An opening prologue set years before the events of the first film tells that Lord Shen, the scion of a peacock clan that rules Gongmen City in ancient China, seeks to harness fireworks as a weapon. After discovering from the court's goat Soothsayer that "a warrior of black-and-white" will defeat him if he does not change his ways, Shen leads an army of wolves to exterminate the panda population to avert the prophecy. Shen's parents are horrified at this atrocity and exile their son, who swears revenge.
The story is set in the Valley of Peace, a fictional land in ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Po, a giant panda, is a kung fu fanatic who idolizes the Furious Five — Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane — a quintet of kung fu masters trained by the red panda Master Shifu. As he helps his goose father Mr. Ping in his noodle restaurant, Po is unable to pursue his dream of becoming a kung fu master himself.
Po reunites with his biological father and travels with him to a secret sanctuary of pandas where, to his surprise, he does not fit in. There he meets Mei Mei, an overly eager panda, who had been promised to Po through an arranged marriage when they were children. To make matters worse, an evil ancient spirit called Kai begins terrorizing China and stealing the powers of defeated kung fu masters. Now, in the face of incredible odds, Po must learn to train a village of clumsy, fun-loving pandas to become a band of Kung Fu Pandas.
Ryan Tyler's father Michael (Stephen Lang) sends him a plane ticket so that he can visit him in China, where he works with pandas. Ryan is not sure he wants to go, but his mother says he can just come back if he doesn't like it.
Un bébé tigre échappé d'un cirque de passage s'introduit dans la maison de Mimiko en son absence et s'installe chez eux. Mais les propriétaires du cirque sont à sa recherche, et sa mère y est par ailleurs toujours enfermée.
Pancada est un panda qui travaille comme concierge au Bear Bar Box, un bar spécialisé dans les présentations de combats. Le plus grand rêve de Stinger est de devenir une célèbre danseuse de la danse moderne, mais son patron, M. Polaris, préoccupé par la situation locale en raison de méchant Freak Teddy constante gagne dans le ring qui ne plaisait au public, décide de se déguiser pour vaincre, mais tout le monde pense qu'il est le knockdown par son déguisement pour le faire ressembler à un panda. Dans ce Punch devient célèbre par erreur et décide d'assumer cette volonté de se battre pour elle-même.