7 fun facts about Pixar's Turning Red

Mei Lee is a 13-year-old who must deal with her overprotective mother. As if that weren’t tough enough on a teenager, Mei also turns into a fluffy giant red panda whenever she gets excited. That’s the premise of Pixar's Turning Red, which is set to air soon on Disney+. With a stellar voice acting cast, including Sandra Oh, this animated film is definitely one to look out for. While we wait for Turning Red to release, here are 7 fun facts about this film for you to check out.

Pixar's Turning Red is all about pandas, specifically red pandas. Almost everything in the film is panda-related. The rooftops, the statues, the altars, the signs etc., are all panda-related.

Director Domee Shi would frequently get into disagreements with her mother while growing up. She has put a lot of stories into Turning Red that have been inspired by their own real-life interactions.

The colour scheme for the mother-daughter duo is well thought out. Mei's is fire red, and her mother Ming's is emerald green. This choice shows two opposites of the colour spectrum. Creators agreed that the colour scheme was intended to represent a teenage girl's relationship with her mother.

Mei has a close-knit group of three friends, and one of them was voiced by Domee Shi's real-life friend Heyin Park. Heyin's personality is quite similar to the character she voices Abby. Abby is that friend who fights on your behalf when life becomes rather unfair.

The final version of Mei's room is all emerald, like her mother's colour scheme. This was done to insinuate that the world that Mei is growing up in was created by her mom. Moreover, the places where Mei can be herself are more colourful, such as her school and the mini-mart.

The animators shared a fun fact that pandas put their hands up when startled. If you look closely, Mei too puts her hands up when she's scared. Now, that’s real attention to detail!

Perhaps the biggest and most impressive fact about Turning Red is that it is Pixar’s first all-woman led team. Director Domee Shi has expressed her own joy at being chosen to helm this project as a woman and was thankful to all the talented women who spearheaded the project alongside her.

We can't wait for Turning Red, which will be released on 11th March 2022 exclusively on Disney+. You can watch the behind-the-scenes of the movie in the documentary Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red.