I think the shorts are considered by most in the fandom as canon. I think the only reason there are some inconsistencies is largely due to the fact that I think each of the shorts had a different (or slightly different writing team) from one another, if the writing team had more or less stay the same, then perhaps these inconsistencies could have been reduced. Though, they are not (in your face) though compared to the ones from the shows, which are pretty obvious. What this means is that the ones from the shorts can be overlooked as if you think about it, the timeline in KFP overall is already very loose (like we don't know the exact years that take place between movies, and is something that we can only speculate on.)
I consider them canon (keeping in mind some of the inconsistencies that were mentioned.), and I think they are wonderful additions to the movies, even if they are not perfect.
I think the reason for the inconsistency between shorts is because I think the writers for both of the shorts were sort different writing teams if I'm not mistaken.
The whole thing with Mantis being a doctor, even though Master Shifu is his first patient, is kind of a tie-in into the first movie when he attempts Accupuncture on Po. Monkey did not become a warrior in the flashback in SOTFF, rather, it was Oogway teaching him to use his talents for good (which is one of the lessons needed to be a warrior.) Viper also did not become a warrior in the SOTFF flashback either, its that she developed the courage she needed to save her father (Her ribbon dancing by the way, is kind of what lead to her being a good (awesome) warrior in her own right.)
Admittedly, Crane still being a janitor after getting into the Kung Fu School in SOTFF is a bit odd to me.
And No, Po is not 12 in this, I think he's supposed to be more around 14-16. I'm kind of inclined to think that perhaps the masters (before furious five formation.) would likley rarely come down unless they were needed (attack or whatnot), and kind of judging by Shifu's attitude towards Tigress in SOTS, he likely really did not let her really go on missions or anything (perhaps he felt that her skills are not up to "his" standard.) I think that Po may have heard of it, but was not aware of what it really is, its after he "discovers" it that he becomes a fan, perhaps seeking (intentionally) out whatever information he can find relating to Kung Fu and its warriors. There's a difference between just "being" aware of it, and being a fan of it, and seeking out information, news, and whatnot about it.
As for the timeline, I would not take it too literally, for an example, for the whole 20 year thing, I think that number could be potentially rounded down, but from my experience, I've learned to not take year numbers so seriously. Like, we don't even know the time skip between movies.
I kind of don't want another series (plus, they kind of had already moved on from POD to make TDK.) I don't think its coming back.
There's also a few places in the U.S where advance screenings are available. Plus, I think some reviewers and whatnot got to see it in advanced.
That actually was not aimed at you, I had started typing it as soon as the post went live, but it took me a while to fully post my message.
None. The whole idea from the first movie was that in order to make something special, you just have to believe its special. Its just like how Po discovered how to be the Dragon Warrior, or rather, when discovering the dragon scroll, he realized that its not some secret power or technique, it was just simply him.
(I know that family restaurant businesses tend to have secret recipes that are passed down to the next generation.)
Regarding the whole delayed thing, it has not been confirmed. So we can still expect it to come out when its supposed to come out.
Regarding the whole trailer thing, I'm thinking its taking a while because of the whole situation with the strikes (reminder that for the most part, the actors (and other staff) involved with the strike were not allowed to promote any of their works for the duration of the strikes.) we did not see any sort of promotion, but with both strikes that have now ended (as far as I know), we may start seeing more stuff coming up.
The original release date was supposed to be in march, but shortly before its release, it had been moved earlier to Jaunary.
March would have still been a good date since that's when the majority of kids in the United States go for spring break, at different times that is.
I do think a trailer during November or even December would not be out of the blue, considering that the strikes just end (for those who don't remember, if you are apart of any WGA or the actors guild equivalent, you could not work or openly promote your projects for the duration of the strike.) Since the movie was not delayed that we know of, its highly unlikely that work would have paused here. The last thing, if anything, should be the music as I recall, that's usually one of the last things that are done before a movies release. Hoping we will get more information about the fourth movie soon, considering that its only four months from release. We shall see if this actually comes to fruition.
