Pixar recently released its latest film, Turning Red, and it’s quickly become one
of the most popular animated films in quite a while… Even giving Encanto a run for its
money. With such a unique story that intertwines a coming-of-age narrative, with a cool Canadian
and Chinese inspired backdrop… as well as all sorts of cool little references,
Pixar has made something really entertaining.
And the story behind how the movie was made is also really interesting.
I’m Kifinosi with WickedBinge; and in honor of Pixar’s usual A113 easter egg…
Today, we’re going over 113 Facts about Turning Red.
Let’s get started!
Number 1 - Turning Red was written and directed by Domee Shi. Which
makes it the second Pixar movie directed by a woman. After Brave.
Number 2 - It was also her very first directorial debut of a feature animated film.
That said, she did direct the Pixar short Bao in 2018, which she also wrote.
Number 3 - Turning Red was also the first Pixar movie that was led by a woman team.
Number 4 - Many of her colleagues first heard of Domee Shi when they watched one
of her 10 second animations of a hamster dancing to k-pop songs..
Number 5 - Shi has worked on other Pixar movies as well. She’s credited as a
storyboard artist on Toy Story 4, The Good Dinosaur, The Incredibles 2 and Inside Out.
Number 6 - This is actually the fifth Pixar movie to feature a female protagonist. Alongside Brave,
Inside Out, Finding Dory and The Incredibles 2.
Number 7 - Domee Shi actually started as an intern at Pixar in 2011.
Number 8 - Given the fact that she won the Oscar for Best Animated Short for Bao in 2019…
and is now the writer and director of a Pixar Feature… It’s been quite the career.
Number 9 - Pixar asked Shi to pitch three scripts to the studio. To her surprise they green lit
the weirdest one… About a girl going through a magical puberty in the form of a giant red panda.
Number 10 - Originally, Pete Doctor, who wrote the original Toy Story movies and directed Up
and Monsters Inc… encouraged Shi to be bold with her pitch, which paid off.
Number 11 - The movie began development in 2018 after it was pitched by Shi in October of 2017.
Number 12 - Turning Red had a budget of 175 million dollars.
Number 13 - When Turning Red was described at D23 in 2021…
It was presented as “The Hulk… but cuter.”
Number 14 - The film was made over the course of four years;
half of which time the crew worked from home due to the pandemic.
Number 15 - Shi chose Toronto as the film’s
backdrop because it is her hometown where she grew up.
Number 16 - She’s also talked about intentionally stumping
her cast and fellow filmmakers with Canadian lino in the script…
Like Loonies and Toonies (Canadian Coins) and a toque… (a small beanie hat.)
Number 17 - Shi also based the character Mei and her relationship with her mother,
on her own childhood and relationship with her mom. Who she says she’s very close to.
Number 18 - Shi also based the character Abby off one of her real life friends.
Number 19 - The character Priya is subtly alluded to being bisexual,
when she dances with another girl at the party.
Number 20 - This was eventually confirmed to be true by Pixar layout artist Andrea Goh.
Number 21 - Apparently when she got older and started having interests in anime,
comics and friends, she felt a similar pull between her life
as a teenager and her relationship with her mom - Much like mei in Turning Red.
Number 22 - In a Making Of video, Shi talked about other working titles she had for the film…
Including Girl in Red, Anything But Red…
and My Neighbor Totoro. A play on the classic Miyazaki film.
Number 23 - Much of the main Turning Red team grew
up being big fans of anime such as Sailor Moon. Which ultimately led
to much of the art style in Turning Red being influenced by Japanese animation.
Number 24 - Domee Shi actually started early with her artwork by creating her own fan art.
Number 25 - In fact, Shi would draw fan art for various online communities,
which ultimately encouraged her to keep drawing more and more and improving her skills.
Number 26 - Another influence for the movie, according to Shi,
was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. As she always loved the comic book stylizations.
Number 27 - Shi mentioned that she wasn’t so much a fan of boy bands when she was a kid… her fandom
of choice was Harry Potter. And that book series was the glue that held her friend group together.
Number 28 - In an interview, Shi said it was important to take boy bands very seriously in the
film. Since they’re usually ridiculed and mocked in popular culture. Because through the eyes of
a 13 year old girl, boy bands are often what sparks the interest in boys and relationships.
