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Movie Review: Turning Red

Growing up is hard to do—especially if adolescence means turning into a giant red panda. But the movie takes some ticklish turns of its own. Read the Plugged In review: https://www.pluggedin.com/movie-reviews/turning-red-2022/ If you've listened to any of our podcasts, please give us your feedback: https://focusonthefamily.com/podcastsurvey/

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• DVD & Streaming

Turning Red

• Animation , Comedy , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• February 7, 2024
• Rosalie Chiang as Meilin "Mei" Lee; Sandra Oh as Ming Lee; Ava Morse as Miriam; Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya; Hyein Park as Abby; Orion Lee as Jin Lee; Wai Ching Ho as Grandmother; James Hong as Mr. Gao; Tristan Allerick Chen as Tyler; Addie Chandler as Devon

Home Release Date

• March 11, 2022

Distributor

Positive Elements   |   Spiritual Elements   |   Sexual & Romantic Content   |   Violent Content   |   Crude or Profane Language   |   Drug & Alcohol Content   |   Other Noteworthy Elements   | Conclusion

Movie Review

Adolescence is hard.

That’s no secret, of course. Why, adolescence itself is almost like an anti-secret—filled with all sorts of embarrassing things you’d rather just lock away. You grow what seems to be several feet taller in, like, about a second. You start growing hair in weird places. You sprout a tail. Your body odor ratchets up a notch or two. You—

Oh, wait. You mean to tell me that you didn’t sprout a tail when you were an adolescent? Well, consider yourself lucky. Mei is here to tell you that growing tails—or anything else more at home on a red panda—is no picnic.

Mei, a 13-year-old girl of Chinese descent and Canadian citizenship, never asked to transform into a gigantic red panda. In fact, she never knew the option was on the table. Her main concerns were keeping her grades up, keeping her love of boy band 4-Town strong and keeping her mom proud of her. And a little touch of puberty wasn’t going to stop her from performing her scholarly/friendly/daughterly duties to the letter.

But it seems as though her mom has been keeping a secret from Mei.

While most kids have to navigate cracking voices and oily skin in adolescence, Mei’s family takes puberty to a whole new level. Long ago, one of Mei’s ancestors made a bargain with the gods: Help me protect the village from rampaging attackers ! She prayed. The gods granted her the ability to transform into a gigantic red panda, which did the trick.

But the gods, apparently having a rather twisted sense of humor, gave this gift a catch: All the women in the family thereafter would be able to turn into pandas, too—a neat ability in feudal China, but less ideal in urban Toronto. And the transformation itself can be a bit tricky. The panda comes out when emotions run high. And given that adolescence is a time of sky-high emotionalism … well, let’s just say that his magical red panda is about the only panda that’s not endangered.

But that’s not all. Mei’s mom, Ming Lee, warns her daughter that the panda comes with a dark side. As such, most of the women (Ming Lee included) have undergone a special ceremony that has separated the women from their panda alter-egos. Mei can—and will—do the same, once the full moon makes an appearance.

It can’t happen soon enough. Whether it’s the panda’s “dark side” or something else, Mei’s not quite thinking like herself these days. She’s angrier. More prone to lash out. She sometimes lies to her beloved family. Sneak behind their backs. Think about boys , and not just the members of 4-Town.

Mei’s not the sweet little girl she used to be. She’s part panda now. And the panda wants to come out.

Positive Elements

Turning Red is an in-your-face metaphor for puberty and all the changes that go along with it. As we’ll see, the film tackles those changes straight on, without a blink or a flinch. And it reminds us that while adolescence can feel strange or even monstrous at times, it’s a normal and even beautiful transformation.

The movie also understands how difficult adolescence can be for both kids and parents. The dynamics between the two are changing, and how both parties navigate those changes can impact relationships for a long time to come. (We see that Ming Lee doesn’t have a particularly close relationship with her own mother, and Ming Lee’s own transformation was to blame for that.)

Mei loves her own family very much. Certainly, her relationship with her mom faces strains during the film, but the underlying affection remains.

