Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This animation tells the story of Po the Panda, who has to prepare for a family feast for the winter festival. However, he finds out he has to also prepare for a feast for masters as it is the responsibility as the Dragon Warrior. He tries hard to balance his familial duty and his duty as the Dragon Warrior."Kung Fu Panda Holiday" is quite a sweet animation film, because it is fun as usual. The jokes are funny, and I giggled quite a few times. The fact that they highlight the struggle two different duties is a good thing, because this might be unfamiliar to Western people, but all to familiar to people in the East. The festive theme makes the story light and fun. I enjoyed it.

"Kung Fu Panda Holiday" was released back in 2010 as the second short film to the Panda franchise between the first and second feature film. It's very similar to the original movie, so if you liked that one, chance is good you'll enjoy this one too. The main characters are mostly included and the action is similar too in the grand picture. Here and there some fighting, occasionally some wisdom from Dustin Hoffman and of course quality animation from start to finish.Story-wise I was not really impressed though. The Christmas reference was basically limited to Panda asking himself whether to spend Christmas night with his fellow Kung Fu masters as he's obliged to or with his dear ones. The problem wasn't really that the outcome couldn't be more obvious (that's usually the case with holiday short films), but that the Christmas message got a bit lost in the action sequences and goofy fun parts. Although the ending was executed very nicely, it couldn't really make up for everything before. Maybe they should have limited it to 15 minutes max. It's an okay watch for the holidays and a fine way to reduce the waiting time till the third Kung Fu panda movie in 2015, but that's pretty much it.

I love, love, love this. The Kung Fu Panda holiday special is the only really good holiday special I've ever seen. I thought that it was extremely funny and extremely heart-warming. As always, great plot, great moral, great characters. Another perk was the rabbit chef who kept trying to fight Po to the death in order to reclaim his honor. I can't help but feel that without that rabbit the story would have sagged a bit. It's a truly beautiful short about how Po needs to choose between spending the Winter holiday with his Dad, and whether or not to fulfill his duties as the Dragon Warrior. Really touching. It may not be perfect, but it is nonetheless spectacular.

After Po was chosen to become the Dragon Warrior and defeated Tai Lung in the original KFP, he becomes appointed to host the Winter Feast at the Jade Palace for all 29 kung fu masters despite his needs to help his father Mr. Ping to prepare for the holidays. When he needed the Furious Five to help him prepare the annual at this time of year, he learns that spending time with a father is much more important than the annual feast and goes to his father which results in doing the right thing and the kung fu masters along with the Furious Five arrive for the holiday. Shifu goes there and is persuaded by Po to join him since he has a family.Although, not as great as the original's plot, the plot in this holiday special wasn't that bad. The computer animation was beautiful with the same lovely visuals. The characters are once again likable and the voice acting was as perfect as the original's. Even the music from Hans Zimmer and John Powell (accompanied by Henry Jackman) was pretty good.Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special would always be recommended to fans of the franchise as one of Dreamworks' wonderful holiday specials.Rating: 9/10