Kung Fu Panda Soundtrack CD

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Composers: John Powell ; Hans Zimmer.
Recording information: AIR Recording Studios, London, England.
The soundtrack to 2008's animal-populated animated adventure KUNG FU PANDA features a score by two of the best-known Hollywood film composers, Hans Zimmer and John Powell. Combining orchestral arrangements with traditional Chinese instruments, Zimmer and Powell's pieces are playful and pitch-perfect, as heard on the deft, dynamic "Panda Po." The album also features a lively rendition of the vintage novelty hit "Kung Fu Fighting" performed by Cee-Lo Green (Gnarls Barkley) and Jack Black, who provides the voice of the movie's title character.
Composers Hans Zimmer and John Powell infuse the score for Dreamworks' 2008 animated comedy-adventure Kung Fu Panda with plenty of semi-traditional Asian motifs and instrumentation, resulting in an enjoyable -- if entirely predictable -- soundtrack that deals out clichés like candy on Halloween. The opening track introduces the "Hero" theme, a wistful flute-led melody that sounds nearly identical to Howard Shore's "Hobbit" theme from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. What follows is largely orchestral, with bursts of tribal percussion and the occasional dance number. The soundtrack closes with star Jack Black and Cee-Lo Green performing "Kung Fu Fighting," a song whose inclusion is apparently mandatory for every film, commercial, or skit ever made involving Asian culture. ~ James Christopher Monger