But—again, a nod toward what happens to most of us during adolescence—she’s deeply and increasingly committed to her friends: Miriam, Priya and Abby. With the exception of a late plot hiccup or two, the four of them support one another unwaveringly. They’re the center of Mei’s life, really—and as such, it’s perhaps no surprise they help center her , too. When Mei discovers that peace and calm can banish her panda self for a time, Mei thinks of her friends to conjure that sense of serenity.

Spiritual Elements

Ming Lee leads tours of her family temple for visitors, with Mei serving as “its assistant temple keeper.” Mei tells us that there, “instead of honoring a god, we honor our ancestors,” and mother and daughter light incense as they kneel before a portrait of one of them.

That revered ancestor (Sun Yee) is called the “Guardian of the Red Pandas.” Before we know about the family gift/curse, we know that Sun Yee sacrificed herself for others, and that the red panda “blessed” the family. (It’s only later, when Mei goes through her transformation, that we’re told the gods bestowed this magical “blessing” on the family.) We sometimes see flashbacks or visions of sorts of supernatural red pandas flying about, sometimes smiting their enemies.

The separation ceremony feels quite magical as well: A circle is drawn around the person who would be separated from her panda-self. Others stand around the circle and chant. (We’re told the music and the chanting could be anything, as long as it comes from “the heart,” but Mei’s family is made up of traditionalists who chant what sound like magic incantations.) And if the spell ceremony works as it should, a glowing symbol or rune of some sort appears in the circle as well.

[ Spoiler Warning ] While the ceremony separates supernatural panda essences from their mortal human cohorts, the panda parts of them don’t go away: Rather, they’re housed in various objects—often pieces of jewelry—that the mortal human then keeps on her person.

Members of 4-Town arrive, decked out as angels. We see people dressed in ways that would indicate other religions, including a Sikh dastar and a Muslim hijab. We hear that someone has “50 years of experience as a shaman.”

Sexual & Romantic Content

Mei and her friends are deeply infatuated with the five members of 4-Town, and we hear Mei and her friends talk about how they might date and marry and settle down with the bandmates. (They discover one of their male friends has an affinity for the band, too—crying along with all the tween girls when the group takes the stage during a concert. Read into that what you will.)

But Mei’s also starting to feel attractions for boys closer to home. She begins doodling pictures of Devon, one such would-be crush: The first drawing we see depicts him apparently shirtless, holding Mei in an embrace. Another picture features him as a merman—complete with tail. We don’t see any other drawings, but when her mom looks at them, she’s appalled. “Did he do these things to you?!” she asks, horrified. She then marches down to the convenience store (where the boy works) and demands, “What have you done to my Mei Mei?!” Devon’s done nothing, of course; in fact, he doesn’t even know her name.

Meanwhile, Mei’s equally as horrified by what she drew. “What we you thinking, drawing those things?!” she scolds herself. “Those horrible, awful, sexy things!” But it’s not the last time that Mei fantasizes about a boy in a fish tail. We see part of one of her mer-fantasies, which is strong enough to trigger her panda transformation.

Mei and her friends flirt with some middle school boys. Mei expresses a desire to dance somewhat suggestively—shaking her rear end and such—much to her mother’s horror. Her mom scolds other kids, too. “Where are your parents?” she says to some unseen targets. “Put some clothes on!” We see a guy shirtless.

Another sensitive subject that Turning Red alludes to repeatedly, and one that is related to reproduction and anatomy (which is why we’ve included it in this section), is menstruation. When a panda-tized Mei, hides in the bathroom, her mother assumes that’s the issue: She asks Mei, “Did the red peony bloom?” We also see and hear references to menstrual pads. Mei’s mom also talks with her about the importance of “protect[ing] your petals and start cleaning them regularly.” We hear references to cramps. And some might hear an echo of menstruation in the film’s title.

Violent Content

Ming Lee cautions Mei that their spirit-pandas come with a “dark side,” and we do see Mei transform into a panda when she becomes enraged. At one point, Mei’s arm clicks into panda mode and hurls a rubber dodgeball through a school window.

