Turning Red is Pixar at their most awkward and relatable. Chinese Canadian animator Domee Shi became the first woman to helm a Pixar short. The Academy Award winning Bao won everyone over with its unique premise where a mother learns to let go of her son. Though Brenda Chapman co-directed Brave, Shi also became the first woman to helm a feature length Pixar movie. When Pete Docter became the new chief creative officer of Pixar animation, the studio embraced more passion projects like Luca. Turning Red is another personal story based on the director’s adolescence as a Chinese immigrant growing up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Though it’s another Asian influenced Disney movie, Turning Red stands out for one big reason.

Turning Red asks the question, what if a hormonal teenager transformed into a literal beast? A girl turning into a giant red panda is certainly different, but there’s more than enough Pixar magic in the movie. Turning Red is practically a spiritual successor to Inside Out that takes place in the early 2000’s. I was won over the moment I heard The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC in the trailers. At this point I wasn’t surprised when Turning Red went from theatrical release to streaming exclusively on Disney+. It’s another shame since it would’ve been an interesting theater experience. Turning Red had an all female production team that focused on a lot of taboo feminine experiences. Though I can’t always relate, Turning Red is one of the better Pixar movies I’ve seen in a long time…

Turning Red never came with a short, since it’s the third Pixar movie in a row to be streaming exclusive. Though they blamed it on the Pandemic, I’m pretty sure Disney didn’t have enough faith in the movie to keep it in theaters. Soul, Luca, and Turning Red are all original projects that Disney underestimated the impact of. After Brave, Turning Red is the second Pixar movie about a complicated mother-daughter relationship. The main difference is a Chinese perspective. Bare in mind Everything Everywhere All at Once was released the same month, but both movies couldn’t be more different. Turning Red begins with 13 year old Chinese Canadian middle schooler Meilin Lee as she talks about honoring her parents and potentially forgetting to honor herself. Then the serious tone shifts the second Mei breaks the fourth wall. Newcomer Rosalie Chiang was born to voice Mei-Mei. The 12 year old aspiring actress was originally a temporary placeholder voice, but Pixar soon realized she was perfect for the role. Chiang captures Mei’s overachieving personality, inner conflict, and quirky sense of humor. It’s refreshing to see a Pixar movie that actually tries to be funny up front. Lately there’s been way more emphasis on emotion than comedy.

Turning Red is one of the funniest Pixar movies in recent memory. Backgrounds and clothing are very colorful since the movie is from a tweens point of view. The warm and inviting computer animation is distinctly Pixar, but Turning Red is a lot more unique and stylized. Similar to Bao, Domee Shi was influenced by Anime like Sailor Moon and video games like Pokémon. The flashy imagery and big bright anime eyes are unmistakable. Though Mei’s Chinese ancestry is a big part of the movie, there’s just as much attention given to Canada. Despite the modern sensibilities and usual emphasis on diversity, Turning Red is set in the year 2002. Since I grew up in the early 2000’s, nostalgia was another reason I enjoyed the movie. Mei has a Tamagotchi and is totally obsessed with the fictional boy band 4*Town. So now Coco, Soul, and Turning Red have all centered around era appropriate music. 4*Town looks and sounds so much like every boy band from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. They’re ethnically diverse with matching outfits and boyish good looks. Robaire is the front man who speaks French, Jesse is the artistic one, Tae Young loves animals, and Aaron T. & Aaron Z. also exist. Despite being less than 1 year old at the time, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell flawlessly capture the sound of a 2002 boy band.

Though they have other hits like “1 True Love” or “U Know What’s Up,” “Nobody Like U” is their catchiest signature song. It’s the song that Mei often sings when she’s goofing off with her friends. Turning Red is very unique for featuring a sisterhood of close female friends. Mei’s circle of equally quirky friends includes Miriam, Priya, and Abby. Miriam is a Caucasian tomboy with braces voiced by singer Ava Morse. She’s arguably Mei’s best friend, since Miriam sticks up for her the most and keeps everyone else in check. Priya is Indian with a deadpan personality voiced by Never Have I Ever star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. Abby is Korean with a short fuse and a lot of energy voiced by storyboard artist Hyein Park. Mei’s friends are the right combination of weird and hilarious. Though they aren’t exactly unpopular, Mei does deal with her obnoxious biracial bully Tyler voiced by Tristan Allerick Chen. Most of the respectable cast is unknown, but there are well known Asian stars like Sandra Oh. This is Oh’s third computer animated mother role in 3 years after Over the Moon and Raya and the Last Dragon.

