Cautionary Tale Of A Teenager Bottling Up Emotions (Disney Pixar's Turning Red)

 

Pixar has years of iconic animated features that have not only entertained children for the last 2 decades but as well as the adults that take them to watch these movies. Pixar, being one of the more progressive parts of Disney, a pretty accomplished and well-known animation studio, presents an all-new original movie called Turning Red, a mature addition to their filmography.

Taking place in Canada in 2002, the story centers around Mei Lin, a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian, who is THE definition of an ideal daughter by doing her part at the family temple, getting good grades, and does not spend too much time with friends, and ignores her growing feelings for boys to avoid disappointing her overbearing mother. One morning, Mei Lin wakes up as a Red Panda when she gets into a state of strong emotion. With these puberty-like mood swings, Mei starts to - what do parents call it? - Rebel. 

One thing to excessively point out is that Turning Red is a coming-of-age story that breaks Disney's more well-known barriers. Pixar may have been known to make viewers cry and gain some lesson once the credits roll but this story is more of an actual cautionary tale of a teenager bottling up emotions. Providing yet another narrative of a rebellious child defying their parents, the film also points out that sometimes children do indeed need room to breathe, let alone grow. Considering Mei is a model child for kids these days that try so hard to not be a disappointment in the eyes of their parents and friends, all she wants is to let loose every once in a while. Like most animated movies these days, a lot of the themes are also targeted towards the parents, reminding them that they also made mistakes and rebelled once before. 

With words like sexy, drugs, and undeniable euphemism for the menstrual cycles mentioned within the script, it seems that Pixar is finally not afraid at referencing real-life issues teenagers actually go through, whether it's physically or mentally. Based on Disney and Pixar's track record and this is a coming-of-age story after all, Turning Red would have been much less impactful if it wasn't so explicit subtly or obviously. 

Turning Red happens to also be Pixar's first film to feature a big diverse cast primarily including a number of Asians. And by Asian, I mean Chinese, Indian, and Korean characters. Mei Lin and her family are Chinese. Her friends, Priya and Abby are Indian and Korean respectively. Her bully turned friend, Tyler is of Vietnamese and African descent. With that, there's a Punjabi security guard wearing a turban at school. She has a Muslim classmate wearing a hijab. Even the boyband 4 Town, happens to be diversified. That is a surplus amount of representation used in a big-time Pixar feature and I am all for it. 

The animation is no doubt spectacular but it also pays tribute to Chinese animation with the characters having big pleading eyes and tears forming when they are sad, excited, or angry. Possibly being another cutting-edge 3D animated marvel, the film is the most aesthetically pleasing when it is focused on the Chinese aspects of this film, which fortunately is the main thread that pulls the film away from being considered as just another Pixar film. However, no Pixar film is in any way generic (this is including features like Cars 2 and Monsters University) but Turning Red is just different. It is a step forward despite the familiar paths taken with its storyline.

Sadly, Turning Red will not be gaining any box office attention since it is only available to stream on Disney Plus. But then, this is great because you can watch the new film anytime, with your family in the comfort of your own home instead of trying to drag everyone to the theater, fearing getting infected. With that said, Turning Red is a definite watch, especially for fans of Pixar's stories.