Number 29 - The reason Turning Red was set in 2002, was partly to avoid social media.
Which the director felt would be better for a coming-of-age story.
Number 30 - According to Mei’s student tag.. The movie takes
place throughout April and May of 2002.
Number 31 - Shi said she chose to focus on a supportive group
of friends without any kind of mean-girl dynamic in the movie.
Essentially a group of friends you hope for your own children to have.
Number 32 - The theme of the whole movie is actually posted on a sign in the school hall.
It says “Dare to be different, dare to be you.” Which the filmmakers placed in to emphasize the
movie’s theme of not hiding who you truly are and embracing what makes you different.
Number 33 - This is actually the first time the Fourth Wall is broken in a Pixar film.
As Mei actually talks to the audience directly in the movie’s introduction.
Number 34 - The director’s favorite scene to create
was the one of Mei drawing under her bed. It was in the first version of the script.
Number 35 - Shi also mentioned that she definitely had her own secret,
lusty sketchbook when she was a teenager as well.
Number 36 - She also mentioned that scene where Mei’s mother
is awkwardly spying on her at school from outside the window behind the tree… Well,
that situation actually happened to her when she was a kid with her own mom… Embarrassing!
Number 37 - That said, Shi’s relationship with her parents is great. They’ve even kept all her
old art projects and sketches in a binder. And she even put together a table of contents for it.
Number 38 - Much of the movie’s story was influenced by the childhoods of the
creative team. The embarrassing moments and the small goals that
seem to be the whole world… like going to see a concert.
Number 38 - VFX Supervisor, Danielle Feinberg, created the Power Panda Poof
Weekly Nomination during production… where every week, the cast and crew would write
kind things about their co-workers. Which would be read aloud for everyone to hear.
Number 39 - She also established a “coffee time” so that the entire crew could keep
in touch since working from home became the norm.
Number 40 - Feinberg was Pixar’s first VFX supervisor… Which may have been a challenge
given the fact that she became a mother for the first time during the project.
Number 41 - Supervising Animator, Patty Kim, wanted to capture the essence of
2D animation in a 3D world. And encouraged the animation team to take risks doing so.
Number 42 - The colors in this movie have an artistic motivation. Specifically, Production
Designer, Rona Liu (lee-u) explains: After it was decided that Mei’s color palette would be red, due
to the theme of the movie… they made the choice to make her mother’s color palette green… as the
two colors are on the opposite side of the color wheel and contrast the most with one another.
Number 43 - Mei’s room is also seen as emerald green… to emphasize that she had grown up in
and was engulfed in her mother’s world.
Number 44 - Some of Rona Liu’s facial features were incorporated into Mei’s design.
Number 45 - The fur of Mei’s panda form was intentionally designed as clumpy and
not perfectly groomed. The whiskers were uneven. Likely
to emphasize an abrupt shift to puberty not always being the prettiest thing.
Number 46 - On the topic of puberty, there were a handful of mom and parents groups
that were opposed to the subject matter of the film being put into a Pixar movie. Specifically
the talk of periods. That said, the outcry was relatively small in the grand scheme of things.
Number 47 - Mei’s
room is also green. Which reinforces the idea that her mother has molded her world.
Number 48 - Meilin’s family nickname “mei mei” is actually Mandarin for “little sister”.
Number 49 - The moon incantation is performed in Cantonese.
Number 50 - The Turning Red team utilized a new technology called “profile movers”...
which is technology that can detect smaller movements and take care of small
articulation points in a character’s body. So the artists could focus on the bigger picture.
Number 51 - When it came to showing food in the film, the director pointed out
the importance of making it look oily and glossy in order to make it look delicious.
Number 52 - It’s safe to say that Turning Red is an amalgamation of anime and the Pixar Animation
Styles. As there are tons of stylization choices that are influenced by Japanese animation.
Number 53 - For example, the overexaggerated eyes
are present whenever the filmmakers wanted to emphasize an emotion. The big eyes when
a character see something cute… as well as the insert shots of embarrassment or fear.
Number 54 - The director has talked about taking influence from the 90’s anime classic,
Sailor Moon, which can be seen in several shots throughout the movie.
