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Thoughts : Turning Red (2022)

Disney continues its march through the realms of inclusion and culturally diverse storytelling with its latest Pixar release, Turning Red.  With the film centering around the experience of a Chinese-Canadian family in Toronto, there is plenty to relate to for viewers from all kinds of backgrounds, and though the expected lashing out that comes with the release of seemingly any film has struck Turning Red, it seems that the film has easily weathered that storm and found itself immediately endeared by both critics and the public at large.  After what has been a monumentally busy month and a half, I refocused my efforts back to watching and writing about films, and Turning Red seemed like a simple and possibly enjoyable reentry point.

Like many Disney/Pixar offerings, Turning Red operates on two levels narratively : a direct level on which the intended younger audience can find connection, and a subtextual level meant to connect with a broader and more diverse audience with a bit of life experience.  In terms of its surface level, Turning Red succeeds on a level of directness arguably not seen since Inside Out in terms of laying out a story that the intended audience can relate to.  With puberty being an inescapable fact of life for both boys and girls, finding a reason to sympathize with Mei is all but inevitable, and her passion for life only endears her more to young people with an optimistic outlook on its possibilities.  Her friend group, comprised of the boisterous Miriam, the rambunctious Abby and the stoic Priya, is a wonderful balance of Mei’s personality aspects externalized into fully-rounded individuals she can not only interact with, but receive fair feedback and judgement from for her actions.  I will not lie, though... until Turning Red outright confirmed that Mei was, in fact, turning into a giant red panda, I was a bit confused as to whether the transformation was meant to be taken at face value or meant to serve as an analogy for the evolution from girlhood to womanhood.  In some ways, the panda transformation is a roundabout symbol for puberty, which can make the film’s name come off a bit unknowingly crass for those who think too deeply into things, but ultimately, it is shown that the panda transformation is more so an analogy for finding your place in the world while under the shadow of parental and familial expectations, which also works very well in terms of serving the narrative.

Speaking of parental and familial expectations, Turning Red applies the adult subtext in a reserved nature, slowly turning the valve as the film proceeds in order to create a balance that serves the film’s climax.  Mei introduces us to the idea of parental and familial expectations from her perspective, which allows parallel lines of understanding between Mei, her mother Ming, younger viewers and adult viewers to box all parties into both the film and real life shared experience.  There has been a bit of negative feedback to Turning Red about it being another story about familial expectation released so close to the massively popular and successful Encanto, but for my money’s worth, I appreciate the way that Turning Red not only frames the parental stance as more deep concern than a fixed set of expectations, but also sets up viewers for a rewarding bait and switch as we learn more about the panda “curse”, Ming’s past, and most importantly, the generational echoes that pass down from Wu to Ming to Mei.  The addition of revealing that Ming’s experience with the panda curse is deeply connected to her romance and marriage to Jin is also a nice touch.

Call me crazy, but in my opinion, Turning Red may be the most Sony Pictures Animation film that Disney/Pixar has ever released, and somehow, they managed to pull lit off without coming off as complete style thieves.  Much of this aesthetic familiarity and comparison comes from the highly spirited editing and pacing of the story, as the film hits the ground running with tons of highly-stylized character and story point introductions, making it feel a bit like a moving comic book at times.  The music also leans heavily into stylized remixes of familiar pop songs from a generation or two ago, not to mention a few direct song drops that comment on the narrative goings-on within the film.  On a technical level, the animation detail within the film is deceptively mind-blowing, specifically in the extremely real feel of natural elements like fur, smoke, hair and so on.  The design of the characters is another aspect that reminds me of Sony Pictures Animation, with them coming off as human enough to connect with and sympathize for, while being pronounced and stylized enough for certain physical attributes to serve as immediate indicators for personality.  The love shown for Toronto as a popular filming location comes across in the way that the animators and background artists designed the city, right up to its signature architecture such as the Rogers Centre and the CN Tower, as well as a few smaller Easter eggs that Canadian viewers will get a chuckle out of.

Rosalie Chiang has a wonderfully powerful ability to play high energy without stepping over into the realms of overplaying, and through this lightning in a bottle energy she harnesses, it is nearly impossible not to immediately fall in love with her depiction of Mei, as she makes everyone believe deeply in both her character’s creed and choices.  Sandra Oh plays off of this energy that Chiang emits by roping hers off and making it barely perceptible how much she is holding back, keeping herself prim and pristine up until the point that her public face is shattered and she is tossed headfirst into dealing with her repression.  Oh’s performance finds itself dually bolstered by the performances of Orion Lee as Jin and Wai Ching Ho as Wu, with Lee’s calm and supportive presence serving as a perfect spiritual match to the still intimidation that Wai Ching Ho employs.  As for Mei’s friend group, the standout is clearly Ava Morse, who willingly steps into the tomboy realm with tons of enthusiasm and jovial playfulness, not to mention a moment of real hurt that still communicates a want (and need) to maintain a friendship.  Maitreyi Ramakrishnan gives a triumphantly unbothered performance that downplays her youthful enthusiasm, and as a former “quiet child”, this was the performance I connected the most with.  On the opposite end of that “quiet child” spectrum stands Hyein Park, who manages to ratchet up the energy presented by Chiang to code red levels while still managing to avoid the realms of comic overplaying.  Other standout performances and appearances include Tristan Allerick Chen, James Hong, Addie Chandler, Sasha Rioz, Lily Sanfelippo and a handful of others.

In all honesty, Pixar may be a can’t miss animation studio.  They seem to have the secret code when it comes to amazing looking animation that is heartfelt and relatable.  As Turning Red was largely pushed as a Disney+ streaming event, I am not sure what kind of theatrical run it received, but this film would probably be a blast to see on a big screen.  Regardless of what method you choose to check out Turning Red, this one comes highly recommended from us here at DOOMonFILM.