A Must-See Modern Classic! "Turning Red" Review - T.E.C.

(SPOILER WARNING: This post contains mild spoilers for Turning Red, so if you want to watch the movie completely blind, watch that first then read this. Enjoy!)

Turning Red is a 2022 animated feature film written and directed by Domee Shi. Domee Shi first had her big break with her short film, (that played before The Incredibles 2), Bao. Let me begin by saying, I really love her style of direction and animation, and I really enjoy the stories she can tell through the medium of animation.

GUYS TURNING RED IS REALLY GOOD LIEK ITS SOGOOD?v=q-Q_e6hxyyA

The Story

Turning Red is about a normal girl named Meilin, (Mei for short), who is living a normal life under the watchful eye of her mother. This coming-of-age tale takes place in Canada in 2002, and Mei is Chinese-Canadian, making the setting blend together beautifully. The historically-rich temples and gardens compared to recognizable Canadian landmarks like the Sky Dome, (the Rogers Centre now), and the CN Tower. One morning, after a particularly scary dream, Mei has turned into a giant red panda. This panda-morphing power was a “gift” passed down through generations of women who could transform, eventually reaching the 8th-grade Mei. With the help of her friends and her family, she learns to live with and love the panda, and (SPOILERS) eventually chooses to keep the panda inside of her. This story is fairly simple, but very creative in many regards.

The Characters

Along with our protagonist Mei comes a group of her best friends, who are her biggest supporters and her best helpers with controlling her panda. This group includes Miriam, a super good buddy and totally not Mei’s future girlfriend, Priya, an emo-like, totally not furry, werewolf-loving girl who is very unexpressive and chill, and an intense, fiery ball of energy that is Abby. I honestly love the dynamic and chemistry this friend group has, mainly because they are all believable. I could definitely see these people being best friends. Another big group of characters include Mei’s aunts, who are honestly kinda forgettable, a little hateable, but loving nonetheless. Mei’s grandma is honestly really scary, and she knows all. Mei’s mother, Ming, is overprotective and careful, but very loving and understanding towards the end of the movie. Mei’s father is really kind and gentle, and has a really good ASMR voice. (That end-credits scene actually kills me.)

There is also 4*Town, a 2000’s-like boy band made up of Robaire, Jesse, Tae Young, Aaron T, and Aaron Z. I LOVE 4*TOWN MORE THAN YOU CAN COMPREHEND. The songs that 4*Town sing throughout the movie were actually written by Billie EIlish and her brother Finneas! The songs are honestly really good, no joke. I love that mashup with the SING FA SUM SUN thing and Nobody Like U. It's great. My favorite members are Aaron T and Tae Young. Did you know that the VA for Tae Young was actually in the Harry Potter frog choir at Universal Studios? Did you also know that Jesse is voiced by Finneas himself? I love 4*Town if you couldn't tell. But everything i've said up to this point is complete nonsense. I think we all know what's about to go down. IT'S TYLER TIME.

Tyler

Ok, I will somehow keep this short, because I actually might be planning on making a whole separate post about how Tyler is the best character ever, but while i'm here I need to mention him! Ok, Tyler Nguyen-Baker is the 13-year-old, angel from on high, 4*Townie, bisexual icon, antagonist turned material gorl, best character in the entire movie, if not all of cinema history. He is in the top 10 list for the best thing humans have ever created, UNLIKE the WORST thing humans have EVER created, the stupid, idiotic, terrible, horrible, trash, dumpster-fire that is the lion king. It doesn't even deserve correct capitalization.

MOVING ON, Tyler is my favorite character because at first, he is this troubled boy who doesn't know who he is yet, and is trying his best. However, throughout the film, he transitions into this 4*Town-loving, material gorl, bisexual icon, who acts as a gift from the heavens. I literally cry whenever he's on screen. I am obsessed with him. I quote King Tyler multiple times a day, and you don't want to see me during the scene where stupid idiot Mei mauls him. Poor Tyler. I love him, and I will probably write a whole other post only explaining how he is the best thing in the entire stupid universe. #noticemetyler

The Animation

I'll try to keep this section short, because this post is getting long enough as it is, but I couldn't write a review of a new Disney-Pixar movie without mentioning the animation. I honestly love the new style this movie is going for, and while some of the character designs, (mainly the Aunts), can be a bit jarring at times, I like the designs of basically the main cast. I also really enjoy seeing merely the fur on Mei when she turns into a red panda, and it's incredible how realistic everything looks. Speaking of realistic, those shots of the coy pond and the wind chimes towards the beginning of the movie really get to me every time. It's incredible to take a step back and look on the basics like Toy Story and A Bug's Life. It's crazy how far this studio has come. Not to mention those shots from Luca of the trees and grass AHHH. Anyways, the animation is generally really smooth, and I like it alot.

