Meilin is a 13-year-old girl who is torn between being her mother’s obedient daughter and the chaos of her youth. As if that were not enough, when she gets too excited, she turns into a big red panda.
“Turning Red” is the third Pixar film to not be issued a theatrical release after “Soul” and “Luca.” This film is like “Kung Fu Panda” and “The Incredible Hulk” mashed together but is cuter and more child-like. As the studio engages in cultural diversity lectures, writer-director Domee Shi receives her big break by helming another original film from Pixar Animation Studios that will certainly blow the fans and audiences away. Actresses Rosalie Chang and Sandra Oh received their main, mightier roles in the film.
“Turning Red” focuses on a 13-year-old teenage girl named Meilin (Rosalie Chiang), who is torn between being her mother and the chaos of her youth as she wants to have the freedom to do whatever she wants, rather than following her family roots. However, there is one small problem: whenever she gets too excited or stressed about something, she turns into a big red panda and goes back to her human form when she feels calm. With this situation, she must figure out a way to get herself back into her human self for good.
Actress Rosalie Chang, in her film debut, voices Meilin while Sandra Oh voices Mei Lee’s overprotective mother Ming, who forbids her to talk to some boys and attend the concert. “Turning Red” serves as a first-time feature film for Pixar director Domee Shi, leading her to become the second woman to direct a Pixar film (after Brenda Chapman for “Brave”) and the first woman of color to do so. As you may know, she directed her own Pixar short, “Bao,” becoming the first woman to direct a Pixar short, leading her to receive an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. The short film was released in front of “Incredibles 2.”
Shi’s direction, the story, and the animation are superb thanks to Shi herself, writer Julia Cho, producer Lindsey Collins, and the team of animators. Shi crafts the story by utilizing her own experiences of growing up, bringing the references and images based on her childhood and personal trauma while following her family roots and her Canadian roots at the same time. Pixar’s “Bao” references are easy foresight, adding her integrity and confidence to build up her artistic ways of storytelling and building climaxes. “Turning Red” is the real definition of what Pixar filmmaking has to be done in the shape of any visionary storyteller like Andrew Stanton, Dan Scanlon, and Pete Docter. The latter two serve as executive producers of the film. In addition, the music duties coming from Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther”), Billie Eilish, and her brother Finneas O’Connell add a nice, enduring sparkle to engaging family customs and the representation of Asian people in the film.
In the story, the aspects of family dynamics, one’s own freedom of choice, and the use of Asian culture take center stage, since the main family characters’ devotion to religious rituals is put into place. In that case, the film’s second half is mainly about Meilin, who wants to go to the boys’ band concert, against her mother’s wishes, instead of the annual family ritual that coincides on the same day as the concert. It seems that Meilin only wanted to do something new for once in her life though she refused to break the family tradition entirely. Family traditions are just one important thing Meilin’s mother has mainly focused on. Still, she soon realizes her devotion to passing down the tradition is a threat to Meilin’s well-being, freedom, and right to do whatever she wants. The chemistry between Meilin and her mother hammers down the mother-daughter dysfunctional relationship and constantly finds new ways of weaving the tableau to make this family-feature film as dynamic as previous Pixar films.
The rest of the voice cast did a great job as well. The film includes Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Meilin’s friends, Orion Lee as her father Jin, Wai Ching Ho as her grandmother, and Tristan Allerick Chen as her bully Tyler and James Hong as Mr. Gao. The boys from the 4 Town band are also voiced by Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva. However, for some strange reason, Pixar mainstay John Ratzenberger doesn’t have a cameo in the film.
Pixar’s “Turning Red” is a wonderful animated film, clocking in at 100 minutes. Director Domee Shi and the voice cast are what make the story, filled with tears and strong heartwarming lessons, and I can’t wait to hear more stories coming from women at Pixar. Though sadly, this film didn’t get a theatrical release, it’s worth the wait, even though we have COVID-19 disturbance and dilemma to deal with. Hopefully, the main goal for the future of Pixar is to release a film theatrically once the world is getting increasingly better.
Now available on Digital HD, and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD May 3rd
