Animations have archetypes too!!: Kung Fu Panda

I finally sat down today after school, convincing myself I needed to do a blog on my Mythology site. That was the easy part, the hard part was actually finding a movie or book that somehow related to ancient mythology. I bet many of my friends in English will choose some serious movie, because Greek and even Roman Myth was serious and daunting. But how about something funny, like the adventures of Po in Kung Fu Panda.

When I first watched the movie, I thought it was funny, but nothing special. Now that we're doing this kind of unit, I realize how many inspirations from these old stories the movie actually gets. So I watched it again and yes, Kung Fu Panda is not only hilarious, but has meaning through mythology. The movie starts off with Po, dreaming of escaping the family business (that is a noddle shop) and becoming a hero up high in the mountains. Step One, the hero dreams of one day becoming important, as he is not right now. Po is brought up by spiritual means, another archetype from mythology. When he decides to leave and go watch the local hero's ceremony, some kind of spiritual meaning tells Master Shifu, the "Obi-Wan" of the movie that Po, a normal panda is in fact the one that will rescue the village from evil. Step Two, the hero is aided by some divine spirit in his journey.

Po then has to go through his initiation to become the one everyone wants him to be, despite being "a bit" flimsy and doubt from others. Step Three, the hero goes through "A Road of Trials" to succeed in his quest. The hero, Po through this also is helped by his mentor, Master Shifu. There is also a motto told through this story, the fact that "things become special if you believe it can become special". This is another archetype, where there is a lesson or morale of a story to be told through this hero's journey. And as all good stories and myths end, the hero wins and good trumps evil. Good (being Po) is able to realize the true meaning of the Ancient Scroll, while Evil pretty much can't do so and...remains evil.

The movie then ends with an new sprout growing from the earlier seed Master Shifu planted. Obviously through this, the director is "passing the torch" and a new era is born, from a hero who at first seemed more like a poor man's sidekick, and less of a village saver. Stories can be told through myths, but they can also be told through animation movies.