*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang) is 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. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren't enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is pretty much always), she transforms into a giant red panda.
The early teen years can be the most awkward and difficult stage of someone’s life. It’s that age when you’re too old to be a child but too young to be an adult but still the right age to make important decisions. This is why Turning Red will appeal to girls who are the same age as Mei as they’ll be able to resonate to her and her mixed feelings and strong emotions and the awkwardness she feels. She’s a typical teenager who enjoys hanging out with her friends, Miriam (Ava Morse), Abby (Hyein Park) and Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and has a crush on the boyband, 4*Town. Although Turning Red will mean a lot to girls in their early teens, there’s no reason why older viewers won’t enjoy it as it’s packed full of relatable humour and tells a meaningful and thematic story.
Turning Red is directed by Domee Shi who previously made the Pixar animated short, Bao, which was released in 2018 and shown before Incredibles 2. With her debut animated feature, Turning Red, Shi establishes herself as a creative storyteller. Because the film focuses on a girl in her early teens, it’s only right that it’s be directed by a woman who understands what Mei has been through. What is disappointing is that Shi is the first female to solely direct a Pixar feature film. Because Pixar have been making animated features for over two decades, it’s surprising that Turning Red marks the first time it’s directed by a female. In 2012, Brenda Chapman co-directed Brave with Mark Andrews. Hopefully, the success of Turning Red will lead to Pixar hiring more female directors and letting them tell their stories through the studios’ trademark imaginative animation.
Speaking of which, the animation is bright and colourful which makes all the more disappointing that Turning Red didn’t receive a cinema release. It’s a funny and relatable film that would have been popular with audiences looking for a new animated film following the success of Sing 2. I do question Disney’s reasoning behind sending Turning Red straight to their streaming service when their previous animated films, Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto, had a cinema release. Nevertheless, Turning Red is a strong addition to their streaming service and is entirely worth watching.
What’s refreshing about Turning Red is that it doesn’t shy away from the often taboo subject of puberty, which is, unfortunately, seen as a dirty word in today’s society and something a lot of parents don’t talk to their children about, which is sad as it’s something that we all inevitably go through. By using the red panda as a unique metaphor for experience puberty, Turning Red makes it accessible for families to watch and hopefully encourage them to talk about it. Mei’s mother, Ming, is surprised when she learns that her daughter is at that stage in her life and, in an amusing scene, tries to provide her with necessities such as painkillers and sanitary towels. Although the premise is silly as it focuses on a teenage girl transforming into a giant red panda whenever she feels strong emotions, Turning Red also feels like one of Pixar’s most mature films and reminded me a lot of Inside Out which effectively tackled mental health.
With Turning Red, writer/director Domee Shi tells an original coming of age story through colourful and vibrant animation.
8/10
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