Disney and Pixar’s TURNING RED has premiered exclusively on Disney+ and offers families a peek into what's it's like to juggle puberty, family obligations and getting tickets to your favorite boy band concert. All with humor and heart.

Note: This post is in partnership with Disney+, who invited me to the online screening. Views expressed are always 100% my own.

My Review

I was able to watch an advance screening of TURNING RED, and while I was prepared for the female puberty and mom conflicts, since I also went through something similar, the film touched me more about the theme of finding and accepting yourself.

For Mei Lee, this journey meant her coming to terms with turning into a Giant Red Panda, but for anyone watching the film, it's about the moments we all face while going through puberty. The moments that helps us decided the kind of person we want to be, while growing up. It's all about learning how to balance ourselves and our actions.

Mei Lee had to learn this lesson when dealing her mother, when dealing with her friends, when dealing with her at school bully, and when dealing with the person she wants to decide to be. Even while trying to figure out how to not turn into a Giant Red Panda.

While most of us aren't turning into Giant Red Panda, the struggle and joys of puberty is something adults will relate to and kids will get a humorous peek into. Puberty can be scary but also a magical moment in life. Watching Mei Lee helps families to see that.

To celebrate the release, I'm sharing these TURNING RED Fun Facts for families to enjoy.

TURNING RED Fun Facts

• POWER OF THE PALETTE – Each of the main characters has a distinct color palette: Mei is red, Miriam is yellow and green, Abby is lavender and Priya is ochre. The background characters at school don grayish blue-green clothing so that the main characters pop against the crowd.
• WINDBLOWN – When Mei goes from red panda back to 13-year-old girl, a small gust of wind accompanies the transformation. Filmmakers scaled Mei’s hair up to twice its actual length for just a few frames before it settles into its established length.
• BACK TO SCHOOL – Filmmakers had to build a middle school for the film, showcasing Mei’s friendships and new interests away from her mother’s watchful eye. Designed with 2 the film’s city setting in mind, artists actually found blueprints for the school director Domee Shi attended to use as inspiration for the layout of an urban school in Toronto.
• TIMELY – As filmmakers created the environments for the film, they looked for opportunities to reinforce the film’s early 2000s setting. There are wall-mounted telephones, old-school computers, CD players and handheld video games at Mei’s school. VHS tapes line the shelves in the Lee household.
• DINNER BELL – In the film, Jin’s delicious dinner is inspired by Taishanese cuisine, including abalone with snow peas, steamed chicken, steamed fish and eel rice.
• ITALIAN IMPORT – Artists borrowed the model of Massimo’s cat Machiavelli from “Luca” to create the temple cats that frequent the Lee family temple. The fur is a little longer and the coloring is different to distinguish the difference, but if you look closely you can see the resemblance.
• MAJOR DRAMA – In the film, Mei and Ming watch a show called “Jade Palace Diaries.” The “Turning Red” production team actually created a two-page script for the drama that unfolds, but only a few shots can be seen on the Lees’ TV. The TV logo is in the shape of the dumpling boy from Pixar’s 2018 Oscar®-winning short “Bao,” and features director Domee Shi’s last name as the channel name.

SYNOPSIS

Disney and Pixar’s “Turning Red” introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager.

And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!

Directed by Academy Award® winner Domee Shi (Pixar short “Bao”) and produced by Lindsey Collins.

In international markets where Disney+ is not yet available, the film will be released theatrically, with premiere dates to be announced.

Learn more - www.movies.disney.com/turning-red