Genre: Adventure, Kids & Family, Animation, Comedy
Directed by Domee Shi
Produced by Lindsey Collins
Written by Julia Cho, Domee Shi
Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen & James Hong.
Cinematography: Mahyar Abousaeedi, Jonathan Pytko
Edited by Nicholas C. Smith, Steve Bloom
Music by Ludwig Göransson
Production companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The plot: A 13-year-old girl suddenly turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited.
Pixar’s Turning Red was Very Good.
Pros: The full story was simple and has a message about change and friendship. The animation style does remind me of anime & the main character Mel is similar to Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk. Some of the voice actors did a really good job with their roles and I did laugh quite a bit.
Cons: At times the dialogue does get whiney. I didn’t care for the Tyler sub plot that much and the film can be predictable in the 3rd act.
Voiced cast:
- Rosalie Chiang as Meilin “Mei” Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who suddenly transforms into a huge red panda whenever she experiences any strong emotion, such as lust or anxiety, due to her ancestors’ mystic connection with red pandas.
- Sandra Oh as Ming Lee, Mei’s strict and overbearing mother.
- Ava Morse as Miriam Mendelsohn, a singing tomboy with braces who is one of Mei’s best friends.
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya Mangal, a calm and cool Indo-Canadian girl who is one of Mei’s best friends.
- Hyein Park as Abby Park, an energetic Korean-Canadian girl and one of Mei’s best friends.
- Orion Lee as Jin Lee, Mei’s quiet father.
- Wai Ching Ho as Wu, Mei’s grandmother and Ming’s mother.
- Tristan Allerick Chen as Tyler Nguyen-Baker, Mei’s classmate and former bully who initially picks on her.
- James Hong as Mr. Gao, a local elder and a friend of the Lee family who helps in the red panda-sealing ritual.
- Addie Chandler as Devon, Mei’s secret crush and the local convenience store clerk.
- Sasha Roiz as Mr. Kieslowski, Mei’s teacher at Lester B. Pearson Middle School.
- Lily Sanfelippo as Stacy Frick, one of Mei’s classmates who sees her red panda form in the girl’s restroom.
Additionally, Mei’s aunts – Chen, Ping, Helen, and Lily – are voiced by Lori Tan Chinn, Lillian Lim, Sherry Cola, and Mia Tagano, respectively.
The members of the 4*Town boy band – Robaire, Jesse, Aaron Z., Aaron T., and Tae Young are voiced by Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva, respectively. In the UK version, Anne-Marie voices Lauren, one of Mei’s classmates.
I recommend watching this film to anyone who has Disney+ Subscription.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.