ANIMATION: Kung Fu Panda (Secrets of the Furious Five)

Dreams really do come true! Stephanie is cast in her first ever animated feature film, KUNG FU PANDA: Secrets of the Furious Five, as the voice of a snow leopard named Mei-Ling, in a flashback story about how Crane became part of the Furious Five. The film, directed by Raman Hui, will be released as a companion DVD with the original film in November.

Here’s a review:
“As Secrets of the Furious Five begins, Master Shifu tells Po that today he must face one of his greatest challenges — which turns out to be a couple of dozen little kid rabbits, Shifu’s Introduction to Kung Fu class. Shifu then departs, locking Po in with the the kids, who, being kids, have a bazillion questions. Po decides to entertain — as well as educate — the kids by telling stories about their idols, the Furious Five, from the time before they were fearsome warriors. They learn that the lessons of patience, courage, confidence, control, and compassion made the Five who they are today.The flashback sequences are quite fun, done in a 2-D animation style similar to the opening dream sequence from the original film. Mantis learns the benefits of slowing down and thinking. Crane, a lowly janitor at a fighting academy, gains confidence to try out for the school after a cute girl student encourages him. Tigress was ultimately saved from a sad fate after being trained by Shifu. Monkey learns a thing or two after encountering Master Oogway. But the best battle cry goes to the young, born-without-fangs Viper with her “I don’t have to bite to fight!” victory cry, defending her overprotective father. This 25-minute feature is charming and cute. Kids will love it!

The special features on this disc will also keep your kids occupied for hours, either learning to draw the characters, dancing the Panda Dance, discovering the secrets behind the Animals of Kung Fu, mastering basic kung fu stances and moves, experiencing the history of the Chinese Zodiac, discovering What Fighting Style Are You?, and learning three-card-monte, errr… “Dumpling Shuffle”. Secrets of the Furious Five comes bundled with Kung Fu Panda. It is not available separately.”