Turning Red

Turning Red is a 2022 American computer-animated coming-of-age fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on Disney+. It is directed by Domee Shi (in her feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Shi and Julia Cho. The film stars the voices of Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho and James Hong. It is the first Pixar film to be solely directed by a woman. 
Turning Red is was released on Disney+ on March 11, 2022, in countries where the service is available. It will be released theatrically in countries without the streaming service. The film was intended for worldwide theatrical release, but further COVID-19 pandemic disruption due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant resulted in the change. The film was received positive reviews from film critics.
==Premise==
In Turning Red, Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) is a confident, dorky thirteen-year-old torn between staying her mother Ming (Sandra Oh)’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. And as if changes to her interests, relationships, and body weren't enough, whenever she gets too excited (which for a teenager is practically ALWAYS), she "poofs" into a giant red panda. 
== Plot ==
In 2002 Toronto, 13-year-old Meilin "Mei" Lee, who lives with her parents Ming and Jin, helps take care of the family's temple dedicated to their ancestor Sun Yee and works to make Ming proud. She hides her personal interests from Ming such as the fact that she and her three best friends Miriam Mendelsohn, Priya Mangal, and Abby Park are fans of the boy band 4*Town. One night when Ming, who is strictly overprotective, discovers Mei's crush on Devon, the local convenience store clerk, she inadvertently humiliates Mei in public.
That night, Mei has a vivid nightmare involving red pandas. When she wakes up that morning, she has transformed into a large red panda. She hides from her parents and discovers that she transforms only when she is in a state of high emotion, though her hair remains red causing her to go to school in a beanie. Ming initially believes Mei is experiencing her first period, but learns the truth when she humiliates her at school, causing Mei to transform and run home in panic and tears.
Ming and Jin explain that Sun Yee was granted this transformation to protect her two daughters, and every female family member since then has also transformed when they came of age. This has become inconvenient and dangerous in modern times, so the red panda spirit must be sealed in a talisman by a ritual on the night of the Red Moon; the next being in a month's time. Mei's friends discover her transformation, but take a liking to it and Mei finds that concentrating on them helps control the red panda within her.
Ming allows Mei to resume her normal life, but refuses to let Mei attend 4*Town's upcoming concert. Instead, the girls secretly raise money for the tickets at school, exploiting the popularity of Mei's red panda form while lying to Ming. To cover the last ticket, Mei agrees to attend school bully Tyler Nguyen-Baker's birthday party as the red panda. At the party, Mei is upset to discover that the concert will be held on her ritual night instead of the following night like Abby said earlier on due to a misunderstanding. In the midst of her rage, she attacks Tyler when he insults her family, frightening the other kids. Ming discovers Mei's activities and accuses the latter's friends of corrupting and taking advantage of her. Afraid to stand up to her mother while ashamed of her actions, Mei fails to come to her friends' defense.
Mei's grandmother Wu, her aunts, and their neighbor Mr. Gao come to assist in her ritual to Ming's dismay. As Mei prepares herself, Jin finds videos she took of herself as the red panda with her friends and tells her she should not be ashamed of this side of her, but to embrace it. During the ritual as Mei's red panda form is about to be sealed, she decides to keep her powers and abandons the ritual to attend the concert at the SkyDome, where she reconciles with her friends. They discover that Tyler is also a 4*Town fan. However, an enraged Ming transforms into a kaiju-sized red panda (due to Mei inadvertently breaking her talisman during her escape from the temple) and disrupts the concert, intending to take Mei back by force.
Mei and Ming argue about the former's independence. As they quarrel, Mei accidentally knocks her mother unconscious. Wu and the aunts break their talismans to use their red panda forms to help drag Ming into a new ritual circle. Mei's friends and 4*Town join in singing to complete the ritual, sending Mei, Ming, and the other women to the astral plane. Mei reconciles with Ming and helps her mend her bond with Wu, whom Ming accidentally scarred in anger at some point before sealing her red panda form years prior and as a result couldn't move past her guilt. The other women conceal their red pandas in new talismans while Mei decides to keep hers with Ming accepting that she is finding her own path.
Later as the Lee family raises money to repair the damage caused at the SkyDome, Mei and Ming's relationship has improved as Mei balances her temple duties – where her red panda is now an attraction – with spending time with her friends, now including Tyler.
==Cast==
*Rosalie Chiang as Meilin "Mei" Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who discovers she can transform into a giant anthropomorphic red panda, whenever she expresses strong emotions
*Sandra Oh as Ming Lee, Mei's strict and overprotective mother
*Ava Morse as Miriam Mendelsohn, a singing Jewish-Canadian tomboy with braces who is one of Mei's best friends.
*Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya Mangal, a mellow and deadpan Indo-Canadian girl who is one of Mei's best friends.
*Hyein Park as Abby Park, an energetic and aggressive Korean-Canadian girl and the shortest of Mei's best friends.
*Orion Lee as Jin Lee, Mei's quiet yet supportive father.
*Wai Ching Ho as Wu, Mei's grandmother and Ming's mother.
*Tristan Allerick Chen as Tyler Nguyen-Baker, Mei's classmate with front teeth braces who initially picks on Mei.
*James Hong as Mr. Gao, a local elder, shaman, and friend of the Lee family.
*Addie Chandler as Devon, a local convenience store clerk and Mei's secret crush.
*Sasha Roiz as Mr. Kieslowski, Mei's high-school teacher at Lester B. Pearson Middle School.
*Lily Sanfelippo as Stacy Frick, a British-Canadian girl and one of Mei's classmates who sees her red panda form in the restroom.
*Anne-Marie as Lauren, one of Mei's classmates. (U.K. version)
Mei's aunts (Chen, Ping, Helen and Lily) are voiced by Lori Tan Chinn, Lillian Lim, Sherry Cola and Mia Tagano. 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.
Category:Pixar feature films
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