Kung Fu for my Little Panda?

November 1, 2012 3:21 PM

Kung Fu/martial arts movies and TV shows for an 8 year old?

My daughter has become obsessed with karate, kung fu, ninjas (this year's Halloween costume), etc. This interest was probably sparked by the likes of Kung Fu Panda and Avatar: The Last Airbender (the TV series.) I'm happy to support her, but finding it hard to find age-appropriate movies/TV-- most of my (beloved) kung fu movies that I remember seem too bloody/gory.

posted by gwint to media & arts (14 answers total)

This 1980s-era short-lived TV show was kinda cheesy but had lots of ninja action. Not much gore, no bad language, etc.
posted by Oriole Adams at 3:23 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Shaolin Soccer would probably be perfect. Also, the majority of Jackie Chan's output ought to be ok.
posted by pipeski at 3:29 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Samurai Jack.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:34 PM on November 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Monkey Magic, but not the newer movie version, it has to be the old dodgy tv series. We all watched it when I was in primary school!
posted by thylacinthine at 3:38 PM on November 1, 2012

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The last cartoon series and movie are both age appropriate and pretty good. I'd also recommend the first two live action movies (the third, not so much).
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:40 PM on November 1, 2012

Mulan!
Karate Kid of course.
Also, Rumble In The Bronx
posted by Erasmouse at 4:10 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Jackie Chan Adventures was pretty fun.
posted by jeribus at 4:10 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I let my son watch most of "Kung Fu Hustle" but I fast-forwarded through the few bloody scenes. He was 8 and he loved it.
posted by tacodave at 4:42 PM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

+1 the original Karate Kid. I think I was about 6 or 7 when that came out.
posted by colin_l at 4:49 PM on November 1, 2012

Please, do not show "Rumble in the Bronx" to an 8-year-old. There's a scene in which a person gets fed into a wood chipper.

That said, age-appropriate Jackie Chan is exactly what you're looking for. His kid-friendly movies aren't good by any objective standard, but crazy amounts of fun. Start with "The Spy Next Door" and then begin exploring. Most of his films have a few moments that might be too intense for an 8YO, but for the most part they are good-natured and positive.

(He's also an all-around awesome person, and the more you learn about him, the more you love him.)
posted by jbickers at 6:25 PM on November 1, 2012

All of the karate kid movies especially the one featuring a girl are great for all ages. Side kicks with chuck norris is good.
posted by ljs30 at 8:06 PM on November 1, 2012

"Kickin' It" is a show on Disney (and past seasons are on netflix). Also the anime Naruto has some martial arts related themes (at least at the beginning).
posted by oceano at 9:58 PM on November 1, 2012

The original Karate Kid features, of course, karate. Great flick, but hoo boy is it showing its age. The remake (with Jackie Chan!) is excellent and actually features kung fu. Start there.
posted by zanni at 10:44 PM on November 1, 2012

Kung Fu, TV show.

I say watch the Bruce Lee movies. We all watched that stuff in the 70's and we came out okay. I mean, look at Tarantino.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:43 AM on November 2, 2012 [1 favorite]