I feel I have attempted to watch Turning Red maybe four or five times since it was released, but each time has been met with admittedly a bit of disinterest in the film due to the controversy it had, as well as the usual slight judgement that comes with a modern Disney or Pixar release. There's no doubt that the two have been changing things up in recent years, certainly making a few flops and generally going against what fans of their franchises typically expect. Pixar itself has a very high standard it has set for itself that audiences follow, stemming all the way back to Toy Story and its massive digital impact on the world of animation. I think, myself included in this demographic, that people have a certain expectation from these two studios that they themselves don't quite want to follow as times change, which results in some clashing and perhaps unfair criticism of their works before they're even released. Though, at the same time, Disney in particular do seem utterly lost and far too profit-hungry to see their mistakes -- can those live action remakes come to an end already?!
The other week I finally saw Soul, a Pixar release that came out during the chaotic times of the pandemic. As a result and to no surprise, it was a bit of a flop despite praise from critics due to the closure of theatres around the world. It was viewing Soul that gave me the realisation that perhaps I had not been looking at Turning Red in the right manner, the realisation that perhaps I may not be the general demographic for this type of film or story anymore. The first few times attempting to watch the film, I really struggled. Nothing quite resonated with me; something just felt off that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Perhaps it was from knowing the general undertones of the film that generally make people feel a bit uneasy about talking about, something that most tend to just pretend isn't really a part of life to most, perhaps out of embarrassment or out of a lack of awareness over the topic itself. Let's be real for a moment here, men probably don't know much about the topic itself. So a film about it certainly alienates us. While I am far from the progressive type, I can also see how a film more aimed at women and young girls can result in confusion in an audience that is often more oriented around men. Again, that alienation props up.
Turning Red
Turning Red is certainly a very different type of film from Pixar. But it doesn't quite reject the usual nature of telling a story around youth and the complexities of growing up, and coming to terms with this growth. Back to Toy Story, the film was really about the loss of imagination that comes with growing up, the removal of that playful nature and changing of personality. Finding Nemo was on the importance of family and coming to terms with your flaws. Common themes tend to be present within these animation films, and Turning Red still holds that idea close. Though this time it's a little bit more personal of a growing problem, and Turning Red certainly doesn't shy away from discussing these issues. After all, what possibly more could 'turning red' imply? To no surprise, this is a film about a teenage girl finally starting to get periods. And with the struggles of upcoming adulthood and cultural expectations finding their ways into this regular aspect of womanhood.
We're entering the era in which many nationalities that migrated to the west are experiencing their second or third generation, and in the case of Turning Red, we get a glimpse of a second generation Korean Meilin Lee living in the fast-changing city of San Fransico. To no surprise, cultural expectations and ideologies impact the way in which this family lives despite being in the United States. A family still very much cemented within its culture and values, and with a strong intent to maintain tradition even with the western culture surrounding them. To many, this many be no surprise and in fact very relatable, as these cultures and traditions can be known to be rather strict in regards to upholding a way of life. There's the stereotype of Asian parents that push their children to study hard and explore artistic venues; and it's pretty easy to see how such expectations can impact a child. Especially one that is now experiencing different cultures around them, as well as changes in their own body.
The film doesn't take long at all to get into this main theme, to which Mei 'turns red' by suddenly becoming a red panda one day, these sudden changes happening every so often depending on the emotions she feels. It's pretty obvious what the implication is here, especially around her parents as they absolutely approach this condition like caring, understanding parents. Rather than confused or surprised parents at the fact that their daughter is turning into an oversized red panda. This seems to be a tradition in the family, after all. Mei's character is handled just like a teenage girl would be, with the idea that she's now focused on boy bands and with friends that talk about boys and their crushes. That cultural aspect continues to appear, however, with it affecting her school life and studies; to which it isn't welcome well with her parents. I think it handled it all quite decently, and the animation quality is pretty good to match it. It has those elements of Pixar with also a hint of that well-known 'CalArts' style; but being digitally animated, it doesn't seem cheap or jarring in any way.
I do think sometimes the metaphor of a red panda can be a bit confusing as it attempts to tell a story outside of the actual theme, while also showing the red panda as something real that impacts her life as being a red panda would. The way it juggles the two could've been done a bit better, but I think that's mostly due to a very simple narrative that stretches a bit too thin over its runtime. For the most part, this film really is just about Mei becoming a red panda, and wanting to go to a boy band concert with her friends while her mother objects to the idea. It had a very short film sort of feel to it due to this, but over the course of a feature length runtime. Because of this, it didn't really feel like there was much challenge or triumph in the characters, that they didn't quite come to any growth or face much struggle. I noticed I was starting to get a bit bored around the halfway mark, feeling as if the characters just weren't really going anywhere and that they had already experienced all the film had to offer. Void of some regular slice of life moments that had already been displayed a bit earlier on. This narrative just seemed a bit too tightly kept for me.
I enjoyed this style though! I think it could be fun for Disney to improve upon that CalArts animation style and give it a bit more colour and soul, a lot of their recent animations seem to look a bit too similar. Wheras Turning Red has that familiar style with some more changes; less sharp edges in the characters and more rounded features, but with nice colourful tones to help give things form. Things felt more three-dimensional as a result of removing that line around the edges and characters, the usual annoyance that makes the CalArts style seem a bit too flat and soulless. I'm sure this style definitely inspired a lot of artists, however!
Deserved controversy?
The west is in a strange place at the moment. There's certainly a lot of insanity running around and causing confusion in the youth, polluting minds and causing disruption within communities. This is a pretty extensive topic and I absolutely despise politics, however I think it's important to mention in regards to Turning Red given its themes. I noticed a lot of controversy surrounding the film, given Pixar's history in being a film for families and generally younger audiences. A film about the process of starting to get periods aimed at young girls definitely seems like it'll cause a bit of anger in people. But at the same time, this could easily be a film that helps a lot of young girls understand this process a bit more, giving them some comfort and awareness of these changes and to realise that it's not something to really be concerned about. That the women above them in their family had each experienced it themselves and that discussion is a healthy aspect of it all. At the same time, I can see how some parents may want to keep such a topic hidden from their children as long as possible, as to perhaps try to give them the childhood they deserve and maintain that innocence. I don't think this particular topic has a right or wrong answer, and it's really down to how parents want to address it in their own homes.
Turning Red doesn't really do anything bad, however. I think it's a personal story on the life of generational migrant families that are experiencing not only cultural shifts in their youth, but bodily shifts. You can tell very easily how that may impact a young child going into their teenage years, to which life is already insanely chaotic and confusing. I don't think the controversy surrounding Turning Red was remotely justified as a result. And Disney is doing far worse elsewhere in polluting the minds of the youth. In addition to all of this, Turning Red is made for a very specific group of people. The cultural aspects are definitely not something that most can relate to, which as mentioned earlier can only alienate an audience more and make it difficult for them to really understand the themes being discussed within the story.
