kung fu panda is truly dreamworks’ best franchise. yes, even over httyd

while the first two httyd movies were phenomenal, the last one was, well. i mean. perhaps it was also phenomenal on a writing level, i couldn’t tell you, because frankly the whole experience was so upsetting lol. you get invested in hiccup and toothless’s friendship, only for the rug to be ripped right out from under you. and the fact that the instigating moment was Heterosexuality of all things is just salt in the wound

kung fu panda, however, is another franchise that deals heavily with family and friendship, yet it does not emotionally punish you for getting invested in these relationships. the third movie was also not as good as the first two, but it was not as good due to superficial reasons. i’d rather have a weaker villain drag the movie down than literally never be able to watch the movie again due to how actually upsetting it is. lol

i just cannot believe how httyd 1 and 2 were all about hiccup and toothless being the bestest of friends against all odds. they fought to stay together even when everyone and everything was against them................... only for the franchise to end with them separating, and like, never seeing each other again except for some random ass occasion years later. like what was the point of the other movies then? all that, for what? toothless to leave for some random ass Girl Dragon? it’s literally the most upsetting thing ever

like i can understand that the whole, dragons and humans don’t belong together, storyline was built up from the very first movie. it was a long time coming. but i just can’t believe that the conclusion would be “ok so let’s just go fuck off to our own world and live entirely separate and never see each other again despite the immense love between us” rather than like, “fuck you. we will MAKE this work no matter the odds against us” like what had happened in the first and second movies...?

kung fu panda, however, also had friend and family relationships set up from the very first movie, and they were never cast aside, but rather continually built up and always served a core function of each movie. the central themes were carried through naturally and consistently and never did they let the audience down emotionally like that...... the first movie introduced the idea that po is the only one of his kind in this area, the second movie explained that it’s because he lost his bio family due to genocide, the third movie then had him reconnect with the remaining members of his community. it wasn’t that like, the second movie showed the panda genocide, and then the third movie was just like, oh well fuck the other pandas then. like it was the natural progression that po would reconnect with his community, the story didn’t take that away from him. nor did it take everything he had already established away from him either, like yes he’s meeting and befriending all these new people, but his core relationships are still important to him, and it’s actually the B plot of the movie how his adoptive father doesnt want to be left behind and the conclusion is that he wasn’t, and that he no less important to po just bc he’s not po’s bio dad. the conclusion to the franchise was emotionally rewarding because it followed everything that had been set up earlier in the previous movies

like imagine if we saw kfp 1 and 2 and saw how important ping is for po and then the third movie was just like, oh lol he isn’t po’s real dad so fuck ping. and po went off to live with li shan as his Only Father? imagine how unsatisfying and upsetting that would be. but no! instead the movie says that po now has TWO dads, and they are both just as important to him

i get that plot-wise these two situations (toothless leaving vs ping raising po) have nothing in common but im comparing them in terms of the narrative set up and emotional reward (or lack thereof) at the end

IDK like yes i love httyd as much as the next person but im lowkey so sick of ppl acting like kfp is less than httyd all because it seems silly at the surface level...... but kung fu panda is genuinely so good and so few people acknowledge that and it’s especially annoying considering that i legit cannot even ever rewatch httyd 3 meanwhile kfp 3, while it has its flaws, is a much more enjoyable experience.... like i am SICK OF IT..... APPRECIATE KUNG FU PANDA OR ELSE!!!

and i can’t deny that i am probably hurt by the ending of httyd more so than the average person.. like, not to bring my aromanticism into a random conversation, but like. i really appreciate both these franchises specifically because of their emphasis on friends and family as opposed to romance. which is why the ending of httyd feels like such a betrayal... toothless and hiccup were ENEMIES TO FRIENDS, platonic SOULMATES, they were the baddest bitches out there, and then toothless just LEAVES bc of some random ass girl?!?!?! you do a lil mating dance and are suddenly ready to leave your bestest friend?!?!?! it’s literally so upsetting LMFAOOOOOO........ kung fu panda never did me dirty like that and its exploration of friends and family is so so good in a way that i wish more media would.......