'Turning Red' Turns Simple Story Into Delightful Movie
Starring Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, James Hong, Jordan Fisher
Rated PG
Animation, adventure, comedy
Run time: 1 hr, 40 min
Directed and written by Domee Shi
Streaming on Disney+ March 11, 2022
When my friend first saw that there was a movie where a girl turns into a red panda whenever emotions get too high, I received a text in all caps. Needless to say, as a person who once was gifted the incredible present of getting to feed and pet a red panda at a zoo, I was pretty hyped for this movie. I actually didn’t watch much beyond a short trailer because I wanted to go in relatively blind and just enjoy it for what it was. I'm a sucker for a solid animated film, especially one that is appealing to to a wide range of people and is an original story. When everything out there seems like a sequel, reboot or remake, a unique tale is worth taking notice of. And when it tells a narrative that isn’t often shared, it gets even more goodwill without me knowing anything more. Thankfully, it lived up to the hopes I had for it.
Turning Red tells the story of Meilin (Chiang) who has inherited the family trait of turning into an incredibly large red panda whenever her excitement level gets too high. And considering Meilin is a thirteen-year-old girl who has a group of female friends who are all emotionally invested in a boy band that seems like a BTS/Backstreet Boys hybrid, that level hits new heights pretty often. Meilin’s little (or rather quite large) problem is something passed down through the women of her family, including her mother (Oh). The family also lives in an incredible temple that highlights their high respect for the adorable creature, so learning there is a close, long history of this relationship adds a new meaning to the decor. And, as I’m sure you could guess, we follow along as Meilin tries to control this new part of her, or at least figure out how to use it to her advantage.
There are so many ways this movie could have become cliche or boring, and Turning Red managed to sidestep all of them. Early on, there is a hilarious misunderstanding where Meilin’s mother mistakes her daughter’s “big red problem” as being a different affliction of the female condition. In other productions, that incorrect assumption would have been played for (attempted) laughs for as long as possible, but this doesn’t last for more than a few minutes before her mother is clued in and brought in on what we know. The similar thing happens with her friend group. There isn’t a single second Meilin’s bffs have more than confusion in regards to the new red panda side of their peer. Very few films, animated pictures included, show as many healthy relationships as this movie does - even when they aren’t perfect, and it added a new level of heartwarming to the whole story.
In regards to the mother’s misunderstanding I mentioned earlier, this may be the most causal way a period has ever been discussed in a movie. And while I can totally see how that could catch a parent off guard if they weren’t expecting it, but it not being portrayed as the end of the world, and instead a fact of life that is inevitable for many people feels extremely important. Yeah, maybe a kid is going to ask a couple questions, but normalizing such a human experience in a family film is fantastic. This movie isn’t perfect, and there are many moments that trigger my secondhand embarrassment (it doesn’t take much for me), but it’s utterly delightful. There are laugh-out-loud moments, many excellent red panda transformations and straightforward messages in regards to relationships, self-acceptance and being yourself. I never thought I would think an animated film about a shapeshifting teenage girl could be so grounded, but I’m glad that is absolutely a way it can be described.