Mei’s parents even move her into a furniture-less bedroom until it’s time for the transformation ceremony. (We see claw marks on the walls and floors, presumably from Mei in her transformed state.) But even when the panda isn’t a product of violent anger, its mere size can cause problems: She causes plenty of property damage in said form.

A massive arena suffers some massive damage. Someone’s kicked in the shins. People wrestle a bit. Supernatural animals fight and bite. Mom and Mei watch a Chinese show, and Mom mentions that one of the characters will likely be stabbed on his wedding night.

Crude or Profane Language

Two uses of “crap” and two uses of the initials “O-M-G.” We also hear plenty of other crude insults tossed about, too.

Drug & Alcohol Content

When Ming Lee believes that Devon’s been untoward toward her daughter, she says that he’s what happens “when you don’t wear sunblock and do drugs all day.”

Other Noteworthy Elements

Mei starts acting in some un-Mei-like ways, and I don’t mean just turning into a panda. When her mother refuses to let her go to a concert, Mei decides she’s going to go anyway—and she spends much of the rest of the movie lying and hiding things from her parents. We learn that her grades have started to slip, too. And later, throws her friends under the metaphorical bus to keep from getting in trouble with her mom.

We hear references to constipation and body odor.

Ever since Pixar rolled out the landmark classic Toy Story , the studio has been known for telling some of the best cinematic stories of the age. And while Pixar’s movies are technically for kids, those labels can obscure the beauty, depth and resonance of the films themselves.

Up is an astounding and affecting rumination on grief. Inside Out does nothing less than unpack the human psyche. Not every Pixar film has been a home run. Some have had their own issues. But generally, from Finding Nemo to The Incredibles , from WALL-E to Soul , Pixar films have generally pulled off a rare double achievement—offering audiences of all ages beautiful messages beautifully told.

Even Brave —not considered among Pixar’s best—bravely jumped headlong into the ticklish family dynamics between a demanding mother and headstrong girl and found some fertile middle ground therein. In the movie, Mom realized that she couldn’t turn daughter Merida into someone she was never born to be. But Merida understood that growing up meant embracing not just new freedoms, but new duties, too.

By those standards, Turning Red is a disappointment. Its own mother-daughter story skips the depth and maturity that’s been such a Pixar hallmark, leaning instead on a short-sighted, do-your-own-thing ethos. Indeed, in some ways, it’s almost the grinning doppelganger of Brave .

Turning Red starts where Brave ends—with Mei expressing an understanding that personal freedom and autonomy inherently need to be balanced with the needs of family and community. “I am my own person,” she says, “but that doesn’t mean doing whatever I want. Like most adults, I have responsibilities.”

But while Brave suggested that mature understanding was something that people grew into through adolescence, Turning Red suggests that’s something we should grow out of .

“I like boys!” Mei eventually shouts at her mother. “I like loud music! I like gyrating! I’m 13! Deal with it!” In the movie’s ethos, this isn’t a childish temper tantrum: It’s a declaration of emancipation, Mei telling her mom that she was done following her rules. (And this at an age when child psychologists say that adolescents are literally, in some ways, a little crazy.) In fact, Mei even uses a spin on a pro-choice slogan that’s chilling for a couple of reasons: “My panda, my choice,” she says.

Now, admittedly, Mei’s rebellious panda stage comes with some lessons for mom and dad. Mei’s mother is pretty controlling. And as adolescents mature, parents can gradually ease up on the restrictions a bit—especially if their kids, like Mei, have proven themselves to be reliable. Teens need to have room to explore their individuality and test some limits; it’s part of growing up. Doubling down on rules and restrictions without context can indeed lead to rebellion and, sometimes, fractured relationships.

But this story lacks the nuance or the fortitude to show where Mei was wrong, too. The movie suggests that, while family values are all well and good, the individual trumps all. It’s the ethos of the “me generation,” just spelled M-E-I.

