Kung Fu Panda And The Tragedy Of Tai Lung - A Victim Of Lies And Broken Promises

#kungfupanda #dreamworks #movie
With Kung Fu Panda 4 set to release soon, I decided to have a rewatch of the previous movies, as I believe they are some of the best films Dreamworks have managed to make. In this video, we will be going over the character of Tai Lung, the main antagonist of the first Kung Fu Panda. While the film does acknowledge that Tai Lung was influenced by Shifu, it ultimately depicts Tai Lung as too far gone, becoming power obsessed over the Dragon Scroll and the ability to become the Dragon Warrior. But just how villainous is he? In the end, are the actions he takes justified? Join me as we deep dive into the complexity that is Tai Lung
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[@cassidybronson6891]

The reason why tai lung is such a good “villain” is because he is so relatable to many people in modern society. Injured athletes thrown to the wayside, new college graduates who have the education but not the “experience”. Many people are promised if they work hard and are loyal that they’ll be rewarded just to be discarded.

[@calebe4266]

The tragic story of Tai Lung, a leopard that was promised power beyond imagination, but only if he was good enough. Once denied, he felt he was a disappintment, and no one ever contradicted that, even tho it was clear he was the best fighter, but a fat panda that barely knows kung fu is worthy of it. At the end, what lacks in him is faith in himself, to actually believe that he is already good enough whitout the scroll. The tragoc story of Tai Lung, the leopard that, despite all his powers, felt powerless

[@jedediahcoulbourne1791]

He just wanted his father to be proud of him, he just wanted to be enough.

[@sir1603]

I said this before but... Tai Lung is kinda like Zuko from AtLA, a character who was unloved and deeply hurt by their birth parent but unlike Zuko, Tai Lung doesn’t have that Uncle Iroh figure to guide him or even given any hope like capturing the Avatar to redeem himself in the eyes of his father. Just a truly hopeless person broken and betrayed by everyone he knew left to be forgotten at the end of the film, poor bastard. They even celebrated his death at the end, lol. Certainly Shifu himself doesn’t seem too bothered about the fate of his former pupil by the time the credits rolled. What happened to him was really tragic and it was too bad that they didn’t handle this character properly, I would’ve been interesting to see more conflict between the Furious Five (especially Tigress) and Tai Lung & them interacting. I mean Tigress could’ve naturally become a 2nd Tai Lung if a few circumstances were a bit different, she and Tai Lung lived very similar lives after all and she was the most likely to understand Tai Lung

[@tomtommerson6320]

I said it as joke to my friend, and although its funny, its funny by how disturbing it is. Tai lung was defeated, physically and mentally. Po was toying with him at the end. Smiling thoughtout the fight. It wasnt until Tai lung calls po fat does Po get annoyed at this and decides to kill him. Thats pretty dark for a kids film

[@stigmaoftherose]

You know what they say; a leopard can't change its spots.

[@b.r.jacobsOG1352]

Great vid my man. One thing I like to think about is that the rejection of ordaining Tai Lung as the dragon warrior was Oogways true test to see if he deserved the position. He saw darkness, but that confirmation of TLs darkness was the violence he committed out that denial. However if he accepted the rejection and took it in stride, then he would have potentially been accepted or could have worked up to the position

[@TheRealLoomar]

I do like that idea. The only problem I have with it is In one of the flashbacks Oogway is seen shaking his head at Tai Lung during training, showing he sensed a darkness long before Shifu tried to get his approval So if that's the case, why didn't Oogway try and teach him humility earlier? It seems like Oogway was aware of the problem but didn't do anything about it, waiting until it was too late and Tai King was consumed by it before doing anything

[@b.r.jacobsOG1352]

@@TheRealLoomar True

[@calebe4266]

​@@TheRealLoomarWell, we can't say how many time have between the moment oogway sensed darkness and the moment tai lung was presented, and we also don't know if oogway never speaked with shifu. Shifu is known to be prideful and stubborn, so maybe oogway adressed this and shifu never listened. I agree with that other guy to why Oogway didn't gave the dragon scroll to lung. 2 more things. They don't say tai lung killed people because it's a kid movie, but the guy was sent to prison for at least 20 years, so he definetly killed a bunch of people (tai lung was keeping his rage cool throughout the movie, when he finally lost it, Po stopped him before he could do any damage). Shifu's training wasn't worth for nothing, tai lung still learned all kung fu scrolls, but like tigress said "he wanted more". The darkness oogway saw was his lust for power, it would never be enough. Tai lung was shifu's monster, but he was still a monster. His story was tragic, but let's not lable his acts as "justified", there were better ways of dealing with his anger and lust for power, but he went to darkness. He is reddemable, totally, but not unexcusable

[@calebe4266]

​@@TheRealLoomarOne more last thing (i promise), we can't really say that shifu lied to tai lung. He seriously believed that the path to the dragon scroll was being the best warrior of china. The one that broke that ilusion was oogway, because the lesson of the dragon scroll isn't "the most worthy and special must get it", the lesson is "everybody is special, including you". Tai lung weren't able to accept that lesson both because he trained his whole life for a blank paper (which actually meant that he was the strongest on china), but also that, despite that, he was no different than that fat pamda, and his pride would not let that be true. Again, Shifu messed up badly, but tai lung was still on falt for his path (not all of it, he had a lot from his upbrinhing, of course)

[@spartanoreo5075]

​@@calebe4266Tai Lung killing is unfortunately not confirmed or denied, its simply stated that he laid waste to the village, with images of him assaulting people and a public assault like that could result in a 20+ year sentence. We also dont know as to the length or means of sentencing people in the kun fu panda universe, so it could just be that they dont do time served and just opt for a permanent sentence, just based on the danger Tai Lung posed, unfortunately this is all speculation as the limits to his crimes are not clearly explained. Also the point of this being a kids movie, is a bit shakey considering the outright genocide discussed in the second film.

[@sir1603]

Too bad he’s fuckin’ dead or “sent to the spirit realm” in the first film so there’s no chance to get more of out of his character in the future

[@TheRealLoomar]

He's coming back in the 4th one though

[@sir1603]

I think I remember seeing him in the trailer for the fourth film but I’m still not sure if they will put the proper respect in the poor bastard’s name, unfortunately I fear they won’t know how to properly handle this sympathetic to everyone but the characters in the film & tragic villain like what happened in the 1st film. Tai Lung is kinda like Zuko from AtLA, a character who was unloved and deeply hurt by their birth parent but unlike Zuko, Tai Lung doesn’t have that Uncle Iroh figure to guide him or even given any hope like capturing the Avatar to redeem himself in the eyes of his father. Just a truly hopeless person broken and betrayed by everyone he knew left to be forgotten at the end of the film, poor bastard. They even celebrated his death at the end, lol. Certainly Shifu himself doesn’t seem too bothered about the fate of his former pupil by the time the credits rolled

[@Kamilemainfurinadocultogenshin]

He's bold, but he's a cool character for the movie.

[@Karlos1234ify]

Tai got done dirty through out the movie series