Turning Red is a big deal. It’s the first time a full-length Pixar film has featured an Asian protagonist and primarily centers on Asian characters. It’s also the first Pixar film to be fully directed solo by a woman, and the first by a woman of color, with the brilliant Domee Shi, who brought us the now-classic Oscar-winning Bao. And that’s not even the half of it!
With a great premise, and some hilarious sight gags, Turning Red is already shaping up to be one of the most inventive, hilarious films to come out of the Pixar canon. And I have no doubt that the mother-daughter relationship in the movie will end up tugging at a few heartstrings. How can I be so sure of this? Just watch Bao and trust in Domee Shi.
Check out the first teaser trailer for Turning Red for yourself here:
Per Disney:
Young actress Rosalie Chiang lends her voice to Mei Lee, a 13-year-old who suddenly “poofs” into a giant red panda when she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS). Sandra Oh (The Chair, Killing Eve) voices Mei Lee’s protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming, who is never far from her daughter — an unfortunate reality for the teenager.
In addition to the trailer, Disney and Pixar also dropped the first poster for the movie which you can see below!
For me, again, this is huge. I think any children of Asian parents have experienced the loving over-protectiveness and high expectations of our mothers and fathers. And Shi, writing and directing a movie that appears to touch on that (at least from the teaser trailer) seems to be speaking to an experience that’s highly personal to us all. To allow someone from our culture to tell this sort of a story – one that really pertains to our experiences and showcases characters from our culture — especially during a time of high discrimination against the AAPI community, is exactly what the world needs right now. We need more voices to tell our stories in this increasingly difficult industry and world, so people understand the humanity within us all that unites us. And thankfully, soon, we’ll have Turning Red.
Thank you Domee.
Turning Red hits theaters March 11, 2022!
