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I'm going to be enormously bummed when Cloudy 2 misses out. Saw it two weeks ago, and while it had its weaknesses, it deserves a nomination on the basis of the amazing creative design and animation. Or more specifically for the way Chester V. moves. And for not-so-stealthily criticizing Steve Jobs.
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Jan 12, 2014 04:47
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Macaluso posted:I just don't get what made people go absolutely ape poo poo for this movie. Like I enjoyed it, it was a cute little movie, just like the first one. But drat man. No one at work seemed to give a poo poo about Monsters University (which came out around then) but everyone was talking about Despicable Me 2. And I even understand why people love the minions so much but come on people it wasn't THAT good! Also the whole hey dad needs a wife and girls need a mom in their life sour'd me on that movie. Cloudy 2 was goddamn great. I was a bit worried about the puns but they worked.
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Jan 12, 2014 05:39
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Shindragon posted:I was a bit worried about the puns but they worked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c1dqJPsSa4 I laugh every time.
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Jan 12, 2014 05:43
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ConfusedUs posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c1dqJPsSa4 loving slayed me. I was like auuuuuuugh, but laughed at the same time.
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Jan 12, 2014 05:50
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I enjoyed Clouds 2 more than the first purely because of the puns. Also, the bit where the cop dude flexes his muscles to make his beard grow was proper loltastic. Totally reminded me of Jurassic Park though.
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Jan 12, 2014 13:58
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Shindragon posted:Also the whole hey dad needs a wife and girls need a mom in their life sour'd me on that movie. What kills me was how lazy they were about the whole thing. The basic premise is slightly annoying but I can deal with it but the movie made no effort to justify it. The girls are shown to be lacking nothing in their life. Gru is shown as being an amazing single Dad that tends to all their needs. The movie just assumes that they need a mom because that's the way things are and we will agree with that. The scene where that plotline is introduced is the worst too. The youngest has to make a speech about how great mothers are in a mothers day pageant but she can't put any emotion into it because she doesn't have a Mom. What the hell? First off, what the hell is a Mother's Day Pageant? Second of all, why isn't the plot that the school is wrong for making a girl without a mother perform a speech about how great it is to have Mom? That seems pretty hosed up to me. Third of all, what is so unique about having a Mom that she can't transfer what Gru does for her into an understanding of Moms. Wouldn't it have been a far better plot to have her understand that the feelings she supposed to be feeling in the speech she can get from her Father? Not to mention the actual Mother character isn't really shown as being more than a fun playmate that in no way fills a need that they are shown as having. As I said, the idea that kids would want a Mom isn't outrageous, but this movie is so positive that this is the way things have to be that it puts no effort into justifying it and that's really more offensive to me than the actual basic point.
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Jan 12, 2014 14:29
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I want Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Rebellion to be an oscar nominee simply because of how bizarre and unwieldy its name is compared to every other movie, I just want to hear them announce it live. On a more serious note I'll place bets on Frozen, The Wind Rises, Monsters U, Ernest and Celestine, and the fifth...toss up between O Apostolo, Despicable Me 2, and Cloudy 2. Cloudy 2 probably won't get it but I'm putting it up there as wishful thinking.
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Jan 12, 2014 16:21
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Squallege posted:I disagree that Smurfs 2 is for kids on the grounds that it has no audience. Neil Patrick Harris fans? Macaluso posted:I just don't get what made people go absolutely ape poo poo for this movie. I don't care much for Despicable Me 2 or its predecessor, but we're clearly in the minority. Most of the people I know who've seen it absolutely loved it. Maybe because it perfectly conforms to the expectations the average moviegoer has for an animated film. You have your token comedy relief characters, some slapstick, some good jokes, some emotional moments, cute characters who are designed to tug at your heartstrings, an over-the-top eccentric villain and an grand finale where everyone learns an important lesson. Combine that with the appeal of Steve Carell and the Minions, who are probably the most beloved sidekicks in recent years, and you have a guaranteed hit. It's not a great film, but with the exception of the "mother" thematic being handled terribly (and I'm not sure many people deeply cared about that) there's nothing significantly wrong with it either. Universal decided to play it safe and they were rewarded for it.
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Jan 12, 2014 17:18
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I love Despicable Me but it really should be a stand alone movie, I mean I really enjoyed DM2 but it's a very "sequel"-y movie if that makes sense. The stuff that's new is a lot of fun like El Macho and even the Anti Villian League, but the shoe-horned romance and reliance on the minions as a plot point dulled some of the magic. Also let's have a really long and dull scene with the fart gun, cause that was hilarious and not a simple one off joke! Despite that, it's still worth seeing but it makes me nervous for DM3 and I'm getting flashbacks to Shrek 3. Cloudy 2 was a much better sequel and totally agree with other posters that the character and set designs are fantastic.
