YMMV / Turning Red

YMMV tropes for Turning Red

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A-I

• Accidental Aesop: Sometimes, your parents might forget that they were kids before, too.
• Adorkable:
  • Despite being an overbearing and Control Freak parent in general, Ming's desperate attempts to hang out with her distancing daughter's supposed after-school math classes still come off as this, especially when showing off her Abnormal Limb Rotation Range claiming that will help her with geometry.
  • Mei and her three friends also count in their own ways. Mei is a cheerful overachiever who is passionate about everything she does and acts a bit awkward at times, especially around her crushes, Miriam is kind and supportive but also passionate about her interests, Priya is a bit more introverted and stoic but still has her moments, like when she thinks that Mei is a werewolf and admits to always wanting a tail and Abby is Hot-Blooded and aggressive, but thanks to her short and cute appearance, she comes off as this. Their earnest, open and confident love for things that may make them seem weird coupled with their endearing personalities and cute, yet realistically awkward designs is generally well-liked by the fans of the movie.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Why does Tyler bully Mei exactly? Is it simply because he thinks she's an "overachieving, dork narc" weirdo with an overbearing "psycho mom" as he states in the movie, and her friends via their association with her, or does he secretly have a crush on Mei and tries to hide it through said bullying? One could also make an argument that his bullying is possibly out of insecurity given he is later shown to be secretly a big fan of 4*Town, and Mei directly calls him an "insecure jerkwad" in relation to his bullying. Could it also be a facade to mask the elements of his personality he is terrified of expressing, and being caught as a 4*Town fan by Mei and friends let him finally be his true self.
  • Ming's Red Panda form in the climax. Why exactly is it so huge compared to Mei and the rest of her family's forms? Is it just naturally huge or is it huge as a result of her bottled up emotions making the form grow bigger? The film never gives a definitive answer on this, but according to Domee Shi it's actually a combination of the two.
  • Is Wu right in that the red panda transformation could potentially become permanent if Mei uses it too many times or was she making it up to scare Mei out of using the transformation? Given that Mei has had no problems with the form and by the climax, has controlled it to where she can seamlessly transform at will with no issues, and Sun-Yee can also transform between the two forms no problem, it is likely the latter. It is also possible that Wu's own transformations, and those of relatives she knew personally, were as unstable as Mei's was on her first day or nearly so; in which case she feels that the only alternative to outright sealing is forever reining her emotions in order to have any chance whatsoever at living a remotely normal life... and knows that the more someone changes the more painful/difficult/uncertain the sealing ceremony gets.
  • There's also something to be said that Wu's worry that the ritual would fail does happen, but only because Mei bails out mid-way because she decides she wants to keep it. With that in mind, and the possibility that Wu was just parroting warnings from her own parents or grandparents (despite warning that the ritual could fail after too many transformations, she apparently hasn't seen this happening herself, since she answers Mei's "Has that ever happened?" with "It cannot happen."), it's possible that said ancestors came to the wrong conclusion (or Wu misinterpreted them) — "more transformations = more difficult/possibly failing ritual", when the actual conclusion was "more transformations = closer emotional bond with the panda spirit = less likely to want to separate = more difficult/possibly failing ritual".
  • There's a small scene at the end where Ming chastises Mei for going out partially-transformed (ears and tail only), only to relent when Mei confidently fires back with "My Panda, My Choice!". Has her previous strictness become an in-joke, or do old habits die hard and Ming needed the firm reminder?
  • Miriam is speculated to be queer based on her butch appearance and her being the Not Love Interest to Mei in the story. With this in mind, she seems particularly stung when she learns from Mei that Ming dislikes her more than Mei's other friends. Could Miriam already have feelings for Mei, and thus this is why she's distressed to learn the mother of her crush doesn't like her? The fact that she is shown to be openly attracted to boys like the other girls tends to be brushed aside (if she isn't interpreted as bi/pan).