Number 55 - The movie, originally, had a classic Big Bad villain…
A Chinese gangster who wanted the Temple in the story for himself.
This was ultimately scrapped because it didn’t fit into a story about a girl going through puberty.
Number 56 - Ming was designed with clothes that made her shoulders look
big to emphasize her power. As well as very thin eyebrows like Chinese women’s style in the 1960s.
Number 57 - Turning Red is actually the first Pixar movie to feature a
character with Diabetes using an Insulin Pump.
Number 58 - The creators also chose to include a
wheelchair ramp at the temple in order to create a bit more of an inclusive world.
Number 59 - The San Francisco Zoo allowed Pixar’s creative team show up before park
hours and interact with some real life red pandas in order to get inspiration for Turning Red.
Number 60 - Pandas are typically pretty lazy; but the team was lucky enough to arrive during
feeding time… So they were able to watch them move around and sketch them while they were there.
Number 61 - One of the most difficult things about animating a giant panda
was the fur. Apparently detail for fur can be incredibly tricky to animate.
Number 62 - The animation team mentioned the parallels between real red panda and
lazy teenagers… including the fact that they’re attached to their moms…
they sleep all day and they eat bamboo despite it not giving them enough nutrients.
Number 63 - Red Panda typically stand on their hind legs when they get spooked to
defend themselves. This was a big inspiration for Mei’s panda design.
Number 64 - And although it was a coincidence, the creators also noted
that the Red Panda’s colors worked well because they’re that of the Canadian flag.
Number 65 - The number 4 was depicted as unlucky throughout the movie.
4 is considered unlucky in Chinese culture as it sounds similar to death in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Number 66 - The film’s Technical Supervisor
Susan Fong is Type 1 Diabetic. Which led to two characters in the movie using glucose monitors.
Number 67 - The temple in the movie was inspired by the Bok Kai Temple.
A historical landmark that was built in 1880.
Number 68 - The president of the Temple, Jonathan Lim,
even points out that the entrance and interior are pretty much exact recreations. Pretty cool.
Number 69 - Artists actually borrowed the model of Massimo’s cat Machiavelli from Luca
to create the exotic short haired temple cats in the Lee Family Temple.
Number 70 - You may also notice that rooftops in the film are shaped like red panda ears!
Number 71 - Turning Red as actually the third movie to be released exclusively on Disney+.
After Soul and Luca. This garnered quite a bit of
controversy by people who argued the movie deserved a theatrical release.
Number 72 - The movie’s global theatrical release
was axed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and spread of the Omicron variant.
Number 73 - This is actually the fourth Disney+ original movie to get a home video release.
After 2020’s Mulan and Soul and 2021’s Luca.
Number 74 - It’s also the third Disney movie to be produced in
1:85:1 aspect ratio. After Luca and Encanto.
Number 75 - But if you really wanted to catch a theatrical release,
you could’ve in the countries in which Disney+ isn’t available.
Including China, Poland, Israel, Vietnam and Serbia - among about 25 others.
Number 76 - Although it wasn’t made available in Russia due
to sanctions over the current conflict in Ukraine.
Number 77 - On the topic of countries, this is the sixth Pixar movie to not
take place in the US. The others are Luca, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Brave and Coco.
Number 78 - It’s also the third Pixar movie to star a protagonist who wears glasses.
After UP’s Carl and Soul’s Joe Gardner.
Number 79 - Turning Red is one of Disney’s 2020 animated features to earn the PG rating
as opposed to the G rating by the MPA. Same with Soul and Onward.
Number 80 - Some of the more adult jokes were likely the reason for this…
Including Mai’s mom accusing the store clerk of doing drugs all day…
and Abby saying that her parents called 4 Town’s music “Stripper Music”.
Number 81 - Turning Red became the most watched title on Disney+ in
the first three days after its release. A Lunar Eclipse happened one day after
the events of the film’s climax… However, it was not easily visible from the Toronto area.
Number 82 - This is Sandra Oh’s, who voices Ming,
third animated feature voice role. The other two were Over the Moon,
where she played Mrs. Zhong… and Raya and The Last Dragon, where she played Virana.
