Film Review - "Turning Red"

Turning Red

Directed by Domee Shi

Starring Rosalie Chiang and Sandra Oh

There seems to be a Civil War of sorts going on in Hollywood right now, and it's between Disney and Pixar. Over the past year or so, many Pixar employees have go on record over how the studio's recent films have been treated by The Mouse. 

Their last three films have had their theatrical releases cancelled, only to be unceremoniously uploaded to Disney Plus, without the $30 Premier Access paywall Disney laid in front of the likes of Black Widow, Raya & The Last Dragon, and the live-action remake of Mulan. Even Encanto, the company's last in-house animated feature was granted a theatrical release before moving to the streaming service. There are also recent reports of Disney censoring important moments of representation in Pixar films, which is awful.

It doesn't sit right when you remember before Marvel Studios, LucasFilm, and even The Muppets, Pixar was the only thing keeping Disney afloat at the start of the millennium. While their own animation studio was starting to flounder, Pixar really started hitting their stride. Disney was giving us Brother Bear and Home on The Range, while Pixar gave us Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

(By the way I'm not saying any of the Disney films from this era are bad, all entertainment is subjective, but in the grand library of animated classics these ones pale in comparison to say Beauty & The Beast or The Lion King.) 

Sure Pixar has had some missteps in the past with Cars sequels or mediocre dinosaurs but for most of the time they've been the gold standard for animated films, sometimes overshadowing the animated films of their parent company. Since 2001, when the category for Best Animated Feature was first instated at the Oscars, Pixar has literally taken home fifty percent of the trophies (The Academy might not give a damn about this category or respect animated films these days but that's another story...)

Anyway it just seems like Disney's "first born property" has become lost in the shuffle, and is now treated like a cliché red-headed (See what I did there?) stepchild. Which again, is a real shame because this decade has started out very strong for Pixar, with Onward, Soul, Luca, and now Turning Red (Yes I know. 'Finally he's going to get to the review...')

Turning Red follows Meilin "Mei" Lee (Chiang), a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian student growing up in 2002 Toronto. Mei works hard at school and home to make her mother Ming (Oh) proud, but also loves chilling out with her friends and obsessing over their favorite boy-band 4*Town.

One evening an ancient family curse befalls Mei, causing her tontransform into a giant red panda whenever her emotions run high (Like the Hulk but fuzzier). Naturally Mei is a bit shocked by these changes, and her overbearing mother dives headfirst into helping her through this process. Unfortunately, Ming forbids Mei from doing much of anything until the panda is under control, and that includes going to the upcoming 4*Town concert (I suppose a boy-band concert would invoke strong emotions in a young girl...) What follows is Mei's struggle to balance her own wants while still trying to please her mother, and keep her inner panda under control.

The best way I can describe Turning Red is if Pixar did a Disney Channel Original Movie, and I think if you were a big fan of DCOMs you'll really like this film. But it's also much more than that. It's a charming coming-of-age story that will resonate with anyone that's ever been a teenage girl, or just anyone who's tried to honor their parents and true selves simulatenously. For me it was much more the latter.

Mei's arc throughout the film is a very personal journey, and this a very unique Pixar film in so many ways. The film does a great job at characterizing young girls at the age (dorky, rebellious, awkward, obsessed with crushes, all that stuff). It also perfectly illustrates the relationship of a mother and daughter at this stage in life. I was sort of reminded of A Goofy Movie, as in both parent and child are being embarrassing to the other, but neither are necessarily in the wrong.

I think Pixar does a great job of finding great voice actors to play their child protagonists, and Rosalie Chang continues that trend. She just puts so much passion and humor into it. It's another iconic Pixar performance. All the young actresses playing her friends do great as well, and the dynamic of the group is spot-on. You can tell Sandra Oh was having a lot of fun playing her mother Ming. She embodies the archetype of an over-bearing mother, but also makes her very sympathetic and comical. Again, another high-energy performance in a film with a lot of energy. 

The animation is also great, and super expressive, sort of like if Pixar did an anime. It's also one of their funniest films. They really lean into the comedy. The animation definitely helps with the comedy too. I think the songs for  4*Town written by Billie Eilish were perfect, like they were ripped right out of the boy-band era of the early 2000's. I'd be lying if I said one or two of them haven't gotten stuck in my head...

I didn't find the film to be perfect though. It's a bit of a struggle to get invested in the first third of the film, as it is mostly just awkward teen humor, and establishing the fact Mei is embarrassed by her mother. Personally, it could be the fact I first watched the film with my mother and I was getting second-hand embarrassment, or that coming-of-age teen films have never been my favorite, but once we got to the "turning red" of it all, I was on board. Although in many ways you can predict where the film is going with the plot, that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. It's the journey, not the destination. This final point is not so much a criticism as much as an observation, and a bit of a spoiler but...the final act borrows from the superhero film playbook...make of that what you will.

Overall, I enjoyed Turning Red. It's one of Pixar's most unique, and personal films. I think it will become a lot of people's favorites, and I think anyone can connect with it on some level. Even the boys! (That's a joke. If you know, if you know.) Again, Pixar's on a serious hot streak these last two years, and I hope the public recognizes that, and I certainly hope Disney does too. The creators of Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and countless other classics deserve better. Fingers crossed they don't pull the rug out from Lightyear and make it another Disney Plus Original...