History WhatCouldHaveBeen / TurningRed

* Following the events of Tyler's party, after [[spoiler:ditching the ritual to remove her panda]], Mei was going to head to Tyler's house to apologize for what happened, [[spoiler:find out there that he's a closet 4*Town fan rather than at the concert, and drag him along to the concert with her.]] This was ultimately cut because it messed with the flow of the movie.

* Much like ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Luca}}'', the film was originally planned to have a theatrical release. However, due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and the Omicron variant, Disney [[ExecutiveMeddling decided to release]] the film onto Creator/DisneyPlus instead, much to Pixar's frustration.

* According to the director's commentary, Mei was originally going to go through with the ritual and banish her red panda spirit. However, she would then go to Sun Yee in the astral to try and get her panda back, realsing [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she made a mistake in getting rid of it]].

For a film that revolves around change, it's perhaps fitting that ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' went through a number of changes itself during its production.

[[caption-width-right:350:Concept art of what would've been Mei's cousin, Leo.]]

* There was going to be a scene where Mei discovers her love for 4*TOWN after watching their concert ad with Miriam, Priya, and Abby [[BreakingTheFourthWall and telling the audience about it.]]

* A piece of concept art of Mei's bedroom revealed that she would've been named Fei Shi, as shown in her spelling bee certificate.

* Scrapped ideas for the red panda curse included only Mei having it or only Mei and Ming having it before it was finalized to only female members of the family to keep the puberty theme. The original plot with Mei's cousin Leo also had the curse being bestowed upon them by Sun Yee because they were destined to stop the [[FeudingFamilies family conflict.]]

* According to Rosalie Chiang, when Mei lashes out at Sun Yee over the red panda spirit, she was going to ask why she didn't wish for ''anything'' else, including "fame, money, [or] a smokin hot bod".

* Just as Mei was at one point called Fei Li, Sun Yee was apparently called Sen Mu at one point.

For a film that resolves around change, it's perhaps fitting that ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' went through a number of changes itself during its production.

* [[https://www.thewrap.com/turning-red-alternate-versions-disney-plus/ The film originally]] had a very different plot early on in development, with it originally being about a family generational feud that had a far bigger family involved, and would've had Mei be pitted against a rival cousin named Leo, who also had a red panda form himself. His depiction had a size-shifting aspect and appeared far [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOoeEBqWYAEl_32?format=jpg more fierce]] in design. This was scrapped early on, as the team found it to be too complicated and taking away from the film's theme of puberty and growing up. [[https://i.redd.it/cdm4o1f7t8p81.png According to Domee Shi's Instagram]], elements of Leo formed the basis for Tyler in the final film.
** Leo's mother's name was Christina, and she was the CoolAunt to Mei, but like Leo, was ultimately cut from the final film. Judging by her concept art, it's highly possible that she was repurposed into Mei's Aunt Lily.

* Likely related to the aforementioned size-shifting powers. [[spoiler:[[https://www.instagram.com/p/CbF1yfHLd92/ Concept art]] shows that the fight between Mei and Ming was originally planned to have have ''both'' of them be kaiju-sized, with the fight taking place all over Toronto, as opposed to being contained within the [=SkyDome=]]].

* The [=SkyDome=] battle between [[spoiler:Mei and Ming]] would've been even more dramatic and serve as an extended therapy session, but the crew decided that it would be "too superhero-y" and wanted to do something a bit more unique.

** Leo's mother's name was Christina, and was the CoolAunt to Mei, but like Leo, was ultimately cut from the final film. Judging by her concept art, it's highly possible that she was repurposed into Mei's Aunt Lily.

For a film that resolves around change, it's perhaps fitting that ''Turning Red'' went through a number of changes itself during its production.

* The film was originally planned to have a traditional BigBad early on, in the form of a Chinese gangster called Benny Blacktooth who wanted to take the temple for himself. Although he stuck around for several drafts, he was scrapped due to the staff feeling he was too complicated and realizing that he didn't fit in a story about puberty.

* Scrapped ideas for the red panda curse included only Mei having it or only Mei and Ming having it before it was finalized to only female members of the family to keep the puberty theme.
* The [=SkyDome=] battle between Mei and Ming would've been even more dramatic and serve as an extended therapy session, but the crew decided that it would be "too superhero-y" and wanted to do something a bit more unique.