There are also the missable details of, right before some action shots, you can see a few frames of black and white, which really contribute to the punch and the flow of the scenes. I also know that this movie and its animation were really based on anime and anime works, and you can really see the inspiration with a few shots of Mei (when she's on her way to the Sky Dome) jumping in front of the moon. Basically every frame of this movie can be turned into a wallpaper, and I really love it. The animation is just so smooth and clean, and so much looks so realistic. I enjoy the designs, (but I also see why they're hated), and I like the feel the animation brings to the screen. It's really curved and round, almost seeming fuzzy, which I enjoy. I honestly really love this animation, and I think the color pallete, (mainly consisting of reds, oranges, and purples), is nice and cool, and is easy on the eyes. I like it.

The Message

Turning Red basically teaches kids to be themselves and let their wild, non-perfect side free. I do feel that this message isn't the best, and it isn't the greatest payoff to this movie, and it isn't shown in the best way, but it's.. fine. Another (possible/subtle) message being portrayed throughout basically the whole movie is the theme of childhood and growing up. Obviously, there's the message about how the red panda thing is a synonym for, well, periods, but the message I'm focusing on is just (I guess, the loss), of childhood innocence. From the dynamics of the friend group to the generic bully character, this movie is jam-packed with 'traditional' youthful norms that are often seen in locations like middle school. The whole vibe of this movie radiates a 2000's, y2k, almost retro energy. These aspects make for a fun, upbeat, honestly very watchable film. Again, I don't quite think the message is the best, but I can overlook that because of the other, much better features of the film.

Broken Records

This film, other than being a fun, beautifully animated, awesome piece of art, has broken many records in terms of inclusivity and analytically. For one thing, this is the first, (second if you're counting Brave), Disney-Pixar movie being solo-directed by a woman. Dome Shi was an intern at Pixar for 11 years before directing this film, and has worked on many different features including Inside Out and Toy Story 4. This film was also the first Disney-Pixar work to have the creative team be completely run by all women. It's been a long time coming, but these strides in terms of inclusivity are definitely paving the way for future Pixar works to be run by more than mainly men.

Another point of inclusivity in this film are the many aspects throughout the film,including many characters of different ethnicities, and even one girl having a diabetes patch, (also known as a glucose sensor), which is probably the first time something like that has been featured in a film, let alone an animation film, let alone a Disney-Pixar animation film. Overall, there's tons of little details shown throughout the film that have been noticed and appreciated by fans. It's incredible to finally see so much inclusivity in one film, and it's really great these things aren't being hidden or discouraged. Of course, there's more to be done to fully achieve inclusivity, but this is a great start and a bright look on the future of animation.

Conclusion

Again, I'll try to keep this short, but this movie is really great. I enjoyed the characters a lot, I enjoyed the plot mostly, the message was a bit messy but alright in the end, the animation looked good enough to eat, and the records being broken especially in terms of inclusivity were outstanding. Generally, I really liked the film as a whole, and I think the fanbase of stans and other 4*Townies that were created because of this film honestly blow my mind. The impact his movie has had on many young kids and teens alike is overwhelmingly flourishing, and I can't wait to see what comes next from the studio we know as Disney-Pixar. Goodnight Tri-State Area. - T.E.C.

(DISCLAIMER: Like most of my work, this post has been written over a period of a few weeks. I apologize if it seems a bit choppy while reading or my opinions differ severely. I have been working on many different projects at once, and I'm finding the time as best I can for work. I hope you enjoyed!https://m.youtube.com/watch)

*Tyler is in 8th grade and currently older than me. I'm not weird.

**Don't take that whole 'separate post about Tyler' thing too seriously. I mainly put that there to emphasize how much I love Tyler. (That doesn't mean a Tyler post is completely off the table, but hold your Tylers, as there's no post about him in my schedule currently.)