The point about the traditional copying of the Master's work is well-taken -- and this movie is an amusing summer diversion. But buried inside the inside joke is another kernel of sub-text which the astute will not miss. Namely, the spectacle of the Chinese panda, normally as docile a beast as you'll find, is now seen flexing his muscles. A cartoon parable for a rising China? But perhaps I'm drawing too long a bow.

I thought the inside joke was the timely release of a film that chronicles the triumph of a young, inexperienced "Black" male over the presumptive chosen one, a more experienced woman with some kind of connection to Angelina Jolie.

. . . are no worse than works done by the apprentices of masters who have then privilege the of signing-off on the work as if it were there own. I don't know how prevalent this was with Old Masters, but it was pretty typical (even today) in Asian art. The real masters of Japanese wood block prints were the artisans who carved each of the blocks to produce the various sections and color overlays. The finished print was only as good as theirs skills.

Thanks - it's good to know that there was more behind that already-funny line.

I saw Kung Fu Panda with my wife and little boy over the weekend, and we all loved it. I was particularly surprised, because my opinion of modern animated movies has never been lower; moronic trash like the interminable "Shrek" series (among many, many others) had convinced me that the only people in Hollywood making quality animation for children were Pixar and the inimitable Brad Bird.

I can't understand how such a well-written, well-(voice)-acted movie made its way through the Hollywood machine that has foisted crap like "The Cat In The Hat" on America's innocent children (someone should charge Mike Myers with serial child abuse for that cinematic abortion). And I'm even more amazed that Kung Fu Panda is #1. Did I accidentally slip into an alternate universe over the weekend?