I don't think so, the date has not been confirmed to be delayed. My guess for the lack of promotion may be due to the Writers and Actors strike that was going on (TDLR, rules are basically that members of either of the guilds are not allowed to promote their movies for the duration of the strike.) The writers strike has officially just ended, and the actors guild from what I last read is currently in negotiations with the party that they are striking against. This has resulted in promotion either being low, and productions being delayed. Though, there may be other factors that I'm not aware of that may be the result of little to no promotion within the last several months.
Thinking about it though, some parts of TDK were already dark as it was, like during the flashback where Blades brother was apparently "Killed", it did highly imply that a weapon was used to kill him. This was from season 1 or 2.
I'm not sure if we are going to get really "Movie two feels" in the fourth movie, since it two totally different writing and creative teams. But I suppose you never know.
I highly doubt that they will include any LOA characters. Different writing team from the movies.
So, that actually came from an edit here on the wiki, however, I went ahead and reverted the edit back to the original due to the information being speculative in nature. If an official or reputable source can be found for this fact, feel free to add it back in, but please site a source for it. (p.s) none of the source links I clicked on mentioned a trailer coming out as of now.
I'm actually among the minority that does not wish to see the Furious Five in this series. LOA already messed them up, and I really don't wish to see that happen again.
Anyway, regarding season 3, I'm not surprised that one is being released. My guess is that they are trying to perhaps finish the show before the fourth movie comes out. They are riding along the "hype" that the announcement of the fourth movie has created. I originally (off the wiki) predicted that TDK would have four seasons, each covering one of the Tiangsheng weapons, but since they found 2 of them in the series already, I think this most likely will be the last season.
That is all I will say regarding this matter.
So, it most likely came from this tweet:
(1) The Hollywood Handle on Twitter: "‘KUNG FU PANDA 4’ has been delayed to March 29, 2024. https://t.co/IAocuqOf53" / X
**Note: Information in the tweet has not been officially confirmed as of now.**
The problem is that the tweet author did not site any sources about the delay, and doing a quick google search turns out nothing about there being a delay.
I think this may be off the presumption from the delays for movies and TV shows that have been getting delayed due to industry strikes across the board. But again, this being correlated any entertainment workers strike is not confirmed.
Verdict: Because nothing has been confirmed by Dreamworks regarding this matter, it's safe to say that this is just speculation and rumor as of now.
Hi there two cents here:
I would be very careful with articles like these as they tend to rehash information that we already know was officially announced, and some of the things in these articles tend to include stuff that is rumored but has not yet been confirmed. I'm not sure if it was this one, or another one I more recently saw, but it had included that the Five were due to return, which as far as I know, has not been confirmed officially (Though, I hope they return.) by Dreamworks.
The point? Take everything here with a grain of salt until we get more official information.
The second movie is an example of this actually. Shen did initially defeat Po by blowing him out of the factory. However, by the end of the movie (in the third act), Po did defeat Shen when he achieved inner peace.
I would not think so (at least not for Kung Fu Warriors). In the first KFP artbook (pg 44 if you have the actual book), they intentionally made all the characters vegetarians to avoid any "Awkard situations."
I don't see why the five and Shifu would not come back for the movies. POD and TDK are generally not considered canon to the franchise itself, and I'm kind of glad that they did not bring the five into the past two series so far, because I still dislike the fact of how OOC they were in LOA (personal opinion.) I'm not entirely sure if the end of the third movie implied of the Panda's moving to the valley, to me, it just showed Po teaching a class sometime after the Jade Palace (or the majority of it I think) was rebuilt). I would find it out of place if they did not bring Li Shan back to some compacity as he's in Po's life now. Even if they don't bring him back, I do hope that he's mentioned or known to some compacity (e.g, went back to the Panda Village, or is just for some reason not on screen, etc.)
I can't wait until they release the casting information.
I think possibly since Amazon has the rights to stream it (since it's an Amazon original), but I'm not an expert on copyright law, so take this with a grain of salt.