Nickelodeon’s animated television series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness presents the adventures of Po the Panda, who became protector of the Valley of Peace after being discovered to be the prophesied Dragon Warrior. At times, he is assisted by the Furious Five: Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane, and Viper. Chronologically, the stories take place after the film Kung Fu Panda (2008), which was reviewed by Lorna Miller, and the two shorts, Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) and Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (2010) and before Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011).
Rather than a complete season, the first DVD release from Legends of Awesomeness is Good Croc, Bad Croc, which presents seven episodes from the first season. Rather than being presented in production order or airdate, they feature the villainous Fung and the Croc Bandits. All except “Po Fans Out,” so the reason for its inclusion is unclear.
In the title episode, Po tries to return a favor after Fung helped him out of a hole, but Po’s trusting nature leads to great problems. In “The Princess and the Po,” our hero must keep Princess Mei Li safe from the Croc Bandits as he escorts her to King Temutai, though what awaits her there might make the bandits more appealing. Po and Tigress must work as a team when they find themselves chained together like The Defiant Ones in “Chain Reaction.” After looking into the Mystical Mirror of Yin and Yang when he shouldn’t have, Po splits into two beings and the residents of the Valley must deal with “Bad Po.” Po goes undercover in “Jailhouse Panda” and tries to bring Shifu and his father Shirong together in “Father Crime.” Lastly, things get out of hand when Po tries to impress his fan club by taking on the Mongolian Fist Demon in “Po Fans Out.”
The episodes are computer animated and deliver a good mix of action and humor that kids should enjoy and parents shouldn’t mind sitting through. The stories offer lessons without being preachy about it. Po is an enjoyable lead character, due in part to Mick Wingert, who takes over the role of Po from Jack Black. Wingert does a great job not only capturing the sound of Black’s voice, but the spirit of his performance as well. In these episodes, Lucy Liu (Viper) and James Hong (Mr. Ping) are the only actors to reprise their roles from the films.
Though collectors will likely want to wait for the eventual complete season release, Good Croc, Bad Croc offers over two hours of animated entertainment, and like with Fat Albert, if the kids aren’t careful, they “may learn something before it’s done.” The only extra is a code for the online game Croc Crackdown.
