- This show is sponsored by betterhelp online therapy
Mental health isn't talking to someone on a couch.
It's self-awareness, learning to set boundaries, taking care
of your emotional wellbeing.
Visit betterhelp.com/super and see
what mental health is really about.
Hey brother. Okay, you guys.
I have been re watching Turning Red a bit lately
and I have finally spotted something that I'm very
surprised I didn't catch sooner.
And that is the fact that the ceremony that Meilin's
family uses to separate her from her red panda spirit
is shockingly similar to something we see in Soul.
It is basically the exact same ceremony
that Moonwind teaches 22 and Joe,
in order to return Joe to his body on earth.
Like seriously the same. They draw a circle,
they chant or sing or perform music, and focus.
From there, a portal between realms is formed
and you can travel either to or from
earth to the astral realm. And that term, astral realm,
is the same term that is used in both movies.
- Ahoy there fellow Astral travelers,
- the Astral realm will be opened
- which then of course got us thinking like,
are we witnessing literally the exact same thing
just coming from two different cultural backgrounds?
Because it absolutely feels like that's what's going on.
I mean, the similarities are just too similar.
And if that is the case,
then the door is being blown wide open
on how souls work inside of the Pixar universe.
And more importantly for today, what this means
for Meilin, her family and the red panda.
Like, I'm not sure
but I'm pretty sure Meilin has two souls. Today, we discuss.
- Hey brother.
Guys, before we dive on into today's video
we need to give a huge thank you to stamps.com.
There is the old saying that time is money
and the older I get, the more this becomes true.
And this is especially true
when you're running a small business.
Here at SCB we're constantly needing to send stuff
out to you guys, who have supported the show.
But packing and shipping takes time,
and we need that time to be writing theories.
And that's why we love stamps.com.
They make shipping simple, easy and cost effective.
And it saves us trips to the post office,
and gives us discounts we can't get anywhere else.
Those discounts add up to 30% off USPS and 86% off UPS.
All you need is a regular computer and printer
and you are set up within minutes.
Plus stamps.com works seamlessly with things like
Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, or eBay.
Plus our viewers can sign up with promo code SUPERCARLIN
for a special offer, that includes a four week trial,
free postage, and a digital scale.
No long term contracts or commitments are required.
Simply head on over to stamps.com,
click the microphone in the top right corner
and enter code SUPERCARLIN to get started.
One last time stamps.com, enter code SUPERCARLIN,
link is in the description down below.
Okay, so right out of the gate
whenever you're dealing with souls
it always feels pretty complicated.
But don't worry, it really isn't.
Let's start by working our way through what we already know
about souls and the rules associated with them,
based on what we know from Soul.
We first get to enter the astral realm
through 22s', "just a box".
- It's the space between the physical and spiritual.
- Basically it is a space where earthbound souls are capable
of flitting in and out of. Right away, we can see that many
of the occupants of this space are people
on earth who are currently in the zone, which is
a sensation that Joe himself experienced earlier that day.
And this represents something that so many
of us here are able to relate to.
It's that idea of like being laser focused
dialed in to whatever art form you are into is.
For Joe, this is of course playing the piano, but then
for another character who we meet moments later,
Moonwind, it's the classic art of sign spinning
And let's be real, guy's got moves. Actually fun fact,
did you know that this is like a real sport
with like a worldwide championship. It's wild.
But within the astral realm,
we also bear witness to lost souls.
These are people who were maybe
in the zone in the first place,
but took their pursuits a little bit too far
and got lost within them.
And again, this is a concept that's easy to relate to,
back here on earth.
It could be the idea of a soul sucking job,
or just a passion that you pursue so aggressively
that you can't find joy in it anymore.
Moonwind's goal here is, of course, to help these lost souls
find themselves again so that they can then return back
to earth and pursue that sweet, sweet #vanlife. Probably.
I'm walking through all these particular scenarios though,
because I think they help us understand how
souls work inside of the Pixarverse.
It is important to know where souls can exist
and to also define the differences
between your human body and your soul.
