diff --git a/panda/src/express/textEncoder.I b/panda/src/express/textEncoder.I
index 9100bdbf0d..75895a0562 100644
--- a/panda/src/express/textEncoder.I
+++ b/panda/src/express/textEncoder.I
@@ -419,6 +419,58 @@ unicode_tolower(int character) {
   return entry->_tolower_character;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: TextEncoder::upper
+//       Access: Published, Static
+//  Description: Converts the string to uppercase, assuming the string
+//               is encoded in the default encoding.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+INLINE string TextEncoder::
+upper(const string &source) {
+  return upper(source, get_default_encoding());
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: TextEncoder::upper
+//       Access: Published, Static
+//  Description: Converts the string to uppercase, assuming the string
+//               is encoded in the indicated encoding.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+INLINE string TextEncoder::
+upper(const string &source, TextEncoder::Encoding encoding) {
+  TextEncoder encoder;
+  encoder.set_encoding(encoding);
+  encoder.set_text(source);
+  encoder.toupper_text();
+  return encoder.get_text();
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: TextEncoder::lower
+//       Access: Published, Static
+//  Description: Converts the string to lowercase, assuming the string
+//               is encoded in the default encoding.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+INLINE string TextEncoder::
+lower(const string &source) {
+  return lower(source, get_default_encoding());
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: TextEncoder::lower
+//       Access: Published, Static
+//  Description: Converts the string to lowercase, assuming the string
+//               is encoded in the indicated encoding.
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+INLINE string TextEncoder::
+lower(const string &source, TextEncoder::Encoding encoding) {
+  TextEncoder encoder;
+  encoder.set_encoding(encoding);
+  encoder.set_text(source);
+  encoder.tolower_text();
+  return encoder.get_text();
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 //     Function: TextEncoder::set_wtext
 //       Access: Public
diff --git a/panda/src/express/textEncoder.cxx b/panda/src/express/textEncoder.cxx
index f754e29d4a..ec79d9efb5 100644
--- a/panda/src/express/textEncoder.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/express/textEncoder.cxx
@@ -24,8 +24,42 @@ TypeHandle TextEncoder::_type_handle;
 TextEncoder::Encoding TextEncoder::_default_encoding;
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-//     Function: TextEncoder::get_wtext_as_ascii
+//     Function: TextEncoder::toupper_text
 //       Access: Published
+//  Description: Adjusts the text stored within the encoder to all
+//               uppercase letters (preserving accent marks
+//               correctly).
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+void TextEncoder::
+toupper_text() {
+  get_wtext();
+  wstring::iterator si;
+  for (si = _wtext.begin(); si != _wtext.end(); ++si) {
+    (*si) = unicode_toupper(*si);
+  }
+  _flags &= ~F_got_text;
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: TextEncoder::tolower_text
+//       Access: Published
+//  Description: Adjusts the text stored within the encoder to all
+//               lowercase letters (preserving accent marks
+//               correctly).
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+void TextEncoder::
+tolower_text() {
+  get_wtext();
+  wstring::iterator si;
+  for (si = _wtext.begin(); si != _wtext.end(); ++si) {
+    (*si) = unicode_tolower(*si);
+  }
+  _flags &= ~F_got_text;
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+//     Function: TextEncoder::get_wtext_as_ascii
+//       Access: Public
 //  Description: Returns the text associated with the node, converted
 //               as nearly as possible to a fully-ASCII
 //               representation.  This means replacing accented
diff --git a/panda/src/express/textEncoder.h b/panda/src/express/textEncoder.h
index 33d3251f29..37b6c5c42b 100644
--- a/panda/src/express/textEncoder.h
+++ b/panda/src/express/textEncoder.h
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ PUBLISHED:
   INLINE void set_text(const string &text, Encoding encoding);
   INLINE void clear_text();
   INLINE bool has_text() const;
+
+  void toupper_text();
+  void tolower_text();
+
   INLINE string get_text() const;
   INLINE string get_text(Encoding encoding) const;
   INLINE void append_text(const string &text);
@@ -77,6 +81,11 @@ PUBLISHED:
   INLINE static int unicode_toupper(int character);
   INLINE static int unicode_tolower(int character);
 
+  INLINE static string upper(const string &source);
+  INLINE static string upper(const string &source, Encoding encoding);
+  INLINE static string lower(const string &source);
+  INLINE static string lower(const string &source, Encoding encoding);
+
 public:
   // Direct support for wide-character strings.  Not publishable for
   // now (until we add support for wstring to interrogate).