Fu Panda goes one step further and includes a generational connection to the mentor motif. Not only does Po evolve throughout the film with the help of Master Shifu, but also Master Shifu has to learn from the Grandmaster, Master Oogway, how to take on this unexpected amateur in order to fulfill the Dragon Warrior prophecy. At first, Master Shifu has his reservations about training Po in becoming the Dragon Warrior because he believed that his master, Master Oogway, had made a mistake in naming the Warrior. In crafting an analogy of nurturing a peach tree, Oogway imparts Shifu with the lesson: “…you [must] let go the illusion of control… no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple…but you will get a peach…if you are willing to guide it, nurture it. To believe in it” (Stevenson, Osborne : ). At this moment, Oogway passes on. This is not only a “death of the Mentor” moment for Shifu but also an apotheosis, as Shifu is thus given the wisdom that will enable him to finally mentor Po. Shifu realizes that, with Oogway gone, he must train Po by himself and therefore he must fill in the “mentor” role. This is a reconfiguration of Campbell’s monomyth structure. Stevenson and Osborne include a second mentor narrative structure by using Shifu’s doubts as a mentor as part of his heroic development, casting him as a master who must become the student. Shifu achieves “Acceptance of the Call” after Oogway’s “Supernatural Aid”. At first, Shifu denounces Po and rejects him as the Dragon Warrior. When the Dragon Scroll is threatened, Shifu places himself at Tai Lung’s mercy when Tai Lung demands to be named the Dragon Warrior and rewarded the scroll. Shifu rebuffs him: “Dragon Warrior has taken scroll halfway across China by now. You will never see that scroll, Tai Lung. Never” (Stevenson, Osborne : ). Shifu finally acknowledges Po as the true Dragon Warrior. This moment is when the third generation of masters, Po, is finally recognized. After Po almost witnesses a “death of the mentor” moment, Po becomes the third wave of mentors and enters the “Master of two worlds” phase of Campbell’s monomyth. It is this three-generation set of masters that “flips the script” on the mentor narrative of the monomyth. Not only does Kung Fu Panda include Shifu’s “heroic” or mentorship development, but it also includes Po’s development from disciple to mentor as shown through the “Master of Two Worlds” threshold.

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When Po becomes the third generation of mentors, he enters the “Master of Two Worlds” stage. At this stage, not only is he figuratively able to navigate both the heroic realm and the quotidian, peasant, noodle-making one, but he is also literally a master of Kung Fu once named the Dragon Warrior. After defeating Tai Lung with the special Wuxi Finger Hold, Po returns to the Valley of Peace square. While the villagers applaud Po, his adoptive goose father emerges: “‘That’s my boy. That big, lovely kung fu warrior is my son!’” (Stevenson and Osborne, : ). Po has figuratively become the master of both his humble upbringing as well as his new-found prominence in Kung Fu. His adoptive father, proclaiming him as the Kung Fu Warrior, is his reconciliation with both worlds. Po’s father’s approval is a figurative gate into Po’s master