Black and Po Are Pitch Perfect

By >Glenn Whipp

“I don’t know of any animated character and voice that have ever been a better match than Jack Black and Po.”

Strong words, particularly coming from Jeffrey Katzenberg, a man who’s had a hand in some of the greatest animated movies of the past quarter century.

Of course, moments after those words spilled out, the DreamWorks Animation CEO backtracked and offered two other immortal voice/ character matches — Eddie Murphy’s Donkey from the “Shrek” movies and Robin Williams’ Genie in “Aladdin.” (How ’bout Albert Brooks in “Finding Nemo”?)

But, watching “Kung Fu Panda,” there’s no denying that Black’s emotionally open vocal work as Po, the panda who learns he possesses everything he needs to realize his dream, is the stuff of greatness.

Black, talking to the Daily News in January, called Po a character as close to his heart as the record-store clerk he played in “High Fidelity.”

” ‘High Fidelity’ was the first time I brought a lot of myself to a role,” Black said. “Before that, I was just imitating other actors I admired. Bad idea. I needed to do my own thing, find my own voice.

“And that’s the message of the movie: Be your own hero. I feel that deep in my bones.”

Says the movie’s co-director Mark Osborne: “It’s hard to separate Jack from Po. Jack inspired Po’s story.”

In fact, Osborne cites “Cosmic Shame,” a profane, follow-your- dream song Black wrote for his rock band, Tenacious D, as an inspiration.

“It’s about going after your dream, but knowing that if you chase it and fail, you fail big-time,” Osborne says. “In trying, you’re risking the ‘cosmic shame.’ Nevertheless, you should pursue it. And if you’re supposed to fall flat on your face, maybe you’ll fall flat on your face on top of the bad guy like Po does.”

“The message,” co-director John Stevenson adds, “is simple: Don’t be afraid of failure.”

(c) 2008 Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.