Number 83 - In the UK version of the film, The Voice UK coach, Anne-Marie,
has a cameo role as Lauren. One of Mei’s schoolmates.
Number 84 - In the Latin American Dub, Ming Lee is voiced by Mexican TV actress Itati Cantoral.
Number 85 - In the Japanese dub, Mei is voiced by actress and ballet dancer Momoka Satake.
Number 86 - Rosalie Chiang was actually never intended to be the final voice of Mei,
but simply a temporary one for the sake of production. But they found
her so irreplaceable that the team decided to keep her as the official voice of the lead.
Number 87 - Chiang said it was an interesting experience, because she,
like Mei, was coming-of-age while the production took place.
Number 88 - Chiang was originally hired partly because she was local to the area,
in Fremont. Which is only about 35 mites away from Pixar’s headquarters.
Number 89 - Mr. Gao was played by James Hong.
He also played Mr. Ping in The Kung Fu Panda franchise.
Number 90 - James Hong also voiced Chi Fu in the original 1998 Disney film, Mulan.
Number 91 - Mei’s grandmother was played by Wai Ching Ho…
Who you may recognize as Madame Gao in Daredevil, The Defenders and Iron Fist.
Number 92 - This was the first premiere project for Actress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnam and Actor Tristan Allerick Chen, who play Priya and Tyler.
Number 93 - Pixar routinely features an easter egg for
their next movie in their films. In the film Luca,
you can see an Italian record cover that says 4 Star Vilaggi… a reference to the 4*Town band.
Number 94 - You can also see a couple Buzz Lightyear stickers
on Miriam’s skateboard in Turning Red; teasing Pixar’s upcoming Lightyear.
Number 95 - Some of the common Pixar easter eggs can be found in Turning Red as well…
Including the Luxo Ball in the pool at the party.
Number 96 - We also catch the Pizza Planet Truck when Mei is
running to the concert during the film’s finale.
This is the truck Woody and Buzz use to get to Pizza Planet in the original toy story.
Number 97 - You can also see Purl from Pixar’s short, on Mei’s desk.
Number 98 - And also, the bunny from Pixar’s other short Burrow.
Number 99 - And there’s also a little Finding Nemo fish sticker in the bathroom.
Number 100 - Oh, and remember how Shi directed the Pixar short Bao?
Well, you can see a sign for Bao dumplings in the background when Mei gets of the bus.
Number 101 - And that iconic A113 reference that’s in every Pixar movie?…
It can be spotted in the movie’s credits, on a 4*Town concert ticket.
Number 102 - And in case you didn’t know,
A113 is a reference to the classroom at CAL Arts that Pixar co-founders studied animation in.
Number 103 - In a school hallway, the boy that Mei
fawns over is wearing a sweater from a rock band called “Escapula”, from the movie Coco.
Number 104 - Mei calls the two panda statues outside of the temple,
Bart and Lisa… likely a nod to The Simpsons.
Number 105 - This is the eighth Pixar feature
movie to have a human protagonist. The other 17 focus on non-humans.
Number 106 - Unfortunately, this is the third film that doesn’t feature the voice of John
Razenberger. He’s played a role in the first 22 Pixar features… But has been absent since Onward.
Number 107 - Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
wrote three original songs for the movie’s fictional band, 4*TOWN.
Number 108 - The Pixar team sent Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell a scrapbook
to pitch them the project.
Number 109 - This was composer Ludwig Goransson’s first musical score in an animated feature film;
after first scoring Disney Studios 2016 short film Inner Workings.
Number 110 - One of the credits of the movie reads “Dedicated to our daughters,
mothers, aunts and grandmas. You’re magical!”
Number 111 - Turning Red currently sits at 95% Fresh Critic score; and a 73%
fresh Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Number 112 - On IMDB, the rating average is sitting at 7.1/10. Do you agree?
Number 113 - Domee Shi has expressed interest in doing a sequel, stating “We are open,
but we haven’t talked about it. But yeah, it’s an invitation at the end for more stories.”
And that’s a wrap! 113 facts about Pixar’s Turning Red.
What did you think of Turning Red? How do you think it stacks up against other Pixar movies?
Let us know in the comment section below. Make sure to hit that notification bell and
binge our other Turning Red videos. But most importantly, stay wicked!