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Jan 12, 2014 21:46
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I want that drat animated Nut Job movie to come out already so I can know definitively if they really did awkwardly shoehorn a dancing PSY in there.
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Jan 13, 2014 00:53
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Don't forget that Despicable Me 2 literally just ignores that the girls HAD a grandmother figure in the first movie. (Gru's mom.) They just drop her entirely without explanation so that they can put this "girls need a maternal figure" bullshit in there.
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Jan 13, 2014 02:55
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I haven't seen Despicable Me 2, but that's actually sorta sad. The first one was really nice and cute in that respect. Are there many animated kids' movies that specifically deal with similar themes and an unconventional family structure, and end the movie unambiguously saying "you know what, this is just as okay as anything else"? The only thing that immediately comes to mind is Lilo & Stitch, I guess.
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Jan 13, 2014 03:11
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I just want to chime in and say I really liked Epic. Certainly better than The Smurfs.
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Jan 13, 2014 03:15
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^^^ That's a pretty low bar you're settingCloche posted:I haven't seen Despicable Me 2, but that's actually sorta sad. The first one was really nice and cute in that respect. Are there many animated kids' movies that specifically deal with similar themes and an unconventional family structure, and end the movie unambiguously saying "you know what, this is just as okay as anything else"? The only thing that immediately comes to mind is Lilo & Stitch, I guess. A Goofy Movie and its sequel never even brings up Max's mom I think. So I guess that kind of.
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Jan 13, 2014 03:27
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Macaluso posted:^^^ That's a pretty low bar you're setting Neither did Goof Troop really, there is a passing reference that Max's mother is deceased, but the Goofs definitely don't act like they're broken without a mother.
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Jan 13, 2014 03:32
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Vargo posted:Don't forget that Despicable Me 2 literally just ignores that the girls HAD a grandmother figure in the first movie. (Gru's mom.) They just drop her entirely without explanation so that they can put this "girls need a maternal figure" bullshit in there. She mysteriously shows up at the end too. It's like after everything is solved they're just like "OK, you can come out for one scene because at this point maybe no one will notice".
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Jan 13, 2014 04:22
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I just watched Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs last night again, and there's a bit of a deal about Flynt not having a mother anymore. Also how his father stumbles at trying to fulfill the role of both parents that Flynt kindof needs, or at least wants.
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Jan 13, 2014 05:18
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IUG posted:I just watched Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs last night again, and there's a bit of a deal about Flynt not having a mother anymore. Also how his father stumbles at trying to fulfill the role of both parents that Flynt kindof needs, or at least wants. Yeah, both Cloudy movies are really good about this. Also, if the advertising for The Boxtrolls is anything to go by, "atypical families" is going to be its central theme. axleblaze posted:She mysteriously shows up at the end too. It's like after everything is solved they're just like "OK, you can come out for one scene because at this point maybe no one will notice". I don't even remember this.
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Jan 13, 2014 05:41
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Cloche posted:I haven't seen Despicable Me 2, but that's actually sorta sad. The first one was really nice and cute in that respect. Are there many animated kids' movies that specifically deal with similar themes and an unconventional family structure, and end the movie unambiguously saying "you know what, this is just as okay as anything else"? The only thing that immediately comes to mind is Lilo & Stitch, I guess. Mars Needs Moms 
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Jan 13, 2014 06:11
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Vargo posted:I don't even remember this. She's pretty easy to miss. If I recall correctly, she's (probably don't need this spoiler but whatever) at the Wedding at the end. I don't think she has any lines or actually does anything, but she's still there.