And that’s not the only way that Turning Red slips from Pixar’s historically sky-high podium. While the story’s entertaining, it’s not engrossing. It’s competently, but not beautifully, made. And while many of Pixar’s best didn’t have a whit of Plugged In content concerns, this has plenty—from its spirituality to frank sexual asides to a few crass words and phrases.

Sure, you can find plenty of worse fare out there for children. Turning Red didn’t have me turning red. But it didn’t leave me tickled pink, either. And given Pixar’s lofty pedigree, that left me feeling rather blue.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Turning red.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 289 Reviews
• Kids Say 273 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Pixar coming-of-age tale explores puberty and parent issues.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Turning Red is Pixar's coming-of-age adventure set in early-2000s Toronto about Meilin "Mei" Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a Chinese Canadian teen who unleashes a literal red panda when she starts going through puberty. The panda transformation -- which can sometimes be intense and…

Why Age 10+?

The panda transformation can come with a dark side. When the panda gets angry, s

Young teens have crushes on members of a boy band. They kiss the band's CD and p

Insult language like "dork," "narc," "brainwashed," "jerkwad," "butthead," "frea

Off-screen product tie-ins.

Mei's mom makes a comment that a boy's behavior is the result of not wearing sun

Any Positive Content?

Main character Mei and her family (as well as writer-director Domee Shi) are Chi

Promotes open and honest communication between parents and kids, particularly te

Mei is a caring, thoughtful daughter, a compassionate friend. After her inner pa

Violence & Scariness

The panda transformation can come with a dark side. When the panda gets angry, she can cause both purposeful and accidental damage. Lunar ceremony that Mei goes through seems painful. Mass property damage during a concert scene when a giant, somewhat scary red panda wreaks havoc, forcing concertgoers to run for their lives; even the musicians look in danger (it's eventually played for laughs). After she transforms, Mei is kept in her room and jumps around, butting her head against walls and causing minor damage. Mei throws a dodgeball with her panda arm, and it goes so fast the ball breaks a window. Supernatural pandas push and fight one another. Arguments, confrontations.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Young teens have crushes on members of a boy band. They kiss the band's CD and poster and talk about the attractiveness of each member. A girl finds a boy cute and ends up sketching various images of him -- e.g., him as a merman, the two of them kissing, etc. She sweats as she draws the images, telegraphing her attraction/infatuation. Discussions of "hotness" and the boy band's gyrating moves. Teen hormones and puberty/adolescence (including talk of a girl's period) are a major theme.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insult language like "dork," "narc," "brainwashed," "jerkwad," "butthead," "freak," "psycho mom," "creepy temple," and "crap."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Mei's mom makes a comment that a boy's behavior is the result of not wearing sunblock and of "doing drugs all day."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

Main character Mei and her family (as well as writer-director Domee Shi) are Chinese Canadian; Mei's best friends are White, South Asian, and Korean. Mei's Canadian nationality and Chinese ethnicity are both prominently featured, and voice actors were cast authentically. Mei lives in Chinatown, and her family runs a temple. Strong representation of a young woman going through puberty and the confusing, awkward, hormonally charged nature of adolescence. Tight girl friendships are a major theme.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

Promotes open and honest communication between parents and kids, particularly teens. Highlights challenges of adolescence and how the process can deepen bonds between friends and between parents and teens. Encourages curiosity, compassion, courage, self-control, teamwork.

Positive Role Models

Mei is a caring, thoughtful daughter, a compassionate friend. After her inner panda is unleashed, she becomes more curious, adventurous, courageous, but she also lies to her parents and keeps secrets from them. In one scene, she's disrespectful after weeks of not being honest with them. Mei's parents, especially her mom, have high expectations and can seem overprotective, but they love her unconditionally, want to do what's best for her. Mei's friends are supportive, kind, honest.

