Did Luca's Alberto and Soul's Twenty Two end up in Toronto?
Is Abby Boo from Monsters Inc? And could this be a panda villain
Mei fights in a Turning Red sequel? Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan
and in this video we're taking a deep dive into some mind-blowing fan theories about Turning Red,
plus new characters and stories we could see in a sequel or Disney+ series.
Abby, one my favourite characters in Turning Red, is at the centre of a popular fan theory;
that she's actually Boo from Monsters Inc. Fans have noticed numerous similarities
between the two characters. For example, just like Boo's
strong attraction to the furry Sulley, Abby is instantly drawn to Mei's red panda when
she first meets her. You're so fluffy!
Then there's a strong resemblance in the five-petal flower decorations on Abby's dungarees
and the pattern on Boo's door in Monsters Inc. Both Abby's clothes and the door also have
a similar pinky, purpley and pastel colour palette going on.
On top of that, they have a similar shaped face, brown eyes, hair colour and bangs.
Now, rather than Abby actually being Boo herself, I think a more likely possibility is that Boo is
Abby's younger sister, something that would fit the timeline of both movies better.
In Monsters Inc, one of the files that Mike opens up indicates the monsters are currently scaring
kids in 1999, and we know from various moments in Turning Red that that movie takes place in 2002.
Boo is around 2 years old in Monsters Inc, which would make her around
five at the time of Turning Red, and credit to the Carlin Brothers who spotted that the
area of the world the monsters are scaring in lines up roughly with Toronto, Canada.
If Abby and Boo are sisters, then it would make sense that they share some similar features and
maybe personality traits, like I mentioned before.
And given the T-shirt this kid wears at Abby's school, I think Pixar are strongly hinting that
Monsters Inc exists in the world of Turning Red. Also, as Abby's sister, Boo would certainly know
about Mei and her family's transformations. And as the sister of one of Mei's friends,
she could easily visit the temple and learn more about red panda magic and even how to
access alternate realms like the Astral Plane. For Pixar theorists, this would bolster the idea
that Boo learns to time travel and become the witch in Brave, a key tenet of Jon Negroni's
Pixar theory that proposes all of Pixar's movies exist in an interconnected universe.
After Pixar released the movie Soul, a popular fan theory arose that when
Twenty Two finally went to Earth, she would become the main character in Turning Red,
who we now know, of course, is Meilin. And one of our amazing movie lovers Ns 67
asked me if I could comment on whether this was still likely, so here goes.
It's true that MeiMei is both confident and sassy with a dash of sarcasm, similar to Twenty Two.
The main issue with this theory is that Soul appears to take place many years after
Turning Red, given that smartphones like the one Joe uses weren't around in 2002.
Countering this discrepancy though is the idea that time in the Great Beyond works differently.
You know, time's not really a thing here. Which I guess, theoretically, could imply that
when Twenty Two goes to Earth she arrives many years earlier to Joe in say 1989,
the likely year that Meilin was born. But the other problem with this theory is
that when Twenty Two descends to Earth she's headed towards Asia,
perhaps China, and definitely not Canada. It's possible that Mei was born in China and
then moved to Toronto with her parents when she was still a baby, as was the case with
the movie's director Domee Shi who based much of the film on her own experiences;
however, it appears that the family's red panda temple has been in Toronto a long time,
so this seems unlikely. Our family runs one of
the oldest temples in Toronto. Plus, according to Mei's father,
Ming almost destroyed half the Toronto temple when she transformed
into a red panda when she was younger. Still, there is a strong connection between
the two movies via the astral plane, a realm that can be accessed in both films by drawing
a circle and performing a chanting ceremony, so I'm not discounting the theory entirely.
Plus, there's also the small possibility that Ming could have given birth to Mei in China,
for example, while visiting relatives there, which would mean that baby Mei
could have been in the right place for Twenty Two's arrival on earth after all.
One of our awesome movie lovers "Goodbi" had an intriguing theory that when Twenty Two went
down to China she actually became a red panda, but also had some human DNA which gave her the
ability to change between human and panda form; and I think what they may be implying is that
Twenty-Two could have been the original Red Panda spirit that gave the Lee family their powers.
An interesting detail fans have noticed is the similarity between Tyler and Alberto from Luca.
They both have a similar hairstyle and outgoing personalities, so could they be
related is what some people are wondering? Well, Luca was set around 40 or 50 years
before Turning Red, so if there is a connection, it could be that
Alberto was Tyler's grandfather, for example. Alberto could well have decided to follow his
friend Luca's lead and leave Portorosso, to end up perhaps even in Canada.
Another intriguing connection between Luca and Turning Red is suggested by another of
our marvellous movie lovers Klark M who theorises that Giulia may have had secret
transformation abilities similar to MeiMei's. Like Meilin who gets red hair after becoming
the red panda, Giulia's red hair could suggest she also had the power to transform into a red
creature but she decided to conceal her abilities because of the local prejudice
in Portorosso against sea monsters. It's an interesting thought and given how
both movies feature human-creature hybrids it's certainly makes for an entertaining theory.
Turning Red has been Disney+'s biggest ever movie premiere to-date, which is
why it's no surprise fans have already started speculating about a potential series or sequel.
And both director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins have said there's plenty
of opportunity for more Turning Red stories. In fact, some of the unused concept art from the
movie gives us a hint at what could happen next. One idea that was considered at Pixar was that
Mei had a cousin who could also turn into a red panda.
There was a rivalry between his side of the family and MeiMei's, which it seems would have
led to some sort of confrontation, something I think could be very interesting for a sequel.
Then there's an early version of concept art for the origins of the red panda curse which
appears to show a male ancestor encountering the panda spirit.
This idea could be used to create another panda spirit bloodline that passes down through the male
descendants of a different branch of the family in addition to the female line as happens with
Meilin, Ming, grandma, and the aunties. In a sequel, we could also see Mei's panda
powers develop and grow, as unlike her mother and other relatives, she's decided
to live with the panda rather than lock it away. Unused concept art for Panda Mei shows that at one
time she would grow to different sizes depending on just how angry, excited or emotional she was,
and there was the possibility she could even grow to become a gigantic
kaiju-like creature, Meizilla, just like her mother Mingzilla, something that could
be very exciting to see to see in a sequel. Mei could also get fire powers in the future,
or "Fire Fur", an idea that was considered but didn't make it into the first film.
And if you'd like to discover even more scenes and characters which were cut from the final
version of the movie and could turn up in a sequel, like the villainous Benny Blacktooth,
tap here to watch my Turning Red deleted scenes and alternate ending video.
There's also a link in the video description. So, what are your favourite Turning Red theories
and what would you like to see in a sequel? Let me know in the comments below.
Next, tap left to discover all the clues you might have missed to the ending of Turning Red
and if you enjoyed this video, then do leave a thumbs-up, I really appreciate it.
Thanks for enjoying this movie with me and hope you have a marvellous movie-loving week!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!