Disney and Pixar's TURNING RED Review

It’s PANDA-monium in TURNING RED, the latest from Disney and Pixar’s Animation Studios. This vibrant coming-of-age story set in the multicultural backdrop of Toronto, Ontario, in the 2000s certainly has more than a few cringe-worthy moments but is far outweighed by the fun factor and love letter to our teen years and coming-of-age struggles we remember all too well.

Disney and Pixar’s TURNING RED Review

Director and co-writer Domee Shi has created a relatable and lovable story that will warm the hearts of tweens, teens, and parents alike. Mother-daughter relationships in the teen years can be especially complicated.

Disney and Pixar’s TURNING RED shares a tale inspired by Shi’s own childhood and relationship with her mother. It’s a coming-of-age story that anyone can relate to in at least some way, as every single one of us has been a teen growing up, exploring the need to find themselves and their independence while fighting against the parental regime and awkwardness that is a natural part of that hormonal phase—and anyone who claims otherwise is probably a liar.

DUITIFUL DAUGHTER – In Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film “Turning Red,” 13-year-old Meilin Lee is torn between staying her mother Ming’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Mei’s responsibilities include helping to maintain the family’s ancestral temple that welcomes dozens of visitors daily—but lately, Mei finds herself daydreaming about friends, boys, and all things teenager. Featuring Rosalie Chiang as the voice of Mei, and Sandra Oh as the voice of Ming. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Like Mei Lee in the movie, Shi is an only child and was always very close with her parents, especially her mother. Shi was born in Chongqing, China, and immigrated to Toronto, Canada, at the age of 2.

In an early press conference with Director Domee Shi and Producer Lindsay Collins, Shi described how she wanted to explore the nuances of an Asian parent-child relationship in dealing with change, intergenerational conflict, and how it can shape who we become. Shi calls the film an “Asian tween fever dream.”

TURNING RED is inspired by the universal struggle of growing up, and figuring out how to handle that push-pull dynamic of honoring your parents while staying true to yourself. For Mei Lee in the movie, the red panda is the magical spark that sets off the internal conflict within herself. After all, “growing up is a beast.”

MOTHER’S NATURE – Mei’s determined and protective mother, Ming, vows to do whatever it takes to help her daughter. Featuring Rosalie Chiang as the voice of Mei, and Sandra Oh as the voice of Mei’s mother, Ming, “Turning Red” opens in theaters on March 11, 2022. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

TURNING RED shows Mei Lee’s transition from confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective—and slightly overbearing mother—is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. As if changes to her interests, relationships, and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!

TURNING RED Review – What works

CHANGE IS GOOD? – In Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film “Turning Red,” 13-year-old Mei Lee finds herself pulling away from her normally amazing family, gravitating to her friends, and daydreaming about boys. Making matters worse, she begins to “poof” into a giant red panda at decidedly inconvenient times. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Vibrant, stunning animation

The visually stunning animation and graphics that Disney and Pixar have become known for are fully embraced and meshed with some classic Japanese anime stylings for emphasis—think “Sailor Moon” Japanese superheroine anime of the 1990s—making TURNING RED visually appealing and uniquely engaging.

The soundtrack is lit

The soundtrack for TURNING RED is baller. The 2000s was the height of the boy band era, and Pixar introduces us to its first imaginary boyband—4*Town. The three all-new exclusive songs featured in the movie are written by GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriters Billie Eilish and FINNEAS.

While boy bands were a big part of Shi’s life and hot in the 2000s, when Pixar first released the trailer, the music choice included The Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life.” The band is synonymous with the LGBTQ+ community’s club life, even though they are not one of the boy bands with openly out members.