Parents need to know that Turning Red is Pixar's coming-of-age adventure set in early-2000s Toronto about Meilin "Mei" Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a Chinese Canadian teen who unleashes a literal red panda when she starts going through puberty. The panda transformation -- which can sometimes be intense and leads to both unintended and purposeful damage/destruction -- is definitely a metaphor for adolescence, and the movie skews more toward an older tween/early teen audience than many of Pixar's other films. The story centers the city's Chinatown community where Mei lives and features an authentically diverse cast. With puberty and adolescence at the heart of the action, expect references to periods and celebrity crushes, discussions of "hotness," and descriptions of the attractiveness of popular singers (as well as another older teen) and their gyrating dance moves. Occasional mild and insult language includes "crap," "freak," "jerkwad," "butthead," etc. The film encourages curiosity, compassion, courage, self-control, and teamwork, and families who watch together can discuss lots of issues afterward, from the importance of having honest conversations about puberty to the dangers of lying and keeping secrets and the need for both close friends and trusted adults. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (289)
• Kids say (273)

Based on 289 parent reviews

Don’t be misled by over-critical reviews

What's the story.

Set in Toronto circa 2003, Pixar's TURNING RED centers on 13-year-old Meilin "Mei" Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a rule-following middle schooler who's the only child of her overprotective parents, type-A Ming ( Sandra Oh ) and quiet Jin ( Orion Lee ), who run a Buddhist temple in the city's Chinatown. Mei and her three best friends -- Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and Abby (Hyein Park) -- are infatuated with popular boy band 4Town and crush on a local teen who works at a convenience store. One morning, after an unsettling dream about both real and celebrity boys, Mei wakes up transformed into a literal red panda. She finds out that the metamorphosis is an ancestral rite of passage for the women in her family when they reach puberty, but that a lunar ceremony can confine the panda into an amulet. Since strong emotions can bring on the transformation, Mei must call upon all her meditation skills to resist the change until the ceremony can take place. That works for a while, until her friends convince her that changing into the panda could be fun -- and lucrative.

Is It Any Good?

Delightful, funny, unapologetically girl-centered, and a surprisingly touching allegory for adolescence, this is Pixar's most teen-friendly film. It's also a gift for anyone who remembers the onset of puberty, pining over musicians (in this case, a shout-out to millennials who crushed on O-Town, *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and the like), and struggling to balance meeting parental expectations with friendships and newfound interests. Chiang does a lovely job conveying Mei's emotional and physical changes -- how she genuinely wants to obey her parents, take care of their family temple, and be a good girl but also enjoys her BFFs, loud music, and, yes, boys (even if they are of the unattainable pop-heartthrob variety). And Oh, who's also Canadian, is ideally cast as Mei's mom, who's more complex than the fussy helicopter mom she initially seems to be. Although dad Jin is a kind and loving presence, Turning Red is at heart a story about mothers and daughters. Mei and Ming's dynamic is in some ways universal: the bittersweet and at times outright confrontational push-and-pull of surviving teen rebellion (whatever that looks like).

Visually, Turning Red , like all Pixar movies, is phenomenal. Director Domee Shi (who herself is Chinese Canadian and was 13 in 2002), is clearly drawing on her own lived experiences of Toronto, its Chinatown, and being a teen in the early '00s. The movie, like her short film Bao , is also an emotional reminder of the tender joy and turbulent angst of growing up -- particularly with a demanding but loving mother who has sky-high expectations. But audiences don't need to be Canadian, Chinese, women, girls, or millennials to relate to and enjoy this story, because its themes and central metaphor work for everyone who has or will experience the awkward excitement of transforming from child to teen. Like Inside Out or The Mitchells vs. the Machines , Turning Red is a standout addition to animated movies that capture the overwhelming feelings of coming-of-age.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the theme of adolescence in Turning Red . How is puberty/coming-of-age a major part of the story? Do you think that makes the movie more relevant to tweens and teens than to younger kids?

Why do you think Mei always feels like she has to do what her parents, particularly her mother, wants? How does she learn to tell her parents the truth? Did you find the movie's family dynamics relatable?

How do Mei and other characters display courage , curiosity , empathy , and teamwork ? Why are those important character strengths?

