Meilin “Mei” Lee is a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl living in Toronto in 2002. Mei attempts to make her severe, overprotective mother, Ming, pleased by helping to maintain the Lee family’s temple to their ancestor, Sun Yee. She attempts to keep her personal hobbies from Ming, such as her affections on males and the fact that she and her best friends Miriam, Priya, and Abby are 4*Town fans.
Mei awakens one night after experiencing a nightmare to realize that she has transformed into a huge red panda. Mei realizes that she only changes when she is in a state of strong emotion after hiding from her parents; her parents assume her sorrow is caused by her first menstruation. Ming later discovers the truth when she mistakenly embarrasses Mei at school, prompting her to shift once more.
Mei’s father, Ming, and Jin explain that Sun Yee was given the power to turn into a red panda in order to fight fights and that every female member of the family since has inherited the ability when they reach the age of consent. This has grown cumbersome and hazardous, therefore the red panda spirit must be imprisoned in a talisman during a month-long rite on the night of the Red Moon. Mei’s friends accidentally discover her metamorphosis but enjoy it, and Mei discovers that focusing on them keeps her from morphing. She persuades her parents to let her live her normal life, despite Ming’s continued surveillance of Mei.
Ming refuses to allow Mei to attend a 4*Town event in Toronto as part of their musical tour. Mei and her pals began to gather money for the tickets covertly, using her red panda appearance. Tyler, a former bully, requests that Mei entertain him on his birthday. Mei learns at the party that the concert will take place on the night of the ritual. She becomes enraged and assaults Tyler, frightening the other children. Ming learns Mei’s recent actions and chastises her pals for allegedly corrupting and using her. Mei fails to defend her friends because she is too embarrassed and terrified to confront Ming.
Mei’s grandma Wu and aunts arrive to help her with the ceremony, but just as the red panda form is about to be sealed, Mei decides to retain her powers. She abandons the ritual in order to attend the SkyDome performance with her friends, who forgive Mei for her conduct at the party and learn Tyler is also a fan of 4*Town. However, while fleeing the temple, Mei mistakenly damages her mother’s talisman; an infuriated Ming turns into a massive red panda and disturbs the concert, intending to grab Mei by force. Mei and Ming dispute about Mei’s independence as the crowd leaves, and Mei unintentionally knocks her mother out.
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The rest of the Lee family arrives to provide a hand. All of the women break their talismans in order to use their red panda forms to assist Ming in entering a new ritual circle. The new ceremony transports Mei, Ming, and the other ladies to the astral world with the singing of Mei’s friends and 4*Town. Mei reconciles with Ming and assists her in repairing her relationship with Wu, which had motivated Ming’s perfectionism. The other Lee sisters hide their red pandas in new talismans, but Mei decides to keep hers since she is finally figuring out who she wants to be.
Mei and Ming’s relationship has healed over time, and Mei now balances her temple responsibilities with spending time with friends, including Tyler, however, Ming must seek funds to compensate the city for the damage she caused to the SkyDome.
The cast of voices
- Rosalie Chiang plays Meilin “Mei” Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who, owing to her ancestors’ connected mystic connection with red pandas, changes into a gigantic red panda anytime she experiences any intense emotion, such as enthusiasm or worry.
- Sandra Oh plays Mei’s harsh, overprotective, and domineering mother, Ming Lee.
Miriam, a singing tomboy with braces and one of Mei’s greatest friends, is played by Ava Morse. - Abby, a lively Korean-Canadian girl and one of Mei’s greatest friends, is played by Hyein Park.
- Priya, one of Mei’s best friends, is played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who has deadpan emotions and a deadpan voice even when she is visibly delighted.
- Jin Lee, Mei’s father, is played by Orion Lee.
- Wu Lee, Mei’s grandma, is played by Wai Ching Ho.
- Tyler, Mei’s classmate who used to pick on her, is played by Tristan Allerick Chen.
- Mr. Gao, a village elder, is played by James Hong.
- Devon, Mei’s hidden crush and the neighborhood store clerk, is played by Addie Chandler.
- Mr. Kieslowski, Mei’s instructor, is played by Sasha Roiz.
- Stacy Frick, one of Mei’s classmates, is played by Lily Sanfelippo.
Lori Tan Chinn, Lillian Lim, Sherry Cola, and Mia Tagano play Mei’s aunts, Chen, Ping, Helen, and Lily, respectively.
Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva play Robaire, Jesse, Aaron Z., Aaron T., and Tae Young, the members of the 4*Town boy band. Lauren, one of Mei’s classmates, is voiced by Anne-Marie in the UK version.
Turning Red Review and Rating:
95 percent of 180 reviewers’ reviews on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes are favorable, with an average rating of 8.00/10. According to the website’s consensus, “Turning Red extends Pixar’s lengthy run of family-friendly accomplishments by being heartwarming, hilarious, gorgeously animated, and culturally expansive.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the film a score of 83 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim.” Critics complimented the film’s plot, voice cast, and Shi’s directing after seeing it for the first time.
Representation of Asians and women
One reviewer, CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell, was critical of the film, labeling the focus on a Chinese Canadian girl as “obnoxious.” “limiting” to a broad audience, and that “By focusing on the Asian community of Toronto, ‘Turning Red’ legitimately feels like it was made for Domee Shi’s friends and immediate family members.” That’s good, but it’s also a little limited in its breadth “.. Members of the press and others slammed the evaluation as racist and misogynistic. Rosalie Chiang, Meilin’s voice actor, stated that the film was intended to appeal to all audiences “This is a coming-of-age story, and everyone goes through this transition… I believe that various individuals from different cultures may experience it differently, but at the end of the day, the basic messiness and change is something that everyone can connect to.” As a consequence of the backlash, CinemaBlend’s editor-in-chief Mack Rawden removed O’Connell’s review and publicly apologized for it, claiming that they had “failed to properly edit” the article before releasing it; O’Connell also issued his own apologies for the review.
What is the moral of Turning Red?
As a result, Turning Red conveys a narrative about guilt, suppression, and social anxiety, all of which I, like many Asian Americans, are familiar with. Throughout the film, I found myself wincing in recognition of Mei’s anxiety and shame as she is divided between her family and friends.
Is the movie Turning Red about menstruation?
Prepare to experience all of the emotions. “Turning Red,” Pixar’s newest animated film, explores a time in our lives that most of us would rather forget: adolescence. And all the panda-monium that goes along with it. The film began gaining excitement prior to its March 11 release on Disney+.