Pixar did it again! Their latest movie, Turning Red, is the first coming-of-age animated film I’ve ever seen that achieves great representation of growing pains. Turning Red premiered on March 11 on Disney+, and if you haven’t seen the movie, I suggest you do it before reading this article because this review will contain some spoilers.
Before I express my thoughts, I would like to share some information about the crew behind the film!
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Turning Red is the first Pixar movie where the key creative roles were filled by women. Domee Shi, the director, is a famous Chinese-Canadian animator who started working at Pixar in 2011. She is known for her short film Bao (2018) and for being the first woman to direct a short film and now a feature film at Pixar. When she started developing Turning Red, Domee wanted to have the support of a loyal and capable team, so she put together a whole group of talented female artists who have worked at Pixar for many years. The main ones in the team were Lindsey Collins, the producer, Rona Liu, the production designer, and Danielle Feinberg, the visual effects supervisor.
I recommend watching the documentary Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red on Disney+ if you want to know more about the behind-the-scenes process of creating this amazing movie, because something that many do not know is that Turning Red was made almost entirely during the pandemic.
After all that information, it’s time to talk about the movie and what my thoughts are. Again, please be aware that this review will contain some spoilers. Enjoy!
SYNOPSIS
Meilin “Mei” Lee is a Chinese-Canadian thirteen-year-old girl who lives in Toronto. Mei has to choose between continuing to be an obedient daughter or giving in to the chaos of adolescence when, thanks to a family legend, Mei turns into a giant red panda whenever her emotions run high.
MY THOUGHTS
I will focus on two things in this article: main characters and argument.
At the beginning of the film, our protagonist Mei shows us a lot of innocence, but at the same time, the confidence that children have before entering adolescence. Before being considered adolescents, I think that in us, there is still that trust in what we say and do because what others believe is still not relevant to us. The only ones who have power over us until then are our parents because they are the ones with whom we spend most of our time.
Mei’s personality at first is influenced by what she has learned from her mother, Ming Lee. Mei admires her so much that she wants to show the world that she is this independent and strong person, just like her mother.
Ming Lee is a character I didn’t like at first. But at the end of the movie, Ming became one of my favorite characters. In the beginning, she seems like the villain of the story, but in reality, she is not. Turning Red doesn’t have any villains as such. A villain must never transform and must do everything possible to ensure that the hero never wins, but in Turning Red, the character of Ming Lee does transform. Ming and her journey in the movie represent the process of accepting that children change and grow.
Unfortunately, Mei’s mother never felt the support of her family when she went through adolescence. However, Ming was always very direct with her daughter. From the beginning, Ming was present to tell Mei that everything she was feeling was normal and that what was happening was that she was transforming into a woman. We can see this when Mei first transforms into the red panda and has a panic attack in the bathroom. Ming quickly walks over and asks her daughter if she’s okay, but the conversation takes an unexpected turn, and Ming thinks Mei is experiencing her first menstrual cycle.
Mei has to learn to live with the red panda for a month, as she has to wait until there is a lunar cycle to perform a ritual that will cause Mei to lose the power to become a red panda forever. The “red panda” actually represents all those physical and psychological changes that come with adolescence. And although they are normal, the first time we experience them can make us panic.
Mei’s best friends Miriam, Priya, and Abby are also a crucial part of the story. Miriam is the rebellious friend, Priya is the introverted friend, and Abby is the extroverted friend. The three together become Mei’s great emotional support system as she discovers herself and struggles to control her powers of becoming a red panda. As we grow and mature, our friends become our allies and confidants. I think the reason is that, like us, they are experiencing the same things, so it is easier to empathize with each other.
In the end, Mei realizes that she doesn’t want to lose her red panda. Mei learns to accept that this part of her is what makes her unique and different.
The most important message that I could find in Turning Red is that we have to learn to lower our parents from that pedestal on which we have put them. Our parents aren’t perfect, and neither are we, and that’s normal. Growing up is a process full of challenging moments, like learning to separate from our parents. But finding friends to help us along the way and understanding that we must be ourselves is the most important thing.