
June 16th, 2008 at 3:02 am
I actually watched these in the theater during the press screening, while my 2 kids were kung fu fighting down in front of the screen.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Was that the screening where one of your mini-Kevins punched said screen?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:12 am
Nope. That was after The Incredible Hulk, actually.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I’m in the opinion that you should stay at the end of every credits. It’s to show respect for the people who spend months sometimes years creating the film.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I’m of the opinion that I stay until I see my name in the credits. Then I leave. Staying until the end of the credits is like clapping for someone on television. If they can’t see you do it, it don’t count.
But how cool is it that we live in a time where creativity is spilling out even into the credits? When movies give me cool reasons to stay through the credits, it’s win-win for everyone.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
We should stay there and watch the last screen in the movie next time! Jon was right, It’s to show respect for the people who spend months sometimes years creating the film.