Chinese people love pandas. So it really raises eyebrows that the country's biggest-ever homemade animation blockbuster is about ... kicking the butt of a panda.
Your normally cute, cuddly panda is a treacherous villain in Legend of a Rabbit, a Hollywood-style Chinese animation that took three years and a whopping 120 million yuan (HK$144 million) to make.
It's the story of a naive, chubby chef accidentally sent to complete a seemingly impossible mission, yet he becomes a true kung fu master. Against all odds, he defeats a powerful villain who betrayed their common mentor and the true meaning of kung fu...
Getting d?j? vu? Yes, the story is exactly the same as that of Kung Fu Panda, the 2008 Hollywood hit that set a box office record in China.
Kung Fu Panda caused quite a stir when it hit the mainland three years ago. Kids loved it, but radical nationalists were bitter that the smash hit banking on Chinese culture was made by Americans. Some even called for a government ban.
Most Chinese shrugged off the controversy. But the radicals vowed to produce a homemade animation to answer the challenge. The result is Legend - frankly, a pale imitation of the foreign product it despises.