Kung Fu Panda and Its Good Vibe
The animated film Kung Fu Panda premiered last month at the Cannes Film Festival and it has had a good vibe from day one, due to the happy baby news brought along by its stars Angelina Jolie and Jack Black.

Angelina Jolie gracefully posed on the red carpet at the 61st edition of the venerable Cannes Film Festival with a burgeoning belly bearing twin babies. Co-star Jack Black gracefully, but in a different way, spilled the beans by confirming to the world what had not yet been officially confirmed: that she and Brad Pitt were expecting twins.

And last week Black revealed some happy baby news of his own. His second child with wife Tanya Harden was born, a baby boy named Jack who joins almost 2-year-old Samuel.

Is this not already a golden fluffy wisp of a cloud surrounding “Kung Fu Panda,” to which both actors lend their voices?

Not only that, but the movie has been receiving excellent reviews. Rotten Tomatoes lists an 82 percent freshness based on 17 reviews.

Jack Black is the voice of a great big panda living in ancient China, all wooly and lazy and likeable, who seeks to transcend his earthly round puffy forms in order to become a revered kung fu master.

Po works in his adopted father’s noodle shop, a goose named Mr. Ping voiced by James Chan. He is learning to make noodles but his dreams of joining his kung-fu heroes never fade away.

His dreams appear to materialize when he finds himself amongst the Furious Five - Master Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Master Crane (David Cross), Master Monkey (Jackie Chan), Master Viper (Lucy Liu), and Master Mantis (Seth Rogen) – named the Dragon Warrior and in the hands of Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), who must train him.

The animation by DreamWorks does a charming job of illustrating the tranquil surroundings, in soft colors and subtle twinkles. The detailing is impressive, with hairs and feathers perfectly visible on each of the animated characters and the fighting scenes, which happily abound, are most enjoyable to watch, by both younger and older audiences.

The laughter it will elicit from youngsters will certainly gratify parents, who are bound to enjoy the film as well, the commendable characters, the moral drawn from the story, the oriental flavor directors Mark Osborne and John Stevenson infuse it with and ultimately, its innocence.

Opens June 6 nationwide. Runs 88 minutes

Directed by: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

Produced by: Melissa Cobb

Ensemble cast: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross

Music by: Hans Zimmer

Distributed by: DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures