“Turning Red” is Pixar’s 25th film - as well as the latest in a series of animated films
focusing on aspects of life with a fantastical twist.
In a way, “Turning Red” is similar to other Pixar movies such as “Luca”,
“Inside Out”, “Coco” and even the underrated “Brave”. So that got us thinking…
How does “Turning Red” compare to other Pixar films?
A quick summary to make sure we’re all on the same page: “Turning Red” is a coming-of-age
fantasy comedy set in early 2000’s Toronto and focuses on Meilin Lee, a 13 year old girl
who has to balance being a teenager with her newly discovered panda-related curse.
Speaking of which, the Transformation Elements of the film is the first point that we want to
discuss - as “Turning Red” isn’t the only Pixar film to use transformation both as a plot point
and as a metaphor. Just last summer, we had the film “Luca” that had a similar element, with the
characters’ sea monster forms essentially being an allegory for outsiders and being different in
a way that’s not only seen as “weird” by some people but also as dangerous. Because of that,
the conflict mostly came from a societal point of view and the fear of others lashing out,
and whether or not revealing the truth was worth risking their lives. In “Turning Red”,
however, Mei’s transformation is mostly seen as a positive thing by the kids at school,
and she ends up doing very little to actually hide it from the public. This is a bit ironic,
since the panda transformation seems to not only represents the unleashing of emotions
but also, in a sense, puberty - which is a topic that not many people are open about.
So, instead of focusing on the reactions and possible backlash of society,
“Turning Red” uses its transformation elements for a more personal conflict between Mei
and her family, who only see their panda sides as an “inconvenience”. For this point,
it’s kind of like comparing apples to oranges, and while the two films may use transformation in
completely different ways, we feel that both films incorporate it well into their stories and themes.
Another point that “Turning Red” touches on is the incorporation of New Cultures outside
of what American audiences are typically used to seeing. Mei is a Chinese-Canadian teenager,
and both sides of her culture get attention. The Canadian side of the film’s setting is admittedly
a bit more subtle, mostly incorporating small visual clues or lingo like “hosers”. As for the
Chinese side of the film, given that the director herself is Chinese, it’s safe to say that it’s
probably a bit more accurate than something like “Mulan”. While some of it is obviously fictional,
the Chinese culture - as well as the point of view of what it’s like growing up in an Asian household
and the conflicts that can sometimes come from that - is still captured very well. Of course,
many other Pixar films have incorporated different cultures. “Brave” and “Luca”
mostly used the aesthetics of their settings of Scotland and Italy while “Coco” centered much
of its story and themes around Mexican culture and the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos.
When comparing them all, we’d say that “Turning Red” falls into the latter camp, feeling not only
authentic and genuine but also being able to make it so that the culture it uses is an integral part
of the story. When it’s impossible to swap out the culture that a film incorporates for a different
one without completely changing the movie itself, you know you’re doing something right.
Our next point we’d like to touch on is how “Turning Red” promotes the idea of Expressing
your Emotions. Like we said previously, the panda transformation can be seen as a puberty metaphor,
but given that it’s a form literally powered by emotions, it can also be seen as representing
the power and freedom that comes with being emotionally honest and open. But there’s
another Pixar film that touches on emotions, and we’re sure you all know it well. 2015’s
“Inside Out” was all about the importance of emotions, even the seemingly negative ones,
and it seems like it’s a theme that Pixar is still trying to teach young
audiences. Both Riley and Mei are seen bottling up their emotions for the sake of their family, with
Riley not wanting to disappoint her parents by not being their “happy little girl” anymore
and Mei not wanting to upset or disrespect her mother by being honest and confronting her.
In both cases, the main characters learn to be honest with themselves and their families.
The two films do, however, focus on different quote-unquote ‘negative’ emotions. “Inside Out”
was all about embracing sadness and grief, showing that processing these feelings and allowing
yourself to cry can be beneficial in the long run. “Turning Red” meanwhile seemed to focus on anger
and distress, and how holding in these emotions can potentially lead to people getting hurt. While
Riley’s sadness was an internal conflict that only harmed herself, both Mei and Ming’s anger
had the threat of hurting others - as we both hear about Ming hurting her mother and see Mei
do the same in the film’s climax. Unfortunately, while both films had good intentions, we feel like
“Inside Out” does the better job of using this particular theme. Though the film may be a bit
more blunt and not very subtle, this ultimately works in its favor as it's able to deliver its
message clearly. “Turning Red” though muddles it’s message somewhat with the rest of Mei’s family
still deciding to lock their panda sides away. The film also implies that, while their relationship
isn’t as fractured as Ming and Grandma Wu’s, the relationship between Mei and Ming has changed and
they aren’t quite as close as they once were. Mei even states at the end of the film how she
sometimes misses how things were, but accepts that things change and has no regrets about her choice,
making the newly established honesty between her and her mother seem like a net positive overall.
Perhaps it’s more realistic, letting audiences know that being open and honest
with their emotions sometimes comes with a cost, but it’s still bittersweet in a way.
That moves us nicely into our next point, Themes of Family. “Turning Red” opens with
Mei talking about how important it is for her to respect and honor her parents - and honoring her
parents essentially means doing everything they say. Mei’s job at her family temple
also symbolizes themes of community and respecting your ancestors. “Coco” is another Pixar film
that uses the theme of respecting and ultimately communicating with family, with Miguel being told
over and over how he must put his family above his dreams of being a musician. In both films, it’s up
to the ‘new generation’ to make a chance while still acknowledging the importance of family.
In the case of “Coco”, the rest of Miguel’s family is also able to make a change and ends
up embracing music. We don’t quite see the same amount of change in Mei’s family since, again,
her mother, grandmother and aunties all decide to banish their pandas once again. But even so,
they all still accept Mei’s choice, even if they are also concerned about it. Additionally,
while things may have changed slightly in terms of her relationship with her mother,
Mei is still able to keep both her family and her freedom to express herself,
and is able to have a better balance between her duties and her own life
now that Ming understands her better and accepts that her daughter is growing up.
We also see in both films how the families are able to come together for the sake of saving
one of their members, showing the importance of being there for family above all else. As such,
we feel that both films do a good job of promoting communication, growth and acceptance
within family units that may otherwise stick just a biiiit too close to tradition at times.
The final point we’d like to touch on is how “Turning Red” handles it’s Mother/Daughter
Relationship. The last Pixar film to touch on the complex relationship between mothers
and daughters was 2012’s “Brave”, and the relationship shown in that film was… well,
a bit cliche, to put it nicely. Merida was seen as a typical rebelling princess/teenager
while Eleanor was seen as a stern but well-meaning and caring mother who just didn’t understand.
Though the two were eventually able to learn from each other and heal their relationship,
it wouldn’t be unreasonable to argue that the way this plot happened was perhaps a bit shallow and
rushed. If anything, the film’s conflict was more focused on the pride that the two characters had
and how that was harming their relationship than on the relationship itself. “Turning Red”,
meanwhile, is focused almost entirely on the Mother/Daughter relationship and as such is
able to portray it in a much more nuanced way. Mei and Ming are shown to be incredibly close
and affectionate with Mei wanting nothing more than to make her mother proud. While
Ming still pushes her daughter towards success and perfection, she still clearly loves her
and just wants to protect her - with this being the prime motivation whether than her just trying
to mold Mei into who she wants her to be. Speaking of which, even with the aforementioned affection,
the two of them still have issues and conflict with each other that ends up bubbling up to the
surface over the course of the film and thus have to be confronted. “Turning Red” also touches on
how certain things in life, like puberty, growing up and the continuous pressure of expectations,
can sometimes lead to mothers and daughters especially becoming distant from each other
and even accidentally hurting each other. We see Mei and Ming make a genuine connection,
with Mei comforting the younger version of her mother after she learns about her past.
We should also reiterate that although the ending of “Turning Red” is sort of bittersweet,
it also shows how mothers and daughters can still learn to accept each other despite the conflicts
that come with being open and honest, even if their relationship is still forced to change.
Yes, “Brave” sort of touched on this too but, again, for the most part it felt pretty typical
and somewhat rushed with Merida and Eleanor’s relationship essentially getting an easy, happily
ever after-esque ending. For these reasons, we feel like “Turning Red” does a much better - and
much more realistic - job of utilizing and developing the relationship between Mei and Ming.
Overall, “Turning Red” is able to fit in quite nicely with the rest of Pixar’s repertoire.
Though it may tread some familiar ground and, in some cases, not do as well as films that came
before it, when it comes to other elements, the film is able to excel in ways that some
of its contemporaries might not have been able to. Ultimately, there’s just a lot to like and
appreciate about “Turning Red”, and if someone has watched and enjoyed other Pixar films like
“Inside Out”, “Coco” and “Brave”, then it’s likely that they’ll enjoy this film too.
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our thoughts,
and let us know what we should cover next! Remember to hit that notification
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