Turning Red movie review: Growing pains for Pixar in pursuit of the next generation

Turning Red — Out Friday on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — is the third original attempt in Pixar’s 27-year history to release films centered on only one female character. (Some fall into the sequel or spin-off bracket, making up for five of the 25 films in total. The other 20 are male-driven.) Turning Red is attributable to an even bigger Pixar, behind-the-scenes first. In which director Domi Shea — the Oscar winner for the 2018 short Bao, released in theaters before Incredibles 2 — became the first woman to make an entirely Pixar film. (Previously, Brave’s Brenda Chapman had held the sole honor of a female Pixar feature-length director. Brave is one of those other two original efforts.) It’s clear that Pixar — or perhaps animation as a whole — is dire. Needs an imbalance correction, even more than the rest of Hollywood.

And thanks for its female approach – wrote Xi turning red The screenplay, along with playwright and TV writer Julia Cho (Halt and Catch Fire), is based on a story designed by Shi, Cho, and The Wilds creator Sarah Streicher—a coming-of-age middle school animated comedy pushed into nearly unknown territory for Pixar. is movie. On one level, Turning Red is about a 13-year-old girl dealing with puberty and adolescence, as her rapidly changing body scares and intimidates her. But on another level, Turning Red offers commentary on the classic wrong comment: Women are too emotional. New Pixaro The film’s young protagonist is repeatedly told to “keep her energy” – the characters allege that it would be “impossible to contain the dark side” if she displayed too much emotion.

There’s variety and there’s a couple of first in other avenues as well. Turning Red is the first Pixar film to feature a Chinese character, and the second to feature an Asian character, since Russell in the 2009 Oscar-winning Up. And thankfully, their identities are unclear, they just are. Turning Red is also a first in Canada – but although Toronto’s multiculturalism is scrutinized, it is never explored in any meaningful way. In fact, all the supporting characters remain majorly underdeveloped, be it Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Netflix’s) never have I ever) as the protagonist’s Indo-Canadian friend who has a handful of lines, or Pixar storyboard artist Hine Park as the animated Korean-Canadian friend who beatboxes. The diversity of the turning red should have meant more than just surface-level inclusions.

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Set in early 2000s Toronto – Xi is beginning her childhood – Turning Red follows the energetic and overconfident 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang) who wants it all. Being of Asian descent, Mei has been brought up with one sacred rule: Respect your family. That means prioritizing family duties over everything, including having a good time with your friends, Miriam (Ava Morse) who is Caucasian, and the aforementioned Priya (Ramakrishnan) and Abby (Park). But Mei is also a teenage girl. His friends and he are obsessed with 4*Town, the fictional equivalent of the boy bands NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. (Billie Eilish and her brother Finnace O’Connell provide the catchy pop songs for Turning Red, which serve as the soundtrack to the girls—and ultimately, the emotional underpinnings of the film.)

So, when the girls learn that Touring 4*Town is coming to Toronto, it’s a big deal – and an even bigger problem. Mei and her friends know that their parents won’t let them go, and so, they must figure out a way to raise the money they need – which is a lot – on their own. But for Mei, that’s far from the only challenge. One fine morning, just as her hormones begin to work, Mei discovers that whenever she is very excited, she poops at a giant red panda. (That’s literally the title of the film.) Mei learns it’s tied to her family heritage, so another major character in Turning Red comes in: Mei’s helicopter-parent Ming Lee (Sandra Oh). who, in his own words, looks at Lee like a hawk. A frightened Mei turns to her mother for help, who tells her that the only way to control it is to control it.

At the moment, Mei is completely onboard, as she just wants to attend the 4*town concert in her life. And she can’t do that as a giant red panda. On Turning Red, Shea does well to capture the very relatable embarrassment of adolescence — doing justice to the metaphorical meaning of the film’s title — and the opening scenes nicely capture the cringe and awkwardness we all experienced in our teens. felt at several points. lives. (Turning Red also puts a fun spin on some of the rote elements. Mei and her mom are really into the cleanup, which turns into a hilarious montage.)

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Sandra Oh as Ming Lee, Rosalie Chiang as Mei in Turning Red
photo credit: Disney/Pixar

Red latching onto certain thoughts—including the feeling of never being good enough for your parents, and never being able to hit the standards deemed for you. It reflects the multi-generational impact of what may have left a “respect your family” creed, but it is not given the time and depth it needs. On top of this, Turning Red’s second act fails to connect to it in a meaningful way, with Shea and Co. unable to expand on its themes in the typically resonant Pixar ways of old. And then, the ending of Turning Raid pushes into a more action and fantasy-oriented territory that doesn’t add to its emotional beats. The film’s closing (voiceover) lines convey its message succinctly, but it needs to be shown rather than just dumping it on our heads at the end.

It’s the sign of a film that needs more rewriting and time in the oven—Turning Red is a pleasant 90 minutes or so, but a modest Pixar effort overall. And the lack of depth is a sign that Xi is struggling to make the big leap from short films to feature-length projects. It’s also a setback for Pixar, as She is the only female highlight among the next generation of in-house filmmakers who remain in a male-dominated environment.

She spent time with the likes of Enrico Casarosa, who made his feature debut on the Italian Riviera adventure, before being given his first feature-length shot as part of Pixar’s “Senior Creative Team”. luca last year, and Angus MacLaine, who co-directed Finding Dory, gets a single shot with toy story prequel spin-off light year later this year. They are to take over from Pixar veterans such as Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich—the veteran Doc who made Pixar’s last great film, Soul, so they’re still around—but it’s not all going well. While some have struggled like Shea, others have left after the hit to pursue a career elsewhere. The increasing pain continues with turning red.

Turning Red is releasing on Friday, March 11 Disney+ And Disney+ Hotstar, In India, Turning Red is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. In countries without Disney+, Turning Red is available in theaters.