Kung Fu Panda is much, much, much better than DreamWorks’ year-long marketing campaign would have you believe.

It’s funny, it’s clever, it’s visually sumptuous – I’d even go so far as to call it the first non-Pixar effort to approach that studio’s standard for fully imagined characters and environments. And, yes, it’s about a panda who learns to do a scissor kick.

Set in a funny-animal universe that’s otherwise identical to the great 1970s Shaw Brothers productions, it’s the story of a panda named Po (voiced by Jack Black) who indulges in elaborate chop-socky fantasies when he really ought to be helping his father run their noodle shop.

When Po finds himself named as the Dragon Warrior, a legendary figure who will save his village from the merciless snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane), he meets hostility from the skeptical Master Shifu ­(Dustin Hoffman, Shatneriffic) and his disciples, the Furious Five, who can’t believe they’ve been tasked with training one of their groupies.

It’s quite amazing how well DreamWorks Animation’s usual just-be-yourself lessons suit the kung-fu genre, and when you throw in the spectacular imagery and charmingly anthropomorphic character design, you’ve got yourself a movie.

Also, any film in which James Hong plays a kindly, noodle-obsessed duck is some kind of instant classic.