Pixar is known for making relatable and amazing films with interesting characters and fun
storylines. Every movie of theirs is someone’s favorite, and all of them are good for one
reason or another, even their worst movies are at least entertaining and have some good qualities,
yes, including Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur. Their latest romp is no exception, Turning
Red is beloved by many and while it did get its fair share of random and usually unjust hate,
even before it came out, we thoroughly enjoyed Pixar’s latest film. So we wanted to talk about
everything we loved about the film and why it honestly deserves all the praise it has gotten.
I’m Kifinosi with WickedBinge, and this is Everything We Loved about Pixar’s Turning Red.
We love the fact that each of the Characters has unique and loveable designs, including the
usage of specific colors for each of the main characters to show off their personality. Mei
wears red to keep with the Red Panda theme, Ming and Miriam both wear Green to contrast Mei’s Red,
Priya’s brown/beige look, and Abby’s purple coloration fit them perfectly.
We think The Narration Style is quite fun and fits both Mei and the film quite well,
and we think the movie wouldn’t be nearly as good without Mei’s
fun actions and narration throughout, especially at the beginning of the movie.
We also really like that this is the first Pixar movie to break the 4th wall.
The Soundtrack is not as diverse and in-depth as other Disney films but is still great,
especially the 4 Town songs and the Chinese songs they use. Perfect for the vibe of the
film. We honestly wish the film was a musical so that we could have even more music to talk about.
We think picking the era of the early 2000s is a really good idea and was followed amazingly,
late 90s references like Tamagotchis are utilized perfectly and early 2000s fashion like Skater and
Goth Culture are used to great effect to make a movie that takes place in this era not feel dated.
We also like that they chose a time before the age of social media to make a coming-of-age film.
The specific location of Toronto, Canada is used to great effect as well,
since they picked a location that is the second-largest Chinese Population
in North America, and it feels like it was made by people who knew this quite well.
The merging of these cultures allowed for something totally unique for a setting.
The animation style, while still being 3D animated, like all of Pixar’s movies,
is very stylized and we love it because we feel like the art,
while not as stylized as a film like Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,
is still unique compared to other Pixar films, and wears it’s anime references on its sleeve.
You can tell the creator have a real love and respect for Japanese animation.
Speaking of, The variety of anime references is amazing, references to Sailor Moon,
Dragon Ball GT, and even general Anime Tropes like the glowing white glasses are done perfectly,
and honestly, we’re sad they didn’t do more. Even the cooking that Mei’s father, Jin,
does seems based on anime like Food Wars with how intricate and delicious the food looks while
he cooks. If it wasn’t for the fact that Pixar probably doesn’t want to alienate non-anime fans,
we would have loved to see even more anime references.
Similarly, Mei’s art during the beginning of the film being anime-inspired not only
makes sense for the era of the film but makes perfect sense for a young,
quirky teen growing up in that era. Everyone who grew up in the late 90s and Early 2000s probably
knew someone who drew in an anime-inspired style, if they weren’t that person themselves.
While we spoke briefly on the location of Canada,
places like Tim Hortons and The Daisy Mart are Canadian staples that fit into the movie
quite well and don’t feel very intrusive, even if you’re not aware of them. Canadian
culture is all over the film and we think it’s about time to focus on our neighbors up north.
Similarly, the massive usage of Asian culture in the film is great, because not a lot of
films look into Asian culture very often, and we’re glad a movie as good as this does. The
movie is steeped in it, from how Mei and Ming celebrate their ancestors, the temple they run,
or the general usage of Red Pandas in place of Guardian Lions, almost every moment of
the movie features some sort of Asian culture and we think the movie is made better by it.
We love that the movie is hilarious. And that Pixar pulled off their well known balance of
humor and emotional storytelling. When Pixar pulls this balance off, no studio does it better.
We love Abby’s wide array of jokes, and how she’s not only the catalyst for some of our
favorite scenes, but she has a great addiction joke, being addicted to Mei’s fluffiness.
We love Jin as a character, we feel like he has one of the best scenes in the movie near the end,
and his first major appearance in the cooking scene is absolutely hilarious.
We think that Miriam is a great character when it comes down to it as she fills all the voids
necessary in a best friend character and is the one to help Mei calm down,
she is a massively good part of the film.
