Netflix Says Goodbye to the Greatest Animated Trilogy of the 21st Century

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Fans of the DreamWorks Animation series, get ready: the first three movies will no longer be available on Netflix starting next year.

Netflix announced that all three Kung Fu Panda movies will leave the platform on January 1, 2026. The popular animated series follows Po, a panda who unexpectedly becomes the Dragon Warrior and trains to be a kung fu master. The original film, released in 2008, was a huge hit and led to three sequels and several TV shows, making it one of the most successful animated franchises ever.

The 2008 film was a critical and audience success, earning a ‘Certified Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an 87% approval based on almost 200 reviews. Over 250,000 viewers also gave it a thumbs-up, with an 83% approval rating. The original movie cleverly combined humor and martial arts, appealing to both children and adults, and subsequent sequels maintained this winning approach.

When Kung Fu Panda came out in 2008, it was a big hit, earning over $632 million around the world. However, Kung Fu Panda 2, released in 2011, did even better, bringing in over $665 million. The sequel follows Po and his friends as they face a new, dangerous villain who threatens martial arts and all of China. Like the first film, it received positive reviews, earning a “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% approval score.

The third Kung Fu Panda movie came out in 2016 and showed that DreamWorks could successfully create another popular animated trilogy. It earned over $521 million globally, making Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks Animation’s second most profitable franchise. The film, which critics loved (earning an 87% “Fresh” rating), featured Po reconnecting with his biological father (voiced by Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad) and battling a powerful, mystical warrior (voiced by J.K. Simmons).

A New Kung Fu Panda Movie Could Soon Be On the Way

Although the first three Kung Fu Panda movies are leaving Netflix, fans still have reason to be cheerful. A fourth film was released in 2024, featuring Po searching for a new Dragon Warrior to train after considering retirement. The movie was both a hit with audiences and financially successful, and producer Mike Mitchell has hinted that a fifth film is a possibility.

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It looks like fans will have to wait several more years for a new film. According to Mitchell, the complicated filmmaking process means a new installment won’t likely arrive until 2027 at the earliest. In the meantime, viewers can rewatch the original four movies and several TV series, including the recent Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special featuring Jack Black and a star-studded cast like Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, and Lucy Liu.

Kung Fu Panda 1–3 will all leave Netflix on Jan. 1, 2026.

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2025-12-24 02:11