Ming is Mei’s overprotective mother who sets a lot of rules and wants her daughter to be the best. She doesn’t approve of 4*Town or Mei’s friendship with Miriam for unexplained reasons. Oh manages to make Ming funny in an embarrassing parent kind of way. Though people might call her a “tiger mom,” Mei has a very close relationship with her mom. They spend time cleaning up and giving tours in their family’s ancient temple. Although Mulan included praying to ancestors, Turning Red has more overt references to Buddhism and a mystical connection to red pandas. I’m not crazy about those story beats, but at least the food looks delicious. There’s plenty of Bao, along with a Miyazaki-esque cooking scene filled with other Chinese dishes. Orion Lee is Mei’s soft-spoken father who does most of the cooking, but tends to stay in the background. Though the story could’ve gone in all sorts of directions in this day in age, Mei and her friends are all boy crazy fangirls who make 4*Town their rite of passage into womanhood. Turning Red more than earns its PG rating with a lot of surprisingly risque jokes and edgy topics for Pixar (or Disney).

It all starts with Mei saying “crap” after a failed spontaneous cartwheel. Mei’s friends spend time gawking at boys like the 17 year old Daisy Mart clerk Devon. Mei’s hormones flare up when she impulsively draws several “sexy” pictures of her and Devon. Teen lust is not something I ever expected to see in a Pixar movie, but I imagine this is what Inside Out 2 would be about. It’s another hilarious sequence, but Mei’s mom finding out and showing Devon is next level embarrassment. Ming accuses Devon of doing drugs and causes Mei to question what she did. Overnight, Mei undergoes a startling transformation into a giant red panda. Transformations are another anime staple, but Turning Red is one of several Pixar movies influenced by Hayao Miyazaki. Like Totoro before her, Mei is a large huggable monster with soft fur. Red pandas aren’t as well known as actual pandas, but the adorable animals did receive attention in the Kung Fu Panda trilogy. The title Turning Red has several meanings. It can refer to embarrassment, Mei’s literal transformation, or the film’s most taboo subject. Mei becoming a red panda is a metaphor for puberty, but Ming mistakes it for her first period.

Growing up as a boy who never had sisters, I didn’t learn about menstruation until I was older. It was just something no one ever talked about. Especially not in a movie meant for children. The only other kids cartoon to explore menstruation was Braceface in 2001. Ironically, Braceface and Turning Red are both set in Canada and deal with the messy side of growing up. Though the word “period” is never said, it’s obvious when Ming brings out an assortment of pads and herbal tea for cramps. Mei has several mood swings and attempts to hide her panda from her parents. Only when Mei calms down does the panda go away. Though her black hair is red from now on. Mei covers her hair with a hat and tries not to show any emotion at school. Except when Tyler picks on her and she sees another boy that she likes. The panda finally comes out when Ming shows up at school with more pads. A big pink cloud hides Mei’s identity, but her mom and a girl with diabetes manage to see her. Panda Mei runs across the city until she gets home. Turns out her parents know all about the red panda curse.

