The new film, Turning Red, is a hit and is getting rave reviews. Turning Red is Pixar’s 25th film and can now be enjoyed on the Disney+ platform. It is the first Pixar film directed, written and produced by women and with a cast led by Asian women that deals with the experience of becoming a woman even when you are a girl without complexes.
The 13-year-old protagonist, Mei, is a pre-teen who suddenly sees herself transform into a giant red panda whenever she gets excited or stressed. This direct metaphor attempts to show the chaotic consequences young girls face when the huge physical and mental changes of puberty arrive.
In Turning Red we talk about the first menstruation, puberty hormones, sexual dawn, bullying, boybands, toxic family relationships, transsexuality or the maximum demand of some parents so that the lowest grade of their children is always an A+.
Directed by Domee Shi, who also co-wrote with Julie Cho, Turning Red is her first solo feature film. Shi entered the studio over a decade ago, at the age of 22, and since then her career has been meteoric. In 2018 she won the Oscar with the short film Bao, and it was in the promotion of that short film that Mei’s story began to take shape. When asked why the lead bun was male, Shi replied that to tell a mother-daughter story she would need a full feature film. Said and done. Pixar asked her to develop that concept, and the idea led to Turning Red, which has a lot in common with its creator.
The songs in the film are written by none other than the brothers Billie Eilish and Finneas, who also gives voice to one of the band members
Mei lives in Toronto, is in eighth grade and is very studious. She has three best friends (Miriam, Abby and Priya) and an unbridled passion for the boy band 4*Town. As a teenager, Mei and her friends explore the thrill and excitement of being attracted to a musical group. As in real life were the Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC and as BTS are nowadays, Pixar presents 4*Town, whose five members are Robaire, Jesse, Tae, Aaron T and Aaron Z, who take great references from the boy bands of the 90s.
As a curiosity, the director, Domee Shi, commented that Tae Young, one of the band members, is a tribute to the K-pop bands that cause such a stir among teenagers and not so teenagers. So, with these statements, the fans’ theory that this character is based on Jimin, one of the most charismatic members of BTS, is true. Moreover, the resemblance is obvious just by looking at him.
Dácil Palmero
