Pixar movies are undoubtedly some of the best movies, whether you’re an adult or a child. This year, the geniuses have brought us Turning Red, an adorable new coming-of-age fantasy film that has quickly captured the attention of many.
If you’re intrigued by the sound of Pixar’s latest project, read on because we have all the details for you.
Turning Red: What’s it about?
Turning Red explores themes that everyone who knows what being a teenager is like can probably relate to.
The story follows Meilin Lee, a teenager with a helicopter mother who is going through the uncertainties of growing up. The only difference for Mei is that every now and then her adolescent struggles come with the side-effect of turning into a giant red panda.
Here’s the synopsis from Disney:
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!
The film comes from director Domee Shi, who directed Pixar’s adorable short film Bao (if you haven’t seen it go watch it on Disney+ right now!). It was an incredibly moving exploration of empty nest syndrome, and it looks like Turning Red will tackle some similarly poignant themes.
In fact, we spoke to the filmmakers behind Turning Red ahead of its release, so go read our interview if you want to hear what they had to say!
You can also check out the trailer for the adorable movie below.
Who is part of the voice cast?
As mentioned Domee Shi is the director behind Turning Red and Lindsey Collins is the producer of the film. In awesome news, this makes Shi the first solo female director of a Pixar film.
In the voice cast, we have Rosalie Chiang as Mei Lee and the phenomenal Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) as her mother, Ming.
Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen and Addie Chandler are also part of the voice cast.
Is it any good?
Reviews for Turning Red have been pouring out in the past week and critics are absolutely loving Pixar’s latest.
The film currently has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from over 100 different reviews.
The Washington Post called the film “richly-layered and thematically bold” while Variety said it “represents a fresh change from traditional Pixar fare.”
This is definitely one to watch, so where can you find it?
Turning Red: Release date in Australia
Like many films, Turning Red was initially supposed to have a cinema release. But due to the ongoing uncertainties of the pandemic, (or the pandademic, am I right?) Disney made the decision to fast track it straight to streaming instead.
Turning Red’s release date on Disney+ in Australia and around the world was on Friday, March 11.
It is now streaming free with a Disney+ subscription, rather than behind Disney’s Premier Access paywall.
For those of you who have already smashed through the film, Disney has also released a behind-the-scenes look at the heartwarming film, Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red.
The feature documentary is centred on the all-woman team behind the film and features interviews with director Domee Shi and her core leadership crew, looking how they created such a masterpiece.
You can find Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red on Disney+ now, too.
Turning Red is just one of the movies Pixar is releasing this year. We also have details on the studio’s next film, Lightyear, which is a Buzz Lightyear origin story.
This article has been updated since its original publish date.
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