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Jan 13, 2014 06:36
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Samuel Clemens posted:I don't care much for Despicable Me 2 or its predecessor, but we're clearly in the minority. Most of the people I know who've seen it absolutely loved it. Maybe because it perfectly conforms to the expectations the average moviegoer has for an animated film. You have your token comedy relief characters, some slapstick, some good jokes, some emotional moments, cute characters who are designed to tug at your heartstrings, an over-the-top eccentric villain and an grand finale where everyone learns an important lesson. Combine that with the appeal of Steve Carell and the Minions, who are probably the most beloved sidekicks in recent years, and you have a guaranteed hit. It's not a great film, but with the exception of the "mother" thematic being handled terribly (and I'm not sure many people deeply cared about that) there's nothing significantly wrong with it either. Universal decided to play it safe and they were rewarded for it. Gru has always struck me as a poor man's Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Robindaybird posted:Neither did Goof Troop really, there is a passing reference that Max's mother is deceased, but the Goofs definitely don't act like they're broken without a mother. Goofy just never wanted his son to know that he cross-bred with Clarabelle the Cow. raditts fucked around with this message at 07:08 on Jan 13, 2014 |
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Jan 13, 2014 07:06
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Oh, hey, speaking of unusual families- I finally caught KFP2 on TV tonight (why am I so bad about watching movies when they come out?) and thought the ending was great until the very last revelation. Not good enough that Po should be content with the adoptive father who's loved and raised him all this time, nope, gotta have his biological dad come into the picture after all! It's super disappointing, I feel like they took the whole message of the film and crapped on it in that last thirty seconds. :/ Gorgeous, enjoyable movie otherwise, but I really wish this wasn't A Thing in so many stories with adoptive families.
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Jan 13, 2014 07:50
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Squarely Circle posted:Oh, hey, speaking of unusual families- I finally caught KFP2 on TV tonight (why am I so bad about watching movies when they come out?) and thought the ending was great until the very last revelation. Not good enough that Po should be content with the adoptive father who's loved and raised him all this time, nope, gotta have his biological dad come into the picture after all! It's super disappointing, I feel like they took the whole message of the film and crapped on it in that last thirty seconds. :/ Gorgeous, enjoyable movie otherwise, but I really wish this wasn't A Thing in so many stories with adoptive families. They seemed to be setting that up as a source of conflict, though, rather than a hard-and-fast better alternative.
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Jan 13, 2014 13:54
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Squarely Circle posted:Oh, hey, speaking of unusual families- I finally caught KFP2 on TV tonight (why am I so bad about watching movies when they come out?) and thought the ending was great until the very last revelation. Not good enough that Po should be content with the adoptive father who's loved and raised him all this time, nope, gotta have his biological dad come into the picture after all! It's super disappointing, I feel like they took the whole message of the film and crapped on it in that last thirty seconds. :/ Gorgeous, enjoyable movie otherwise, but I really wish this wasn't A Thing in so many stories with adoptive families. Thank god somebody else feels that way. I instantly felt cheapened and unhappy. It only got worse after watching Despicable Me 2 and its complete implosion gnawing at me more that I'm going to hate that plot line in KFP3.
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Jan 13, 2014 15:25
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Cloche posted:The only thing that immediately comes to mind is Lilo & Stitch, I guess. Just a reminder that Lilo & Stitch owns. The end monologue is one of the best justifications of an "unusual" family on film, and it's really the complete opposite message of stuff like Mars Needs Moms or Despicable Me 2, it's just heartwrenching the entire time.
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Jan 13, 2014 17:29
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I don't know. If anything, it showed to me that Po will meet his biological father, but he'll still love his adoptive father more than anything.
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Jan 13, 2014 17:30
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The thing is that the conflict was already solved, though. That was the entire point of the film: let go of the past, it's over, done; move on with your life. Why should we worry about what happened to Po's parents beyond what we saw in the flashback? He's accepted it and moved on. Can't we drop it there?
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Jan 13, 2014 19:04
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For me, the REAL unresolved conflict is that, for most of the characters in the KFP-verse, Po's the only panda they know. This isn't just about his mom and dad, but rather, his entire species!
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Jan 13, 2014 19:22
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Hey guys, there's gonna be a preview of The Nut Job on Cartoon Network tonight. Can't wait to see how awful this really is. Edit: It was just on. The answer is very. Waffleman_ fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jan 14, 2014 |
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Jan 13, 2014 23:59
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Tartarus Sauce posted:For me, the REAL unresolved conflict is that, for most of the characters in the KFP-verse, Po's the only panda they know. This isn't just about his mom and dad, but rather, his entire species! Yeah this is the main point of the thing at the end, not so much the dad reveal. The movie seemed to imply that Po was the last remaining Panda after Shen destroys them. But that turns out not to be the case and I'm really interested in seeing where they go with it in KFP3. Plus that final shot of the camera flying all around until you get to the little Panda place is just a cool shot in the movie. I'm sure there will be something where Po's dad and Po's biological dad will have to put aside their differences or some poo poo to help Po/The Five out (maybe Po's real dad doesn't like noodles idk) but I'm pretty confident it'll be handled just fine.
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Jan 14, 2014 02:38
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The director's commentary says something like they didn't want all the kids in the audience to think there were no pandas left.
