The animated movie inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’
The films of Quentin Tarantino have had a wide-ranging influence on the world of cinema ever since the arrival of his debut feature, Reservoir Dogs, in 1992. However, despite his continued impact, it was not easy to foresee how a movie like Kill Bill could have inspired a children’s animated film to come to life.
That’s what Tarantino himself believes, though, because, during an interview with the BBC, the director once suggested that the 2008 DreamWorks animation Kung Fu Panda is something of a “parody” of his Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2.
Film journalist Ali Plumb asked Tarantino about the strangest place he’d seen some of his work crop up, which made him think, “That’s one of mine”. After all, Tarantino’s work, as alluded to above, has been referenced many times by artists in a number of mediums.
“Frankly, even something like Kung Fu Panda is just a straight-up parody of Kill Bill in every way,” Tarantino said. “I mean, obviously, they saw it; obviously, it’s written in the script. It’s a straight-up parody of Kill Bill. Cut to Kung Fu Panda 5 and a TV show. They’re doing me a favour; they’re keeping me pop-culturally relevant.”
Of course, there are plenty of training montages in Kung Fu Panda featuring Jack Black’s Po that bear a striking resemblance to those in Kill Bill with Uma Thurman’s The Bride. So too, is there a moment that Po shares with Master Shifu that is admittedly similar to the one The Bride has with Pai Mei.
Kung Fu Panda is not the only film to reference Kill Bill, according to Tarantino. The director also suggested that both Shrek 3 and Team America had been inspired by the use of the Battle without Honour or Humanity theme that would become ‘O-Ren’s Theme’ during the Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves.
“I got it, and we put it on there, and the fact is that it has almost become the Kill Bill theme; it’s people walking in slow-motion badassery, that’s almost the theme to it,” Tarantino said. “They used it in Team America! For, like, when the team gets together.”
He added: “Or when there used it for Shrek 3, the Disney princesses get together, and they play the Battle Without Honour or Humanity theme as they walk triumphantly and kick everybody’s ass.” So it’s fair to say that Kill Bill has had its influence in the most unlikely of places.
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