FRIENDS FOREVER – In Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film “Turning Red,” 13-year-old Mei Lee, a confident-but-dorky teenager with a tight-knit group of friends who are passionate about a boy band called 4-Town. Featuring the voices of Rosalie Chiang, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Hyein Park as Mei, Miriam, Priya, and Abby, “Turning Red” will debut exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available) on March 11, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Toronto as the backdrop is a multicultural mosaic of beauty

While Shi chose the early 2000s in Toronto as the backdrop of this coming-of-age story in part because she was intimately familiar with it, there are other reasons why Toronto is a great fit as the backdrop for TURNING RED. Toronto is a mosaic of different cultures, languages, and traditions in one city. It’s a beautiful city rich with multiple cultures and in the 2000s it was ripe with teen girl pop music mania, love of boy bands and other pop music idols, and the simplistic pop culture era of flip phones, CDs, jelly bracelets, and MySpace & other early social media.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MAYHEM – In Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film “Turning Red,” 13-year-old Mei Lee, a confident-but-dorky teenager, is surviving the mayhem of middle school with a little help from her tight-knit group of friends. Featuring the voices of (from left to right) Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya, Rosalie Chiang as Mei, Ava Morse as Miriam, and Hyein Park as Abby, “Turning Red” will debut exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available) on March 11, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Teen girls as friends

Thank you, Disney and Pixar for reminding us that not every teen girl is a member of The Plastics in Mean Girls and that there are plenty of solid, kind teenage female friendships. It’s a relief to see healthy female relationships onscreen and not an overplayed trope.

FORWARD-LOOKING – In Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film “Turning Red,” 13-year-old Mei begins to “poof” into a giant red panda when she gets too excited. Fortunately, her tight-knit group of friends sticks by her side through even her fluffiest red-panda days. Featuring the voices of Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Ava Morse, and Rosalie Chiang as Priya, Abby, Miriam, and Red Panda Mei, “Turning Red” opens in theaters on March 11, 2022. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Being uniquely you as a key theme

Embrace your inner panda. We’re here for themes that encourage being yourself, especially when aimed toward the younger crowd and are inclusive. Truly, the vast majority of people don’t want films about white people.

Inclusion of queer themes

Disney and Pixar are far from novel in their inclusion of LGBTQ characters in movies. Generally, we see a subtle nod at best with no direct identifying moments. They have yet to present an explicitly queer story. Luca and the short Out are about as close as we’ve seen; we’re still waiting. However, better than nothing is the fact that some of their more recent films are at least inclusive of themes that create a film where queer people might be able to see themselves, such as with TURNING RED and hints as a metaphor for life with a queer identity without further exploring sexuality or romantic endeavors.

We see Mei struggle with her physical appearance throughout the film, a mix of disgust and fear. She tries to calm herself by brushing her fur in an attempt to return to her human form.

When she goes to school she is wearing a fully buttoned-up cardigan and toque to mask her appearance while her classmates are in t-shirts and unbuttoned layers that are not intended to hide their physical appearances.
Certainly, this movie is generally a movie about cis-puberty, However, you can’t discount the fact that the red panda and related imagery and context allow for a trans interpretation making TURNING RED a potential allegory for trans puberty.

And you can’t discount the fact that in the official trailer, Pixar chose “It’s Gonna Be Me” by *NSYNC. Member Lance Bass is out and *NSYNC music is known to cater to the LGBTQ dance club crowd.

No love interest and no villains

Unlike the formula for most movies, the conflict does not come from an external source such as a villain or love interest. The lack of both is a welcome change from most films and allows it to focus more heavily on the exploration of self.

TURNING RED Review – What doesn’t work

While tween/teen girls are a beast unto themselves (as a mom of three of them, I know) there were definitely some full-on cringeworthy moments in TURNING RED, especially in the earlier part of the film. We’re all for a great coming-of-age movie that embraces all the changes and phases, but TURNING RED really leans into the puberty factor a little heavier than a lot of kids and some parents may be comfortable with.

INTRODUCING 4*TOWN — Disney and Pixar’s all-new original feature film “Turning Red” introduces 13-year-old Mei, a confident-but-dorky teenager who—along with her friends—is eternally devoted to the boy band 4*Town. Mei and her friends will do anything to get tickets to 4-Town’s upcoming concert. Directed by Academy Award® winner Domee Shi (Pixar short “Bao”) and produced by Lindsey Collins (“Finding Dory”), “Turning Red” will debut exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available) on March 11, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

About TURNING RED

Disney and Pixar’s TURNING RED introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager

Disney and Pixar’s TURNING RED Review