LogFAQs > #975247251

18. Turning Red

Mythiot: 1
Karo: 5
Inviso: 6
Red: 11
Plasma: 15
Evillord: 25
Ermine: 26
Johnbobb: 28
Suprak: 28

Total: 145

Mythiot: *no writeup submitted*

Karo: A young girl suddenly finds she transforms into a red panda whenever she gets worked up, which is a metaphor for either puberty or being a furry.
So her mom is this horrible Karen who obsessively manipulates, gaslights, and stalks poor Mei through every aspect of her life, leading to an especially atrocious moment where she has some sort of psychotic breakdown and very publicly humiliates her daughter for having a crush on a boy. This is the kind of thing that can scar a child for life so good job with mothering, bitch.
They try to make her sympathetic by showing how her abuse stems from the way her own mother treated her, and of course she has a complete turnaound into an undeserved reconciliation because this is Disney. I'm sorry, but this woman needs fucking professional help and I do not buy her suddenly becoming a calm and well balanced individual.
Anyway, more of her mother's bullshit leads to Mei panda-ing out in the middle of school and the other kids are surprisingly ok with this. I'm serious, everyone single person who goes to her school are complete and utter furries who desperately want to be her friend now and like everyone runs around wearing panda ear and tail paraphernalia in order to look just like her. Rad.
The plot is so simple, but that doesnt mean it is bad. Indeed just watching these girls living their everyday lives while they save up to see their favorite band and deal with spontaneous animal shapeshifting is infinitely wholesome and cute.
There is a joyful nostalgic happiness to the film that makes me enjoy it immensely, not to mention a main character who I identify with way more than I probably should. Even the soundtrack, which I thought was going to be obnoxious, is perfectly ok.
Turing Red is a return to the quirky charm that make Pixar dominate the 2000s animation scene, but without just copying the themes and characters the way Onward did. It is a very rare occurrence of a major animated feature being directed by a woman, and I hope this can break some ground because there is some mad female talent in the animation industry especially on the TV side of things.

Inviso: This movie is cringe as fuck, and I LOVE it for that. I cannot claim to have the life experience of a tween girl hitting puberty and dealing with all the changes (both physically and socially) that come with that, but I can at least say there are some similarities between growing up as a boy, and how growing up as a girl were portrayed in this film. It takes an extremely over-the-top story and plot, and manages to bring the characters to the forefront. Ironically enough, it humanizes Mei-Mei by taking what could be a universal experience and kind of tying it to this mystical curse she faces. And I think thats what makes the cringe work, because why its rough watching someone get humiliated, the fact that she kind of ends up owning it makes it a bit more palatable. Also, I love her mom turning intonot the big badbut A big bad, just in terms of furthering the metaphor. Its all just really well-told in a fun fashion that manages to blend more childish tones with growing up themes, and I think this sort of movie is much needed, since it seems there arent enough coming-of-age stories about characters who kind of in that transition period between carefree kids and got their shit together teenagers.

Vis Cry Count 14: That whole ending sequence when Mei-Mei meets her mothers younger self in the red panda realm, and shes experiencing the same sadness and anxiety Mei-Mei felt, but obviously to a larger extent, since Mings transformation isMUCH bigger.

Red: Disney and Pixar both go real hard on the "family comes to terms with each other" movies this list. So lets just get this out there, this all could have been avoided if someone just told their daughter the very important fact that one day they'd turn into a potentially murderous dangerous red panda that needed to be contained at all cost. But we need plot convenience so this just isn't going to be on anyone's mind until it becomes necessary. We get some fun panda antics and teenage girl experiences in between a story of the standard "family comes to an understanding" plotline.

Plasma: A good story hiding inside a bad one.
The first act of Turning Red was pure cringe. I dont even like using the word cringe, but I have to here, because the movie went out of its way to characterize everyone in the main cast as either obnoxious or loathsome. Early on, I thought this one was doomed for a Bottom 5 finish.
Then things picked up in the second act. The characters got humanized, and I started sympathizing with Mei as she dealt with puberty and her supernatural panda bear curse. Seeing her endure embarrassment while learning to control her emotions was engaging to watch, and the way her friends supported her through it all was refreshing. There were also several poignant moments along the way, like the cool kids demanding she show up in panda form for their selfish enjoyment. Very real, very sincere.
Then at the end, things got cringe again when Momzilla attacked the concert. It led to some hideous dialogue exchanges, and in the end we were left with a hammy moral about embracing your emotions rather than suppressing them. Thats not to say its a bad message, but I thought it strayed from the sincere approach to emotional control and maturity that we got earlier.

Evillord: Pixar's first movie to be set in Canada, complete with references to Toonies and Tim Hortons. This is what you have to do to create a recognizable setting out of a country with no unique architecture and barely any culture.
I don't really have a lot to say about this film, it just kind of felt like Pixar going through the motions. The idea of a mother-daughter kaiju battle at a boy band concert, which serves as this film's climax, could be really funny, but the way it goes down in the movie just lacks the kind of energy and humor it takes to capitalize. I liked the idea of Mei's friends giving her the emotional stability to control her feelings-based panda transformation, but this cast of characters aren't that likable or interesting, partially because of their (admittedly realistic) annoying 13-year old Canadian girl mannerisms. Since the conflict is between a young girl and an overbearing matriarch she can never impress, it's kind of like a more irreverent version of Encanto, but again I wish it committed harder to being wacky. The best part is the imagery and sound of the Chinese mythology based sections like the ritual scene. I'm a little unsure why I feel so underwhelmed by Turning Red when I liked Luca so much, since they both have this vibe of low-stakes Pixar movie, but I think I appreciated how Luca was more chill, felt the characters just had a lot more charm, and the summery Italian landscape definitely made a much more captivating atmosphere than the dismal, almost brutalist cityscape of Toronto, a place I never wish to see again.