Through its smart and unique way of dealing with its subject matter, Turning Red instantly presents itself as a fun, memorable, and likeable family movie.
Overall Score: 10/10
Image: Pixar / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Ah, another year, another Pixar coming-of-age film. Hey, I’m not exaggerating here. Quite a few of Pixar’s cinematic entries (both old and new) fall under this one genre, with notable ones including Brave, The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, and Coco. But despite having made several of these movies, the famous animation studio never seems to run out of new ideas and new kinds of stories to tell.
This is true for Turning Red, one of Pixar’s two releases this year. It’s about a 13-year-old Canadian girl of Chinese descent named Mei who all of a sudden begins transforming into a slightly-larger-than-human-sized red panda whenever she gets emotional. Yet, even though it has elements of fantasy, Turning Red’s plot is actually rooted in and serves as a metaphor for something that’s in fact very real.
The thing in question, of course, is puberty. Every adult and teenager on the planet knows what it’s like to go through this phase of hormonal, bodily, and emotional change. You start to become irritable, experience mood swings, worry about the way you look, etc. It’s definitely not a fun point in life, and that’s exactly what Mei’s transformations are supposed to represent.
Throughout the film, Turning Red paints a clear picture of a young girl transitioning into adolescence as we see her go through these changes that make her feel scared, confused, insecure, and even alienated, and it’s all presented in a very clever and honest way. However, because this is a Pixar movie, it’s able to keep you from feeling awkward or uncomfortable by injecting itself with a healthy dose of comedy — of which Mei’s red panda form plays a fairly large part.
Aside from its unique approach to its subject matter, there are a bunch of other things that make this film what it is. For example, it being set in the early 2000s is a stroke of genius as it allows the filmmakers to play around with the things that were popular back then. This includes things like having characters own Tamagotchis and the movie having its very own in-universe boy band. Heck, even the soundtrack is filled with 2000s-inspired tunes.
Also, the choice to make the main character Asian was a really good one, as the film shows us the struggles that many of us Asians endure. It not-so-subtly makes fun of traditional and stereotypically over-protective Asian parents, all the while exploring the sometimes strained relationships we share with them. In some ways, it even feels real and authentic, and I don’t think I’d be stretching the truth by saying that Asians all around the world will probably be able to relate to Mei in one way or another.
Last but not least, Turning Red features a lot of great voice acting. Rosalie Chiang really knocks it out of the park with her lead role as Mei, infusing her with a sense of childlike innocence but refraining from sounding too annoying, and Sandra Oh as her mom is a spot-on stereotypically strict and controlling Asian parent. Additionally, the movie is brilliantly animated, and I appreciate how cartoonish it looks, making it — believe it or not — a refreshing break from Disney’s more realistic-looking works of animation.
At the end of the day, Pixar’s Turning Red is decidedly different from its other films, but it’s fun, funny, and honest, and easily ranks among its best. And while it may mostly be appreciated for its metaphorical exploration of female puberty, its other themes of friendship, change embracement, mother-daughter love, and intergenerational drama should resonate with most viewers and hopefully teach children, in particular, more than a few valuable life lessons.
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