We love the fake out when it comes to Grandma Lee and the Aunties, that they’re supposed to
seem evil at first but are just trying to help Ming and Mei from a real place in their hearts.
Speaking of, we think that Ming is actually a great antagonist for the film,
as she fulfills all the roles necessary for a doting and sort of stalker-ish parent
while also being the one who gets in Mei’s way the most,
even though she’s just trying to be a good mom. Also, her jokes with the school security guard
are some of our favorites, and the puberty talk early on in the film is also great.
The fact that Turning Red doesn’t have a villain is great. Just because Mei and her mom butt heads
doesn’t make Ming a bad person. And her feelings that are revealed in the end are truly relatable.
We actually think Ming might be one of the most
well written mother characters in any Pixar or Disney movie. Mainly because
of how nuanced her character is. Very well meaning and loving, but also very flawed.
Even the goofball bully, Tyler, could have been an irredeemable bad guy,
but ends up becoming a friend. The movie’s positivity works very well.
We absolutely love Mei’s panda form from a design perspective,
perfect amount of cuteness for a main character while still being expressive and likeable,
in fact all of the red panda designs are unique in their own ways and you
can tell them apart quite easily for the most part, especially Ming’s.
We also love Mei’s journey in the film of accepting herself and the fact that
she doesn’t need to be sheltered and held by her mom all the time,
it makes her a determined but still likeable main character that it’s impossible to hate.
We think her journey takes her from a great character to a phenomenal one, especially
her escape to the concert near the end and her scene with the young Ming in the Astral Plane.
Speaking of, the Astral plane is phenomenally designed and we’re
glad it’s used for more than one set-piece, and the imagery of the mirror is fantastic.
You know we love all the Easter Eggs, and our favorite ones
are the Pixar themed ones. Specifically the Lightyear stickers on Miriam’s skateboard…
The Pizza Planet truck… and the Luxo ball in the pool.
The themes of puberty are intense and actually quite well handled,
even the name of the movie is a pretty obvious double entendre referring to these themes,
it’s no surprise it’s so well-handled considering unlike most coming-of-age movies,
the movie doesn’t talk down to the audience. It handles the theme in a very mature way.
Mei’s characterization is another thing we love,
the way she is portrayed is as a fun and smart person who would hate to disappoint her mother
until she comes into her own and becomes the person she would love to be.
The movie would not be nearly as strong if it wasn’t for her as the main character.
Similarly, we love that there’s no main love interest in the film,
it would really cut into the rest of the themes if there was some sort of main boyfriend for Mei.
Yes, Mei and the other girls do have crushes on characters like Devon
and Mei does have a crush on the emo boy in the hallway, but neither of them are
actual love interests. The movie’s focus is on Mei’s relationship with her mom and her friends.
We love the plan that the girls employ to make money for the concert, it’s obvious sure, but
it’s quite interesting to watch them work through, and they manage to make the money pretty quick.
We also love the friendship shown between the girls,
especially in the montage, they come off as real people and not
as just friends for the sake of friends, such as the aforementioned concert plan.
Speaking of the concert, we love 4 Town, they’re pretty generic interpretations of a boy band,
but they’re fun, they have unique personalities, and the usage of a stereotypical Korean pretty boy
may be seen as a reference to modern-day K-Pop, which is fun as well. We think the music they make
is good, and they do help bring the girls and Tyler together as something more than enemies.
One of our favorite characters is Priya, who is by far the funniest character,
her unchanging temperament, her entire comedic styling is something we love because deadpan
delivery can be quite hilarious. Even in emotional moments, her face and delivery barely change,
the small hints that she may be bisexual are interesting things that we weren’t expecting.
Her character is also pretty cool because despite her deadpan deliveries and sarcasm… the movie
doesn’t stop her from being excited by the same things her friends are. It would have been too
easy to write her character as totally cold, and the writing instead add nuance to her character.
Finally, the last thing we would like to mention is the sheer love and care that
went into pretty much every single frame and moment in this movie, the graphics are
beautiful and the animation is exquisite, we love that the director, the animators,
and the character designers went full force in every single thing that appears on screen,
every easter egg and tiny detail deserves to be mentioned and loved,
and honestly if we had more time we might do just that, but we’ve already done an easter eggs video.
But let us know in the comment section what you loved most about turning Red. And tell
us what we should cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge more
of our Turning Red videos. But most importantly, stay wicked.