The thinking here is that your soul can exist either
in the Astral plane or here on earth, but not both.
For the hedge fund manager, for example,
this is someone who has lost himself
inside of the process of his job, Make a Trade
- Make a trade. Make a trade. Make a trade.
- Make a trade.
- But once Moonwind has worked his magic,
the blob monster basically dissolves.
And we realize that the soul is still inside of there
and is able to make the journey back to earth.
- What am I doing with my life?
- On that similar note though,
the people who are currently in the zone,
the idea would be that their souls have ascended
from their physical human bodies
and are now existing in this very special place.
It is the place where you are most in sync with yourself,
which is slightly ironic
because you are existing in two separate places.
But then that brings us to Joe,
who is yet another unique circumstance
within the Astral plane.
- Joe, are you dead?
- His soul is actually what is referred to as untethered.
That is the technical term for it.
What this means for Joe though,
is that while his body is back in New York,
in the hospital, holding onto life,
his soul is 100% not with it.
This provides the unique circumstance for Moonwind
who now has to find a way to return Joe back to his body
which he does through finding a thin spot.
And this is a place that's easy enough
to find on the inside,
as long as you have an astral pirate ship of sorts.
But after Joe then lands inside of a cat
- I put this man's soul in a cat
- We learned that accessing a thin spot from the human side
of things requires special circumstances.
- And that won't occur until
August moves into the house of Gemini.
- When is that?
- Well, the government calls it 6:30.
- So basically your soul can't be in both places at once
and you can travel back and forth,
but it just requires special circumstances.
So with all of that in mind, that is how souls travel
between the astral realm and the human world.
So now we can return our attention
to Meilin and compare notes.
Throughout Turning Red, we find out that Meilin
and all of her female ancestors have been gifted,
or depending on your perspective, inconvenienced
with the ability to turn into a red panda
- I'm a gross red monster.
- I personally remain firmly in camp gifted.
But this all started hundreds of years ago,
when the family's matriarch Sun Yee prayed
to the gods for a way to protect her village.
And that's when she was initially gifted
with the power to turn into a red panda.
Over the years, though, the modern day women
of the family have found that they don't have the same need
for the red panda that Sun Yee had once upon a time.
And as such, they have found a ritual that they
can perform to contain the condition, I guess.
The process involves waiting for a red moon
and then drawing a circle on the ground and then
essentially singing from the heart, whatever you want.
- I like Tony Bennett, but your grandma,
she's from old school.
- This will separate the red panda from your body,
and then you are able to kind of trap it
inside of a piece of jewelry.
And according to Mr. Gao,
- For as long as the red moon shines,
the astral realm will be open.
- The ceremony then begins, Mei starts floating in the air,
and Mr. Gao says that they're going
to return the panda spirit from which it came.
The question is though, where is that?
As we said before, we believe that it is in fact
the astral plane, which for Mei, is represented
as this kind of bamboo forest, where she encounters Sun Yee,
who creates a mirror like image
where she can actually separate herself from the panda.
As she's physically passing through this mirror
we can physically see the panda exiting her body
back on earth, where Mr. Gao is then containing it
inside of a piece of jewelry.
But if you're keeping track here, what we're seeing is
that they draw a circle, just like Moonwind does.
And then they start playing music, just like Moonwind does.
And then a portal appears, just like we see in Soul.
Now to be fair, the astral plane does look very different
inside of Turning Red than it does inside of Soul.
But I also think that can be explained by Meilin's heritage.
This is actually something we've already even seen before
within the Pixar universe. Specifically in Coco,
where Miguel's version of the afterlife looks very different
than what Joe has seen. But, similar to Meilin,
it represents a very specific cultural belief
but still shares similarities with Soul, where
you can still experience the great beyond via second death.
Anyway, the main difference between Turning Red and Soul is
that in Turning Red, we are able to actually see the soul
outside of the body, still in the human world.
In this case, it happens to look like a giant red panda.
And we also know what the ceremony looks like
when done successfully,
thanks to the rest of Meilin's family.