Mei learns about her ancient ancestor Sun Yee who prayed to become a red panda in order to protect her village. Since then every female descendant has had to deal with becoming a red panda once they reach a certain age. The only way to contain the curse is by locking it in a talisman during a red moon ritual. Turning Red is very unique for Pixar, but it is similar to The Incredible Hulk since strong emotion brings out a beast. It’s also similar to Teen Wolf since it takes a casual approach to a hereditary teen monster going through changes. Believe it or not, even I once had an idea for an adolescent superhero who transforms into a red animal during puberty long before the movie came out. At first, Mei keeps her power locked in her room just like Elsa in Frozen. Until she accidentally exposes herself to her friends who are excited for 4*Town coming to Toronto. Priya, but especially Abby are enamoured with Mei’s adorable red panda appearance. Miriam manages to cheer Mei up with an impromptu “boots & cats” beatbox of “Nobody Like U.” Their friendship is enough to neutralize the panda, but her parents still test her emotions in a variety of humorous ways. When Mei passes she takes the opportunity to ask to go to the concert. Mei shows signs of rebellion when her mother says no and it’s revealed that Ming had a similar relationship with her mother. Encanto had more than enough generational trauma in it, but at least Turning Red doesn’t dwell on it.

After her recurring role as Madame Gao in the Marvel Netflix shows, Wai Ching Ho voices Mei’s grandmother Wu. Her facial scar is later revealed to be the result of Ming’s red panda. Wu arrives for the red moon ritual and is joined by Mei’s four interchangeable aunts. When Ming continues to helicopter parent, Mei grows even more rebellious. Like Teen Wolf, Mei grows increasingly popular when she exposes her panda to the rest of the school. Together with her friends, Mei uses the red panda to sell enough merchandise to afford going to the concert. Ming assumes Mei joined a math club, and everything goes well until Tyler promises to pay $200 to have the red panda at his birthday party. When she accepts, Mei’s grandmother tells her the more she transforms the harder it will be to control. Mei goes to the party anyway, and her friends convince her to transform. The red panda is the hit of an early 2000’s party that includes era appropriate songs like “Cha Cha Slide” and “Bootylicious.” Problems arise when it turns out the night of the red moon is the same night as the concert. Mei loses control when she attacks Tyler with her red panda. Then it gets worse when Mei sides with her mother who accuses her friends of making her use the panda.

Miriam, Priya, and Abby go to the concert alone while Mei prepares for the ritual. Mei’s father finally speaks up when he tells her about Ming’s panda and encourages her friendships. Of course Turning Red wouldn’t be complete without James Hong as local shaman Mr. Gao. He leads the red moon ritual in a chalk circle where Mei’s relatives must sing from the heart. Mei enters an astral plane where she must cross a veil in order to lock away her panda. SPOILER ALERT! In a surprising twist, Mei chooses to embrace her panda and disobey her mother to go to the concert. Ming is so distraught that her talisman breaks and she becomes a red panda too. I expected more than one red panda, but Ming is the size of a ten story kaiju! Mei rides her transformation cloud all the way to the concert where she makes amends with her friends. They also discover Tyler is a 4*Townie and embrace him as one of their own. The concert kicks off without a hitch, but it all comes crashing down when the building size Panda Ming embarrasses Mei once again. This time Mei is ready to confront her mother. Turning Red has what may be the weirdest climax in Pixar history. Panda Mei finally confesses to lying, liking boys, and she shakes her butt in defiance.

It gets to a point where Mei knocks out her mother in the middle of the SkyDome. Mei’s remorse mirrors the regret Ming had for hurting her own mother. With time running out, the only hope to get rid of the pandas are by recreating the ritual in the middle of the concert. Grandma Wu, Aunt Chen, Aunt Ping, Aunt Helen, and Aunt Lily all transform back into red pandas in order to help pull Panda Ming into the chalk circle while continuing the ritual chant. Would you believe they somehow found a way to have a pop song be the thing that saves the day? That’s exactly what happens when Mei’s friends convince 4*Town to sing “Nobody Like U” to complete the ritual. In a tear worthy moment, Mei is taken to the astral plane where she reconciles with a past version of her mother. Ming reconciles with her mother and the aunts who are ready to walk through the veil. Never thought I’d see so many Asian women with red hair in one scene. Ming makes one last attempt to reason with Mei, but she ultimately agrees to let her grow up. In the end, Mei finds a way to balance her family life and personal life without letting go of the red panda within her. Turning Red isn’t always comfortable viewing, but that’s all a part of growing up.