Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers.

Since 1937, Disney has been providing animated films to families across the world, the first one being Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney and Pixar have combined forces and have created 25 movies, including Toy Story, Coco, Ron’s Gone Wrong, and High School Musical. Turning Red was released on Mar. 11 on Disney+, and I had the pleasure of watching it! Here is a brief summary of Turning Red.

Turning Red is a coming-of-age story, set in the year 2002 in Toronto, where Meilin Lee is struggling to balance her school life and family expectations. Her family owns a temple-worshiping service and gives tours of the “oldest temple in town.” Little does she know that her ancestor, Sun Yee, lived a mysterious life. Sun Yee wished that she could protect her daughters from various invaders and on the day of the Red Moon, the goddess of the red pandas, turns Sun Yee into a red panda whenever she is feeling strong emotions, such as anger, happiness, and depression. Sun Yee then gave the gift to his two daughters; in turn, they gave the gift to their daughters, and so on. 

When Meilin turns 13-years-old, she is still the nice, obedient child her mother trained her to be, but on a particular night, her mother finds out that she was drawing things she shouldn’t be drawing and makes a big scene out of it. Feeling very emotional, Meilin goes to sleep. Fast forward to the next morning, Meilin has grown into a giant red panda. She goes to the restroom, looks in the mirror, and freaks out. Her mother, Ming, thinks she has started on her period, and when she finds out Mei has turned into a red panda, she reveals the history of their family. Ming says “over time, what used to be a blessing became a…little inconvenience.” There is a cure for this “little inconvenience”, which is to perform a ritual on the night of the Red Moon. 

Meilin’s favorite boy band, 4*Town, is performing a concert on that exact night. Meilin and her friends are obsessed with them and want to save up money for tickets. Mei totally forgets about the ritual, and when she figures out she can control when she turns into a red panda and others love it, she uses herself as an advertisement to earn money for concert tickets. When Meilin’s family finds out her body is transformed into a red panda, they come to her house and help her prepare for the ritual. The big day comes, and Meilin is getting ready for the ritual. As she steps into the circle/portal to the other world, she feels the want to keep the red panda part of herself and learns to accept it.

This has been one of my favorite movies of 2022 so far, and I intend to watch it over and over again! I really admire the fact that this movie was directed towards women and had a majority of female characters. As for animation, I feel Pixar has put a lot more effort into details, such as the temple’s designs. The different songs 4*Town sings are written by Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas Baird O’Connell. 

”I love the traditionally accurate temple and shrine! I don’t think I disliked anything about it,” said Arcadia High School sophomore Nhi Dong. 

I appreciate how Disney is incorporating young singers into their movies and young influencers. As an Asian-American girl, I can totally relate to Mei’s problems, both culturally and socially. As the world around us progresses, certain races are being targeted. Movements such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate are examples of how the world is fighting for civil rights. “The main character’s family spoke Cantonese and it was great to hear the less common dialect in media that is mainly mandarin dominated,” says Sophomore Farrah Chan. However, one thing that she did not like was the use of stereotypes in the film. The mother is shown as foreboding and evil at times, which is a terrible misinterpretation of how mothers can be. Even though parents can occasionally lose their temper, comparing that to a hundred feet tall monsters is not a product comparison. 

Despite the bad reviews on Google, such as lying to her mother’s face and talking about puberty, I believe that this movie has really struck home for young teenage girls. It lets us know that we aren’t alone, others understand what we go through and are willing to help us get through it all.