Did you relate to the movie's setting -- both the time (early 2000s) and the place (Canada)? Do you think that's necessary to appreciate the story's themes and messages?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : May 3, 2022
• Cast : Rosalie Chiang , Sandra Oh , James Hong
• Director : Domee Shi
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Asian directors, Female actors, Asian actors
• Studios : Pixar Animation Studios , Disney+
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Friendship , Middle School , Wild Animals
• Character Strengths : Courage , Curiosity , Empathy , Self-control , Teamwork
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : thematic material, suggestive content and language
• Award : Common Sense Selection
• Last updated : August 7, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Turning Red

Back in middle school, when she was barely a young teen, this critic had, ahem, a massive crush on a boy one year her senior.

I can’t recall if we were already a couple when I foolishly filled my notebook with his name and some sappily romantic sentiments one evening, not knowing that the embarrassing pad would soon be discovered by my annoyingly overprotective detective of a mother. But I do remember sweating in shame, fear, confusion, and panic when she yanked the notebook from under me (in desperation, I sat on it to unsuccessfully hide the evidence of my young love) and started flipping the pages in utter shock and anger.

Now imagine my astonishment during Oscar-winning “Bao” helmer Domee Shi ’s masterful animation “Turning Red,” while I watched its 13-year-old central character undergo a similar episode with her own mother! The heroine in question is the overachieving Meilin ( Rosalie Chiang )—Mei for her loved ones—growing up too fast with her budding hormones and changing body amid her Chinese-Canadian family in the Toronto of the early aughts. A slightly dorky straight-A student she may be, but there’s nothing anyone could do to stop her from noticing all the good-looking boys—particularly a local store clerk—that she and her best friends frequently gush over. That anyone includes her disciplined, willowy mother Ming ( Sandra Oh ), who discovers Mei’s notebook of suggestive heartthrob drawings in furious disbelief. What’s Mei to do if not literally turn red and POOF, transform into a furry, monstrously cute red panda in the midst of navigating all these intense emotions? (Why hadn’t I thought of this when I was similarly busted? And more importantly, where was this movie when I was growing up?)

And that is the genius of “Turning Red,” a radical, brazenly hormonal PG movie that instantly fills a huge void in the lives of awkward, novel female teens who might just be starting to crawl out of their childhood cocoons with a disharmony of mystifying awakenings and sexual feelings. That achievement is perhaps no surprise coming from Pixar, a studio that can always be trusted for a generous dose of reflective, grown-up nostalgia as well as a good old-fashioned coming-of-age saga. After all, weren’t some of the best characters of the fiercely inventive animation house—from the talking dolls of the “ Toy Story ” franchise to the corporeal feelings of “ Inside Out ,” the rebellious princess of “ Brave ,” and the aspiring young musician of “ Coco ”—gloriously defined by its signature preoccupations? Still, “Turning Red” (which deserves a lot better than the straight-to-streaming fate Disney has bestowed upon it) feels pioneering and surprising even for the shop behind the groundbreaking animated sci-fi “WALL-E.” For starters, never before has a Disney female ever been asked, “Has the red peony blossomed?” as an inquiry about the start of her menstruation. 

In that regard, “Turning Red” is both a triumphant thematic homecoming for the company and a welcome outlier within the Pixar canon that is, exceptions aside, typically over-flooded with male-centric narratives. What’s even greater about it is its recognizable foundation carrying shades of various superhero tales and the likes of “Teen Wolf” (the 1985 one). You know, stories in which boys and men hide behind their alter-egos while they make sense of the new eyes through which they see the world. Written by Shi and Julia Cho , “Turning Red” passes this familiar baton to Mei, unearthing something that is both culturally specific and universal through its Chinese-Canadian protagonist clearly fashioned by the co-scribes with heaps of personal memories and loving insights.

