Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011–2016)

🐼 The Beginning of “Something Something Alive”


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🎶 Opening Theme

Instead of a cinematic trailer, the show kicks off with its opening theme — and let’s be honest, it’s infamous. Jack Black isn’t here, so his soundalike belts out:
“He lives and trains with the Furious Five, protects the Valley from something, something, something something alive.”
That’s not a lyric. That’s placeholder nonsense that somehow made it to Nickelodeon. Right away you know: this isn’t the sweeping orchestral tone of the movies. This is going to be Saturday morning cartoon filler.


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📖 Non-Spoiler Plot Rundown

The show takes place after the first film, with Po living at the Jade Palace and trying to settle into his role as Dragon Warrior. Each episode follows the same loop: Po faces a goofy new villain or moral dilemma, messes up, and has to redeem himself. It’s episodic, so nothing ever carries over or builds into bigger arcs. The world is still fun to visit, but the magic and depth of the films are stripped down into kid-friendly gags.


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👤 Character Rundown

Po (Mick Wingert) – The Jack Black impression is passable, but it’s glaringly obvious it’s not him. Po devolves into a slapstick gag machine with little of the heart or underdog charm from the films.

Shifu (Fred Tatasciore) – Reduced to eye-rolls and lectures. Where he was once layered, here he’s basically Po’s grumpy babysitter.

Tigress (Kari Wahlgren) – Loses her edge. She’s sarcastic and stern, but without the layered strength she had in the movies.

The Furious Five – Sidelined. Occasionally spotlighted, but mostly background filler while Po bumbles around.

Villains of the Week – A revolving door of cartoonish baddies like Fung the Crocodile or Temutai the Water Buffalo — silly, over-exaggerated, and never intimidating.



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🌄 Pros

Occasionally expands the Valley of Peace with side characters and lore.

Some fight choreography and physical comedy land decently.

For kids, it’s bright, colorful, and digestible after-school fun.



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👎 Cons

Repetitive Structure: Nearly every episode is “Po messes up, Po redeems himself.”

Tone Shift: Leans into slapstick and gags instead of the films’ balance of humor + heart.

Villains: Weak, goofy, and forgettable compared to Tai Lung or Shen.

Cheapened Legacy: Took a franchise that felt mythic and cinematic, and boiled it down to filler content.



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⭐ Final Thoughts

Legends of Awesomeness wasn’t unwatchable — kids enjoyed it, and it kept the Kung Fu Panda brand alive on TV. But for fans of the films, this was the falling point. It revealed how easily the franchise could be watered down when stripped of its emotional weight, artistry, and strong villains.


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🎯 Rating

5/10
Fine for kids, but a downgrade for anyone who loved the movies.


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⚠️ Spoilers

Because the show is episodic, there’s no real “plot” to spoil. But here’s a taste of what made it disposable:

Villain Examples: Fung the Crocodile and his gang constantly try to pull “heists” but always get clowned on. Temutai the Water Buffalo bellows threats but is more comic relief than menace. Scorpion (one of the rare female villains) had potential, but was written as cartoonishly over-the-top. None of them leave a mark.

Episode Plots: One episode is about Po trying to teach a little pig kung fu — it plays like a parody of Kung Fu Panda instead of an extension of it. Another centers on Po accidentally breaking sacred artifacts and trying to cover it up like a kid hiding broken china.

No Consequences: Unlike the films where Tai Lung’s defeat or Shen’s genocide changed Po’s world, here everything resets at the end of each episode. It’s the classic “Looney Tunes cycle.”


The biggest “spoiler” isn’t any episode twist — it’s that the show ran for 80 episodes and still didn’t add anything meaningful to Kung Fu Panda lore.


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⚡ This was the moment Kung Fu Panda stopped feeling like an epic story and started feeling like just another cartoon brand.