Domee Shi Talks Blending Real-Life Stories And Anime In ‘Turning Red’

February 7, 2022March 8, 2022 Michael Lee

In just a few short weeks from now, Disney+ subscribers will see how messy growing up can be in Pixar’s Turning Red. Based loosely on director Domee Shi‘s life, the film follows Mei Lee (Roseling Cheng), a confident 13-year-old girl struggling to balance her life as a dutiful daughter to her mother (Sandra Oh) and the chaos of her youth. And things get more complicated when she finds out that if she gets too excited or stressed, she turns into a giant red panda.

Animation, Movies

‘Turning Red’ Blazes a Trail for Female Animators and Storytellers

February 7, 2022February 4, 2022 Michael Lee

Pixar has changed the way we see animated films since they released Toy Story, their first theatrical feature, in 1996. But, while they have made great strides to change the visual and narrative language of animated cinema, the studio has also affirmed its commitment to be more inclusive and deliver content that reflects the world we live in today. That’s why shorts like Sanjay’s Super Team and films like Coco and Soul are crucial because those films feature people of color in lead roles as real people with real stories that authentically reflect their lives and not cliched characters.

Animation, Movies1 Comment

‘Turning Red’ Reimagines the Coming-of-Age Story Through Cultural Specificity

February 7, 2022February 4, 2022 Michael Lee

Pixar’s Turning Red is a film unlike any other. Directed by Domee Shi, the film centers on Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl torn between being the dutiful daughter to her mother (Sandra Oh) and navigating the chaos of adolescence. But her life gets turned upside-down when she discovers she turns into a giant red panda if she gets too excited.

Animation, Movies

‘Turning Red’ Features Pixar’s First Asian-Led Film

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 Mike Manalo

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!

Marvel, Movies3 Comments

‘Black Panther’ Breaks the Oscars’ Superhero Ceiling

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 Keith Chow

History was made this morning when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled its list of honorees celebrating the films of 2018 and named Black Panther as one of the nominees for Best Picture. While plenty of comic book films have received nominations over the decades, no superhero film had ever been nominated for the most prestigious prize of the night. The Dark Knight came closest in 2009 — winning a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award for Heath Ledger and prompting the Academy to expand its nomination list from five to ten the following year.

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Animation, Movies2 Comments

Right Here, Right ‘Bao’

November 6, 2018November 6, 2018 Julie Kang

Oakland and the surrounding East Bay Area is a welcoming, casual town. The standard uniform of jeans and a hoodie is a ticket to pretty much anywhere: a Warriors game, a UC Berkeley lecture hall (as a student or even as the professor), a Michelin-star restaurant, R&B paint night at the Complex. The few exceptions are three-fold: the Piedmont School District, an available slice of sweet potato pie at Lois the Pie Queen after 10:00 AM, and Pixar Animation Studios.

I have lived in the East Bay for more than twelve years, and I have never gotten closer than peering through the iron gates while driving past to get my son to badminton practice. Until now.

To celebrate the upcoming in-home release of Bao and Incredibles 2, Pixar opened their gates to The Nerds of Color as well as other media outlets for dinner and interview opportunities with their creators.

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