It’s certainly a delight to follow Mei once she discovers her inner red panda and figures out that as long as she keeps a cool and collected demeanor sans emotions with a little help from her friends, the pink brute won’t take over. Who knows, she could perhaps even lead a normal life and even have some fun along the way. But that’s easier said than done when you’re a teenage girl defined by your wobbly mood swings and the time you spend with your equally frenzied group of friends. In Mei’s case, her girlhood clan consists of the sharp-tongued Abby ( Hyein Park ), nonconformist Miriam ( Ava Morse ), and the nonchalant Priya ( Maitreyi Ramakrishnan ). Together, the celebrated quartet swing from one trouble to the next, trying to do everything they can to see their dreamy boy band 4*Town in concert. (The five-member band does have some actual bangers in the film, written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell.) But with Mei’s plush red panda slightly altering their plans, the friends finds themselves at a crossroads that directly concerns the young Mei’s future.

As it turns out, Mei had been cursed with a spell passed on through the generations of women in her family. And it can only be broken if she willingly participates in a strenuous ritual that would keep her nuisance alter-ego safely tucked away forever. Through this dilemma, Shi beautifully constructs a traditional tale of generational clash between Mei and her mother, filling their unity and contradictions with thoughtful details of their urban life: the family temple they run as a tourist attraction, the elaborate, studiously cooked meals, the domestic support that runs deep within their household. The animation style—infused with traditional motifs, interludes of anime, and a zippy energy—rises to the occasion, vividly painting Mei’s world with the same level of intricacy Shi and Cho conjure up on the page. While the film’s slightly bloated finale overpowers some of the leaner moments that come before it, “Turning Red” flickers with a bright feminine spirit, one that feels new, crimson-deep, and unapologetically rebellious.

On Disney+ on Friday, March 11th.

Tomris Laffly

Tomris Laffly is a freelance film writer and critic based in New York. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC), she regularly contributes to  RogerEbert.com , Variety and Time Out New York, with bylines in Filmmaker Magazine, Film Journal International, Vulture, The Playlist and The Wrap, among other outlets.

• Rosalie Chiang as Mei Lee (voice)
• Sandra Oh as Ming (voice)
• Jordan Fisher as Robaire (voice)
• Grayson Villanueva as Tae Young (voice)
• Josh Levi as Aaron Z. (voice)
• Topher Ngo as Aaron T. (voice)
• Finneas O’Connell as Jesse (voice)
• Orion Lee as Jin Lee (voice)
• Wai Ching Ho as Mei's Grandma (voice)
• Ava Morse as Miriam (voice)
• Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya (voice)
• Hyein Park as Abby (voice)
• Addie Chandler as Devon (voice)

Cinematographer

• Jonathan Pytko
• Mahyar Abousaeedi
• Ludwig Göransson
• Nicholas C. Smith
• Steve Bloom

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‘Turning Red’ Review: Pixar Made a Lovely Film About Growing Up That Isn’t Horribly Sad!

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Pixar likes to make its audience cry. Since the “When She Loved Me” montage in Toy Story 2 , some of Pixar’s best films often center around mortality and shattering loss, whether in the Carl and Ellie montage in Up , Andy saying goodbye to his toys in Toy Story 3 , or the loss of Bing Bong in Inside Out . Around the same time Pixar was becoming known as one of the best animation studios of all time, they were also becoming known as the studio that could make the viewer cry, be it through toys, fish, monsters, or robots. But quite often with these scenes and many others, Pixar intertwined the loss of youth with deep sadness, as if growing up inherently has to come hand-in-hand with mourning what was lost.

With Pixar’s latest film, Turning Red —and last year’s Luca — Pixar seems ready to shift away from the tears, but rather, show that they can have an impactful, moving story without the moments of deep sorrow. While Pixar’s attempts to move away from these type of sadder stories has often led many to call films like Luca “lesser” Pixar films, instead of what they really are: ways for Pixar to expand their capabilities with varying tones, but still maintain the same amount of power. Turning Red , therefore, is a perfect example that Pixar can tell a charming, joyful story that can be affecting, without the dour notes.

