Pixar has recently been making films that focus on personal experiences, and Turning Red is one such flick that tackles the important issue of growing up.

Like Luca (2021) and Onward (2020) before it, Turning Red is a story of a teenage Chinese-Canadian girl, who is experiencing change like every other child, but doesn’t want to grow up because she likes being a teenager!

Directed by debutant Domee Shi, Turning Red covers the fundamental truth of growing up. Set in the early 2000s in Canada, 13-year-old Meilin ‘Mei’ Lee is an outstanding student at school, quite famous among her small group of friends and much respectful towards her elders, until her life changes and she fears what’s coming.

Extreme excitement and anger turn Mei into a ‘Red Panda’, just like her mother, her aunts and her grandmother, which would make anyone go crazy, let alone a popular kid like Mei.

The film discusses growing up in a very clever manner and shows that everyone has to change with time. The bond between the Asian mother and daughter is the highlight of the story and many mummies can relate to it. Everyone else can relate to the kid’s situation. The way it shows the kid’s shock at the enormous change in height, the difference in voice and appearance, as well as the sudden rise in intake of food is something every parent and kid should watch.

The situations that follow her ‘changed’ appearance are hilarious and make everyone laugh out loud, be it the parents of the kids. The film has elements of Freaky Friday (2003) where the souls of the mother and her daughter were switched, however, here, the daughter is the only one who suffers. Is she able to manage her anger to stay in her usual self, or does she let the anger take over, that’s what makes the film a worthwhile experience.

The lead character, Mei is voiced by Rosalie Chiang, while Sandra Oh, famous for the voice of Princess Ting Ting in Mulan II, lends her vocals for Mei’s over-protective mother.

The message is clear, every child has to grow up one day and the parents should be aware of the tantrums and the frustrations that follow. Turning Red’ is running in cinemas and can be watched by the whole family, as the power of imagination has brought a very rare issue to the big screen.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 19th, 2022