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Animators' battle for the hearts and minds of children and their obligated parents has rarely been as cutthroat or as diverse as it is right now. With the one mighty Mouse House the only game in town, Disney now faces serious competition for attention from the likes of DreamWorks (Shrek, Madagascar), Blue Sky (Ice Age) and Pixar (which they defeated by purchasing outright), and to a lesser degree indie players like Aardman from the UK (Shaun the Sheep), Japan's formidable Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke) and literally hundreds of others. Relative unknown On Animation produced the gorgeous The Little Prince, and Irish studio Cartoon Saloon earned itself a well-deserved Oscar nomination last year for Song of the Sea. The list goes on.

The titans still dominate though, and evidently, no matter where they are in the world or how many derivative sequels have come before it, kids love them. The popularity of Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks), is evidenced by the (already) massive box office success of hyperactive comedian Jack Black's now signature role. And sticking with anthropomorphized worlds, Disney's Zootopia posits a sprawling metropolis populated by lions and tiger and bears that do not hunt and eat their rabbit, deer and sloth neighbors. Both films are laced with familiar and honorable messages about tolerance, family, communication and self-esteem, with Zootopia edging out Panda for ambition.

Kung Fu Panda 3 (KFP3) starts with Po (Jack Black) securely in the position of protector of the Valley of Peace. Still believed to be the last of his kind, Po's world is rocked by the arrival of his long lost father, Li (Bryan Cranston). While the two head out to put Po back in touch with his roots, the villainous Kai (J.K. Simmons) embarks on a quest to rule the martial arts world. There are no surprises here.

In Zootopia, eager beaver bunny Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) leaves her carrot farm home for a career in the big city with the police department. Naturally, she has to prove herself to a skeptical veteran force, among them water buffalo chief Bogo (Idris Elba). To do so she takes on an animal-napping case and blows open a conspiracy with help from her investigating partner, the sly, shifty fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). There are no surprises here either.

Kung Fu Panda is perhaps the most unlikely franchise to emerge in recent memory (Fast and Furious being the most ludicrous) but all the elements that made the first film such a pleasant surprise are in attendance, including the strong supporting cast, hyper-kinetic visuals and oodles of pop culture references. Sad as it may be to say, the presence of Asian-American co-director Jennifer Yuh in all likelihood has kept the series from stumbling into cultural insensitivity and stereotype. But Yuh, co-director Alessandro Carloni and returning writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger do a fine job of seamlessly integrating elements from previous entries, returning to suggest prophecies and making past action have consequences, giving KFP3 a broader, more epic overall tone. It rewards viewers that have been paying attention all along but doesn't punish newcomers with what feels like a half-baked narrative. A lot of jokes help too.

Zootopia benefits by having Wreck-it Ralph director Rich Moore along for the ride with Byron Howard, that film being an animation high point from the last decade. Like Ralph, Zootopia's adventure is propped up by some considerable themes. During the course of her investigation Judy, essentially an agent of the government, sees first-hand the delicate social balance we are currently living in, deals with workplace sexism and is forced to confront her own previously unrecognized biases. A race/class/sex allegory from Disney? Who would've thought, but here it is. Again, this goes down easy when enveloped by intricately detailed and arresting visuals injected with witty one-liners. And yes, the joke about government departments run by sloths is as hilarious in the film as it is in the trailer.

(HK Edition 03/18/2016 page12)