From Domee Shi, the Oscar-winning director of the Pixar short Bao , Turning Red follows Meilin Lee ( Rosalie Chiang ), a thirteen-year-old Chinese-Canadian overachiever who starts the film by saying that the #1 rule in her family is to honor your parents. While Meilin loves making her family proud and working at the family temple, she’s also a teenage girl that wants to hang out with her friends and fawn over the boy band 4*Town (set in the early 2000s, Turning Red absolutely nails the boy band aspect, with music written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell ). One morning, Meilin discovers that when she gets too excited, she turns into a giant red panda, a blessing/curse that has been passed down through her family. Meilin was already struggling to balance the two sides of herself, but this red panda situation makes her life understandably even more difficult.

RELATED: ’Turning Red’s Domee Shi and the Creative Team Behind Pixar’s Latest Talk How the Film Evolved, and the Film’s Great Supporting Characters

With Bao , Shi showed the difficulties of a child moving into adulthood from the parent’s perspective, and with Turning Red , she shifts the focus on telling the difficulties of growing into adulthood from the child’s perspective. Turning Red is hitting on all sorts of topics that young teenagers have to deal with—such as menstruation, becoming an adult while not losing who you are, and the struggle of trying to become yourself while also wrestling with maybe not becoming who your parents thought you would turn out to be—but with a lightness and care that doesn’t undercut the importance of these issues or how tough this period of life is for a kid. Turning Red does a beautiful job of balancing the delight and terror of becoming your own person outside the family you were raised in.

While past Pixar films have certainly felt personal to the filmmakers creating the movie, Turning Red ’s narrative feels distinctive to Shi, an idiosyncratic story that is unique to her own experiences. Shi was a teenager in the early 2000s, is also Chinese-Canadian, and her experience with Bao shows that this bond between parents and their children is immensely important to her. As great as they are, Pixar films can often seem like a cool concept that could be handled with varying degrees of success by any number of filmmakers. But Turning Red doesn’t feel like it could come from anyone else. Shi—who also co-wrote the screenplay with Julia Cho —creates a story that has such a prominent voice, yet remains deeply relatable. Much in the way Pixar previously embraced animation auteurs like Andrew Stanton , Pete Docter , and Lee Unkrich , Shi has a style of her own that simply couldn’t be replicated.

Also a huge part of the irresistible world Shi and Cho have created is its incredible voice cast. Chiang is immediately brilliant as Meilin, a ball of energy that rapidly becomes plagued with insecurities. Chiang makes this character an endearing mess of emotions that always feels real—even when she becomes a gigantic red panda. Integral to this character is Meilin's friends, played by Ava Morse , Maitreyi Ramakrishnan , and Hyein Park . This support system pushes Meilin in just the right ways, helps her deal with her newfound situation by giving her support and unconditional love, while each character also is hilarious in their own unique way. Like Meilin's family, her friends want the best for her and wants to support Meilin's dreams, even if they may make her relationship with her family more strained than it ever had been before.

But naturally, the core of Turning Red is family, and the key to this dynamic is Sandra Oh as Meilin's mother, Ming. Oh arguably has to balance the most through her performance, varying from caring mother to an overbearing monster at times, but no matter what aspect of Ming she’s showing, that desire for her daughter to do what’s best always shines through. While he doesn’t have quite as much to do, Orion Lee as Meilin's father, Jin Lee, also gives a small but wonderful performance that gives Turning Red just the right amount of emotional heft the film needs in the third act.

Pixar has shown us time and time again that they know exactly how to push the right buttons to move us, to make us cry, to devastate us. But what Turning Red is doing might be even more impressive, a bright story that doesn’t skimp on the moving sentiments, but provides these emotions in a lovely, fun, and largely optimistic story of self-discovery and the first steps into womanhood. Turning Red can do all this in a film packed with panda transformations, ridiculous boy bands, needy Tamagotchis, and absurd first crushes. Turning Red proves that a Pixar film can be cheery, positive, and light, while also leaving a touching and powerful impression.

Turning Red comes to Disney+ on March 11th.

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