Puberty can be a difficult and confusing time for just about everyone – but few of us have to deal with a change quite as radical as that which affects Mei Lee, the protagonist of Pixar’s latest feature animation Turning Red. Mei, a confident 13-year-old living in early noughties Toronto, is already beginning to suffer some of the downsides of adolescent angst when all of a sudden she finds herself being intermittently transformed into a giant red panda, hardly the thing she needed to calm her nerves.
She’s understandably rather dismayed – and extremely embarrassed – by the unusual metamorphosis, but soon finds a way to try and use it to her benefit. Taking advantage of the bemused wonder her newfound ability inspires in her classmates, she attempts to make use of the unwanted talent to raise funds so she can attend a gig by her favourite boyband, 4Town. And this being a Pixar film, of course, she learns some important and valuable life lessons along the way – about friendship, about the complex inner lives of her parents, and about the history of her Chinese Canadian family.
Turning into a giant red panda is perhaps not the most subtle of metaphors for puberty, but the film is proudly loud in its approach throughout, full of a rather hectic energy that mostly works in its favour but occasionally feels a bit much. That frantic visual style can certainly take a little getting used to, especially after the relative quaintness of Pixar’s most recently released film Luca, but it does allow director Domee Shi plenty of leeway to firmly stamp her authority on the story.
Shi inventively uses a range of different animation styles and techniques to effectively mimic Mei’s rather frenzied teenage mindset – presenting the film as an “Asian tween fever dream” as the director put it to RadioTimes.com. In some ways, that style is not unlike that used in hit HBO series Euphoria. It’s perhaps a strange point of comparison – Turning Red certainly doesn’t deal with sex or drugs, and is altogether more upbeat – but the ways in which the hectic visuals reflect the inner turmoil of its teenage protagonist, with everything seeming loud and important and dramatic, bears some resemblance.
Like Luca before it, one of the film’s main benefits is that it feels very much like a personal project rather than just another bland studio product, with a specificity of time and place that gives it an extra charm. Particularly fun is the way it brings to life its early noughties setting – through a combination of fashion, music, and regular appearances of Tamagotchis – although admittedly that milieu seems destined to appeal more to adult viewers who came of age at the turn of the millennium than to the younger cohort who comprise the film’s main target audience. Meanwhile, another of Turning Red’s strengths is its authentic portrayal of the Chinese Canadian community, with some interesting observations about cultural assimilation and holding on to one’s roots that come to the fore after a revelation about Mei’s family history in the second act.
There are also some rather touching scenes. One conversation between Mei and her Dad – in which you get the sense she’s properly realising for the first time that her parents are also complex people with their own pasts – is a highlight, while there is a nuanced depiction of teenage friendship, presented in all its messy glory with some bitter fallouts alongside the good times. In addition, there are a variety of great gags – in both dialogue and visuals – which will be sure to raise a few chuckles, while the lively voice cast, which includes newcomer Rosalie Chiang as Mei and Killing Eve star Sandra Oh as her mother, put in solid work.
On the whole, the film doesn’t quite reach the heights of Pixar’s greatest hits – its loud, hectic approach can get a bit tiring at times, and the grandstanding setpiece in the final act feels a little out of place – but the beloved animation studio has set the bar pretty high over the years, and there’s no shame in not quite managing to join the pantheon of all-time classics. Turning Red is still an interesting diversion from the studio’s usual style, with some standout moments and an abundance of personality, and is certainly worth a watch when it lands on Disney Plus this week.
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