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Jan 14, 2014 02:56
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Pyrotoad posted:The director's commentary says something like they didn't want all the kids in the audience to think there were no pandas left. But it was ok for Riddick to be the last surviving Furyian in Chronicles of Riddick!
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Jan 14, 2014 09:48
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I just saw Frozen and it was so  I'm so glad they had the true love bit go the way they did, because I was seriosuly getting a little miffed at the way I thought it was going to end up, especially how they kept pushing their message. There were some story inconsistencies otherwise, as well, but nothing that I can't whitewash away. Anyway, I LOVED it. This and Tangled and everything, man, how nice.
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Jan 14, 2014 13:43
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Pyrotoad posted:The director's commentary says something like they didn't want all the kids in the audience to think there were no pandas left. I can see why they'd want to avoid that. I didn't really have strong feelings for it either way, but it might have been neater to explore that option without throwing in 'his dad/parents(?) are alive!' I'm not really opposed to that in and of itself, though.
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Jan 14, 2014 20:50
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I thought this was an interesting article about Kung Fu Panda (the franchise) in China. Chinese representatives invited Katzenberg to Chengdu and were quite surprised by how it went. quote:It is safe to assume that the government expected to pay for having parts of Chengdu’s culture portrayed in the film, because Hebei Province happily invested in the movie Aftershock, about the Tangshan earthquake of 1976. So when Katzenberg said that he would put scenery from Chengdu into Kung Fu Panda 2 “as a gift to the children of the disaster zone” and when Zibach gushed that “I was so delighted and moved by Mt. Qingcheng that I insisted it be a major feature of the sequel,” the city of Chengdu was taken aback:
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Jan 14, 2014 21:00
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redcheval posted:I can see why they'd want to avoid that. I didn't really have strong feelings for it either way, but it might have been neater to explore that option without throwing in 'his dad/parents(?) are alive!' I'm not really opposed to that in and of itself, though. Yeah, they could've just as easily shown some random pandas getting the news that Shen's gone and it's safe to move back to their homeland, or something.
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Jan 15, 2014 01:08
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Pyrotoad posted:The director's commentary says something like they didn't want all the kids in the audience to think there were no pandas left. Just as easily done by showing a community of pandas. That doesn't answer the question of why they needed to show Po's dad specifically. It's probably set up for the third movie, and I'm perfectly okay with that. I thought the first two were fantastic so I have a lot of hope that they won't screw it up with the third movie. Hell even the christmas special was pretty drat good. (for a christmas special)
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Jan 15, 2014 03:40
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The interesting thing with Po's dad being alive is that he is the type of guy who having his biological and emotional father in the same room probably wouldn't register as a dilemma cause he did get over the conflict caused by his discovery of his adoption. Honestly, he'd probably just want his parents to move to his current home town and expect a happily ever after situation, considering his naivety. The inter-parent conflict would probably come from his dad expecting him to move to the panda village and Po not wanting to leave his "main" dad.
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Jan 15, 2014 06:36
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Honestly, if Po's Panda Dad and Goose Dad meet and don't immediately become best friends and start working out a business partnership to use Pandadads farm fresh vegetables to make the best noodles in all China I will be extremely disappointed.
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Jan 15, 2014 08:26
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I only just found this topic so bear with me: Regarding OP: Looks like a rather lackluster year for animation this year.  Other points: Can someone explain to me why the minions became so popular after the first Despicable me? I mean I liked them as a distraction but they have like 10 minutes of screentime. Shopping for the the little girl and building something (it's been to long since I've seen the movie). They didn't, for me, at least steal the scenes they were in and were largely forgettable were it not for the scene where Gru says a heartfelt goodbye. Is this just marketing power making people believe they like the Minions or is it just me? I personally really enjoyed Kung Fu Panda 2 for the action scenes which were much better and very Jacky Chan esque. In addition Jack Black really nailed the role of manchild living his dream by hanging out with the furious five fighting crime and let's not forget Shen's briljantly animated peacock fighting style. The only two downsides to me were the YingYAng at the end which felt over the top even for this movie and Po's dad suddenly showing up at the end. It didn't feel bad, but it did feel unnecessary. A village of Panda's or maybe a brother or something would've worked just as well. Wapole Languray posted:Honestly, if Po's Panda Dad and Goose Dad meet and don't immediately become best friends and start working out a business partnership to use Pandadads farm fresh vegetables to make the best noodles in all China I will be extremely disappointed. Considering his adoptive dad I would assume him to try this at least but probably be rebuffed by Pandad. Probably due to differences in spirituality. 
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Jan 15, 2014 15:39
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