Basically they just go back to their state of normalcy,
where they continue to live their lives
as they had been before, and carry around this extra piece
of soul inside of their piece of jewelry.
But I think it is very important to mark the difference here
between them and the stockbroker in soul.
Meilins' aunts have plenty of personality.
They are absolutely not soulless.
And yet we absolutely see a soul being contained.
So, the only real conclusion here is
that when they receive their gift
they're also receiving a second soul inside of their body.
And it continues to add up.
We know that Sun Yee pleaded with the gods
for a way to protect her family and her village
and they delivered on a red moon.
Now, again, I think we're seeing this
through a very specific cultural lens, but the gods
in this case I have to imagine are, in fact, the Jerry's.
- Jerry will take it from here.
- Thanks Jerry
- Head right on over there to Jerry.
- Thank you Jerry.
- And now I'm sure you're thinking like, well
the Jerry's seem like pretty rule abiding entities
that don't really seem to trouble themselves
that much with the goings on of earth.
- I'm a manipulative megalomaniac.
- But that's Earth's problem.
- Well, you'd mostly be right,
but they are also very clearly capable
of making exceptions when they deem it necessary.
Case in point is Joe himself,
who very clearly dies right here.
But then who they decide is inspiring enough
that they would wish to grant him a second chance,
instead of forcing him to go through
with exiting to the great beyond.
So they absolutely can intervene,
and when they deem it necessary, break the rules.
Meaning they are capable of giving Sun Yee
what she requested, in the form of a second soul
that can then turn her into the red panda.
In fact, it could absolutely be this very event
that caused the count to be off centuries ago.
- The count's off.
- I seriously doubt that.
The count hasn't been off in centuries.
- But if every member of this family
also has this particular gift,
wouldn't it mean that the count would be off
each time a new member was born?
And I actually don't think so because
once they've changed the rules then from then on
they would just account for it.
But why would they continue to pass
on the gift to each new member of the family?
And the answer is that like,
not much has really changed, has it?
Sun Yee prayed for a gift, and they gave it to her.
Each new generation prays to Sun Yee every day.
In fact, it's kind of like
Meilins' family's like whole thing.
I think even the timing of the red moon makes sense.
It's basically causing a thin spot in the astral plane
so that the ceremony can work.
Moonwind obviously has a very different relationship
you know, with astral transmigration displacement,
than Mr. Gao.
But he also does cite an astrological alignment
that is necessary in order for Joe to return.
- And that won't occur,
until August moves into the house of Gemini.
- Exactly, exactly.
Astral transmigration displacement, simple stuff.
Moving on from that nonsense, though, it also makes sense
as to how the red panda transformation
takes place in the first place.
We know it's basically caused
by the sensation of any strong emotion of any kind.
Basically what's happening here is
that anytime Mei is feeling one of these strong emotions,
she is being forced into the zone.
Which means that her human soul
is exiting to the Astral plane.
And the only thing left inside
of her physical human body is the panda spirit.
If she's able to control her emotions though,
she's then able to exit the zone
and return back to her human body
and transform back into herself.
But then when she does return, the panda soul
isn't being forced out.
It's still there, which is why, when she's back
in her human form, she still has the red hair.
Which is also what we see in the reflection,
inside of the Astral plane.
And it's why the rest of her family members
don't have the red hair.
Because they have separated themselves
from the red panda spirit.
As long as Meilin keeps the Panda spirit inside of her,
she will continue to have the red hair.
But if she ever did decide to remove it, she would go back
to how we saw her at the beginning of the movie.
So in conclusion, when Meilin receives her red panda spirit,
she has two souls inside of her, henceforth.
For my question of the day though guys,
is there anybody else inside of the Pixarverse
that you think could have two souls?
Let us know in the towel section down below.
But as ever guys, thank you so much for watching.
Be sure to like this video,
subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.
And if you'd like to find out whether or not Woody
from Toy Story has a soul of his own,
you can check out this video over here.
Otherwise, until next time. Bye.