Turning Red (2022)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl must navigate the challenges of puberty and a hereditary curse that transforms her into a giant red panda.
The story
Set in Toronto in 2002, the film follows Meilin "Mei" Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian student who discovers she transforms into a giant red panda whenever she experiences strong emotions due to a hereditary curse. While trying to balance her life, her family's traditions, and her secret love for the boy band 4*Town, Mei must navigate the complexities of growing up. When her overprotective mother, Ming, discovers Mei's secret, the two must navigate their differing perspectives on the transformation. Mei and her friends also attempt to navigate the pressures of adolescence while trying to keep their secret safe from the adults in their lives.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2002 Toronto, 13-year-old Meilin "Mei" Lee lives with her parents, Ming and Jin, and tries to make her mother proud while hiding her love for the boy band 4*Town. After a nightmare, Mei discovers she transforms into a giant red panda during moments of high emotion. Her mother, Ming, eventually learns the truth and explains that the transformation is a hereditary gift from an ancestor, which must be sealed in a talisman during a lunar eclipse. Mei's friends find out and enjoy the transformation, and the girls secretly raise money to attend a 4*Town concert. During the process, Mei's mother forbids her from attending the concert. To raise the final funds, Mei attends a party as a red panda. During the ritual, Mei chooses to break her talisman to attend the concert. This causes her mother to transform into a massive red panda and confront her at the concert. After a heated argument about independence, the two are sent to an astral plane where they reconcile and mend their bond. The film ends with the Lee family repairing the damage to the venue, and Mei balancing her duties with her new life.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 100
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Domee Shi
- Writers
- Julia Cho · script; Domee Shi · script
- Cast and characters
- Rosalie Chiang · Meilin "Mei" Lee; Sandra Oh · Ming Lee; Ava Morse · Miriam Mendelsohn; Hyein Park · Abby Park; Maitreyi Ramakrishnan · Priya Mangal; Orion Lee · Jin Lee
- Genres
- animated; coming-of-age; comedy
- Themes
- coming-of-age; mother-daughter relationships; cultural identity; puberty
- Tone and mood
- humorous; heartwarming; vibrant
- Premise and plot tags
- magical puberty; shapeshifting; musical; fantasy
- Reception
- Turning Red received critical acclaim and was praised for its animation, humor, and portrayal of cultural identity and female friendship.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 83 · scale: 100 · review count: 53
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Awards · Best Animated Feature · 95th · nomination
- Production trivia
- It is the first Pixar feature film solely directed by a female director.; The film's development was one of the fastest for a Pixar film.; The title 'Turning Red' is an allegory for menstruation.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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