Animation filmmaker Domee Shi has been working with Pixar for years, and in 2018 won an Academy Award for her beloved animated short film Bao. However, Pixar’s latest feature film, Turning Red, is her most personal project yet with the animation studio.
In a press conference attended by CBR’s Sam Stone, Shi reveals that much of the film’s story — following middle-schooler Mei Lee and her family in Toronto in the early 2000s — is drawn from her upbringing. Mei experiences a family curse transforming her into a magical red panda whenever she is overcome by her emotions. Shi used this mythical premise as a means to symbolize themes of puberty and coming-of-age in the face of familial tradition.
“The inspiration behind Turning Red came from my own life growing up in the early aughts [as a] Chinese Canadian — a dorky, sassy, nerdy girl who thought she had everything under control,” Shi said. “[I] was mom’s good, little girl, and then, boom, puberty hit. I was bigger. I was hairier. I was hungry all the time. I was a hormonal mess. I was fighting with my mom every other day.”
Turning Red also boasts a unique animation style in comparison to other Pixar projects. Described by the filmmakers as “chunky cute,” Turning Red features a rounded character design. The creative team looked to their previous work on Bao and expanded upon the foundation they had developed in the 2018 short to reflect how a teenager like Mei would see the world.
“It felt like the perfect style to tell this story about this girl, and really show the world through her eyes,” Shi observed. “How does she see the world? How does she see people? And just really making the world feel like it was designed by a thirteen-year old girl. So that’s kind of how we coined that chunky cute style.”
In addition to boasting this chunky cute style, Shi noted that there are moments of heightened emotion that draws from anime influences. These moments involve extreme close-ups as Mei’s focus is drawn to specific points and to add an emphasized dramatic effect. Shi credits anime like Sailor Moon in creating these moments. Turning Red‘s close-up moments create a humorous twist on scenes and underscores the high emotional stakes teenagers ascribe to everyday instances.
Directed and co-written by Domee Shi, Turning Red premieres March 11 on Disney+.
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