Kung Fu Panda 2 - just a heads up, it's about adoption

[Lilka]

It doesn't appear to be coming out until tomorrow here, but it's out in the states, and one mother gave a good synopsis of it

It has adoption and being abandonned as a major theme. The backstory is, the evil villain Lord Shen once was told by a soothsayer that he would be defeated by a Panda. So he goes about trying to exterminate the entire race. Po's mother abandonned him in a vegetable crate to save him. Po gets found by his dad (the goose) and is adopted. Not that Po is ever told he is adopted

So at some point Po has flashbacks of being abandonned and asks his dad, who tells Po he was abandonned, and then adopted by him. When Po leaves in the next day or so, his dad brings him food, and tells Po that he is still his father. But Po doesn't answer him and walks off

Then is the big adventure bit, and Po has several more flashbacks There is one nasty bit where the villain tries to tell Po he was abandonned because he wasn't loved and wasn't wanted!

Finally when he is back at his parents destroyed village, he learns the whole truth and gains inner peace. At which point he saves Kung Fu and defeats the villain. He goes back to his Dad, and hugs him and says 'you're my Dad'. The movie ends as another Panda stops meditating, says his son is alive! And you realise that Po's biological parents survived the attempted extermination along with other Panda's and they're in some secret village...do I smell a sequel??!

Anyway, just a heads up in case anyone's kids have trouble with adoption themed movies (of which there are a lot lately). This has a happy ending but a couple of tricky bits in the middle...

[Kewcumber]

lots of chat on this on another forum I'm on (predominantly american) as there are some tricky bits. Some people don;t want their childrne tosee it as a result. Personally I don;t think DS can live in a bubble but would be helpful to decide once someone elsewith a similar "agenda" has seen it.

[KristinaM]

Thanks for the warning.

[MediumPretty]

We took DD (aged 6) to see Despicable Me, unaware of the orphanage/adoption theme. DD spent six months in a Chinese orphanage and I found myself whispering to her in the cinema that the film was just pretend and that isn't how adoption really happens.

She did enjoy it and asked for it when it came out on DVD but always fast forwards through the scene where the girls are returned to the orphanage as she says it makes her sad.

Fortunately, it has a happy ending with Mr Gru turning good and officially adopting the girls and becoming a doting dad (sob!).

[Kewcumber]

In the ex-soviet states the orphanages are called "baby-houses" (a direct translation of the russian) which is what we always call DS's first home. So far he hasn't really connected the two! Luckily we have photos (and plenty of stories) of his baby house and its generally nothing like the image portrayed in the films so it helps.

[thefirstMrsDeVere]

Thanks for the heads up.

I have to be really careful with DS. Anything involving babies is tricky. If the baby is away from mum it sets him off. Really sobbing

I get caught out all the time.

He was upstairs watchin Hook the other day. I was downstairs, it was on and I was faffing about. I suddenly thought 'oh no!' and dashed upstairs to find him in bits, crying and crying. Its the bit where the baby is spirited away to neverland that gets him.
My poor little man.

Did anyone go to 'where the wild things are'? I took DS and he was fine but I think for some children the underlying theme of loss would be a bit much.