Turning Red

Giovanni 3/20/2022 9:04:07PM 8.4

Full Analysis at Spotamovie.com - **Intro** - Pixar’s movies usually have great insights, and even with Turning Red, they provided us with meaningful messages to help our children and us grow our personalities and mindset. - **The Story** - Meilin is an energetic teenager ready to walk into the grown-up world. However, she needs to wear a mask when she is with her parents and another one when she is at school and with her friends. The risk to disappoint her family is too big for Meilin. But something unexpected will happen. Meilin’s life will change drastically because of a secret that lives within her family. When Meilin can’t control her emotions, a new version of herself will appear. But can you hold your feelings? - **Full Analysis and Explanation at** https://www.spotamovie.com/turning-red-review-and-explanation-critic-post-movie-disney-movie-2022

andrewtislercinephile 9/22/2026 10:19:47PM 8.4

Pixar cooked with this one! *Turning Red* is probably one of the studio's most chaotic features, but shockingly, that doesn't mean the movie is bad. From its wild anime-style visuals to its unhinged comedy, this movie delivers what we expect from the company, but with a little bit extra. The mother-daughter bond between Mei Lee and Ming Lee is very wholesome because you can see as far back as the opening these two are very close and are about to be even closer, even if Ming starts off as a control freak before we learn why she's so strict. I also really liked how the concept of family doesn't stop at biological family members, as Mei's friends-Miriam Mendelsohn, Abby Park, and Priya Mangal-are a found family of sorts: While Mei's parents Ming and Jin operate on a clash of forced perfection and silent acceptance, Mei's friends accept her as she is and don't try to change her to fit in. Even when she didn't have her panda, they still chose to be her friend because they all had the same interests and desires. Speaking of the red panda, it looks so cute and I love how it acts as a metaphor for untapped anger issues. This is especially important if you remember the *Inside Out* franchise, where Anger is represented with the color red as well. While I will admit it is kind of lazy the panda explodes in pink smoke to transform, especially after *Luca* showed the sea monsters gradually shapeshifting into humans on dry land, it is still a fun transformation. My real biggest criticism with this movie is how little of a role Jin had. I feel like if he was a bigger character he could be a great mediator in Mei and Ming's tension. Pixar only pushed him aside because the story is about the friction between Mei and Ming, and that feels like bad storytelling. At least, that's how I feel. The soundtrack is also very timely for the era they captured (early 2000s), and the songs the fictional boy band 4-Town performed are absolute banger hits. So overall, while *Turning Red* does have a lazy animation choice in making the red panda poof in a cloud of pink smoke and pushes Jin aside unnecessarily, I still think the movie's a great addition to the Pixar roster and I hope it gets a sequel.

Manuel São Bento 3/7/2022 3:31:08PM 8.4

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/turning-red-spoiler-free-review "Turning Red is undoubtedly the riskiest, possibly the most divisive work in Pixar history. Without any remorse or restraint, Domee Shi and Julia Cho unapologetically approach the sensitive topic of (female) puberty in a quite shocking, positively impactful manner. A narrative that unquestionably explores the hormonal, emotional, and sexual developments of its characters, conveying a message of self-acceptance and understanding of human evolution through its metaphors loaded with youthful excitement. With the well-known technical attributes from the successful studio, this film will serve as an essential companion for all pre-teens who will deal with or are going through this inevitable and "inconvenient" phase of life. One of the best movies of the year until this day." Rating: A-