Turning Red Review: Witness the wonder and horror of adolescence in 2002.

Pixar’s Turning Red, directed by Domi Shi, could be the last Disney animated film aimed at kids. But any adult over 30 or so should understand that film is a kind of one-way time machine, harking back to the serene days of 2002, when burning CDs was the easiest way to share music with your best friends. While Turning Red is rooted in a moment in our past, its story of a young girl trying to break free from her loving and domineering family is both timeless and surprising evidence that her studio has grown in some very important ways.

The central character of “Red Transformation” Meiling Li (Rosalie Chang) is the 13-year-old girl that most parents of eighth graders dream of (the film is shamelessly Canadian, to miraculous effect). Meiling is a good student, enjoys extracurricular activities, adores her trio of best friends, and has immense respect for her laid-back father Jin (Orion Li) and somewhat overbearing mother Ming (Sandra Oh). Meiling is more than used to balancing her responsibilities and living up to her parents’ expectations, but after years of playing the role of an extremely obedient daughter, she reaches her breaking point when Ming humiliates her so thoroughly it almost looks like her mother is trying to destroy her. social life. But just as Meiling resigns herself to death out of embarrassment, life throws her into a noose when she spontaneously transforms into a giant red panda in a burst of pink smoke, a magical force that acts as a defense mechanism throughout the film.

Image: Pixar Animation Studio

Compared to some of Pixar’s other films about people fighting for their lives or trying to save their worlds from destruction, The Blushing One’s story is much more intimate and down to earth as it follows Meylin on her journey to figure out what her panda form is and how to manage it. . It’s obvious that the whole transformation of Meylin into a panda is unsettling, and she fights to keep it a secret from her friends Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreya Ramakrishnan) and Abby (Hyun Pak). But besides Meiling starting to realize that falling in love with guys would be something special for her, and learning that her favorite boy band of all time 4*Town is heading to Toronto, her panda is just one of her many things. plate, and not always the one on her mind.

Meiling’s panda is just one of many things on her plate.

What stands out the most about the first few scenes of Blushing is how refreshingly comfortable the film switches between aesthetic modes for comedic effect. While Blushing overall looks and feels like a bright and entertaining Pixar feature, the film is replete with beats and gags most commonly found in 2D anime and manga, all of which speak to Meiling’s own sensibility as an up-and-coming artist.

Of the many challenges Meylin faces, her mother’s inability to recognize things that fill her emotionally is the biggest, and the one that Turning Red is most interested in. The magical elements of Turning Red are important to its story, but they are secondary to how suffocating and oppressive a parent’s love for their child can become when it is only expressed through control and the desire to protect them from the outside world.

While the main character may be Meiling, Oh often enjoys the limelight with her performance that will alarm anyone who has ever wanted to disappear while watching their parents make a scene in public. Chang’s Meiling is your prototype for Pixar’s protagonist, but what makes her feel like such a breath of fresh air coming from the studio is how Turning Red acknowledges and entertains a number of the specific realities of the hormonal teenager.

In the same way that becoming a giant panda becomes Meylin’s personal hell, the prospect of breathing the same air with the five members of 4*Town – Robert (Jordan Fisher), Aaron Z. (Josh Levy), Aaron T. (Topher Ngo) ), Jessie ( Finneas O’Connell) and Tae Young (Grayson Villanueva) is a representation of paradise for her and her friends. A few jokes in the movie about girls’ obsession with boys remind you that Blushing is a coming-of-age story about a young girl who finds out what kind of person she will grow up to be. But The Red Turn also takes a more serious, if lighthearted, turn in the third act, with a series of plot points that add an interesting twist to the all too common experience of children being ostracized for bringing their “ethnic” cultures into the world. school.

While it would be more than fair to list Blushing among the growing number of children’s films such as Encanto that touches on the concept of generational trauma, it differs in that this trauma is not exactly the film’s purpose. This is just one element of Meiling’s magically complex life. It’s a life that, among other things, includes her emotions becoming so strong that they give birth to a new physical form, an idea that becomes more relevant the more you let the film and its sadly haunting soundtrack wash over you.

Blushing also starred Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Alleric Chen and Addison Chandler. The film will begin streaming on Disney+ on March 11.