  • Ming is generally seen as a poor parent: overbearing, strict, hovering, overprotective. But it's possible to argue that she's an example of Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting. She was raised to be the perfect traditional Chinese daughter, and built her personality around that role so completely that she had no life of her own. In sharp contrast, she raised her own daughter Mei as a child of both Canadian and traditional Chinese cultures. She gave Mei an education with practical aspects (the entrepreneur-business class seen in the opening montage) as well as "book-learning". She allowed Mei to have friends and activities outside the family, even if she didn't always approve of them. Above all else, she raised a daughter with enough of an independent spirit to stand up to Ming herself and say, "I want to be more than just your perfect Mei-Mei" — and make it stick.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: In the film, milk is advertised as being sold in bags which is actually the case in Eastern Canada but rare elsewhere.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: While the trailers were met with mostly positive responses, there was a great hesitation towards the film from critics and fans, as many thought the film's 3DCG Animesque art direction, and Coming of Age Story through the lens of a young millennial Chinese-Canadian girl was too niche and out of tone with Pixar's other films. It didn't help that much like Pixar's last two films, Turning Red would see a straight to Disney+ release, rather than a traditional box-office theatrical run^note The film had limited runs in the United States in select areas, likewise in other international territories, which caused greater hesitation and critics assuming that Disney had no confidence in the film (despite how well Soul and Luca had done on the platform). Ultimately, these factors proved to not be a problem, as the film's Nielsen ratings boasted an impressive 1.7 billion viewing minutes during its debut weekend against original series and movies. This marked the film as one of the best debuts on Disney+ and Nielsen's records. To put into another perspective, the film's three-day total beat out Sleeper Hit sensation Squid Game's 1.6 billion earned in four weeks. This is on top of the film receiving critical acclaim from critics and audiences. Therefore, it's unsurprising that director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins were promoted to higher positions at Pixar afterward, with Shi joining Andrew Stanton, Peter Sohn, and Dan Scanlon as a part of the studio's legendary Braintrust.
• Angst? What Angst?:
  • Tyler quickly forgives Mei for attacking and terrifying him in her panda form at the party, and exhibits no hostility or fear towards her afterwards.
  • How the movie ends for the most part. Ming tries to outright hurt Mei and ruins the concert that she was anticipating for months, while having an angry fugue episode. Anyone with an abusive parent or guardian can tell you that getting physically hurt by a person responsible for protecting you is a trauma that can last for years and cause lingering trust issues. Instead, Mei forgives her mother after finding her in the astral plane, getting her to the mirror where she can control the transformation again. Heck, when Ming was in a similar situation, the trauma colored her for years on end, and it informs most of her actions throughout the movie. The Time Skip shows that their relationship is in a healthier place, with Mei being more comfortable about setting boundaries.
  • Despite the fact that one of their neighbors nearly caused disaster at a local concert equivalent to a terrorist attack that could have killed many children, the Toronto community is still visiting the temple regularly, even more so now to see a transformed Mei. That must have been one heck of a settlement agreement that Ming reached with the city.
• Applicability:
  • Some fans have related to Mei's struggles as being a metaphor for being closeted and LGBT by how Mei initially sees herself as a "freak" and is terrified what everyone will think of her when they find out. Her friends ultimately showing they still love Mei for who she is and how she gradually gets accepted by everyone else is even more heartwarming in that context.
  • This has also struck a chord with those in the Furry Fandom who see Mei's story being parallel to that of a young teen who is a furry and struggling to grow up as one while trying to come to terms with it and seeking acceptance from friends and family.
  • Disabled, neurodivergent, and mentally ill viewers, especially those who are also female or AFAB, and even more so if they're East Asian (or from cultures with similar ideals about conformity, achievement/perfection, emotional control, and normality in general), have seen parallels with the transformation also being a genetic thing that is an intrinsic part of them, to be managed and coexisted alongside, not "cured" or repressed until the point of a meltdown that may endanger themselves and/or others.
• Awesome Ego: Mei's sassy and confident attitude has won over a lot of fans who weren't expecting her to be so extroverted.
• Broken Base:
  • The film's art style. While largely well-received for its frenetic and energetic style that made it stand out artistically from other Pixar movies, it has its detractors who find the Animesque art style ugly (some making unfavorable comparisons to Steven Universe, despite the movie's art style being far more heavily influenced by anime and manga) or just too big and jarring of a departure from Pixar's usual style.
  • While it's agreed that Mei and Ming were both in the wrong, fans are divided on who was more in the wrong. Some side with Mei, citing her mother's obsessive Control Freak tendencies, her escalating attempts to suppress Mei in an attempt to make her a "perfect" daughter, and her being responsible for the film's conflict and the the rampage at the SkyDome, while also pointing out that Mei has been a "perfect" child for all her life and deserves to have more freedom and fun in her life. Others, however, prefer to side with Ming instead, arguing that, as flawed as she was, she only had Mei's best interests in mind and that Mei is ultimately a selfish child who has no idea what she is doing, citing the incident at Tyler's birthday, her clear inexperience with the red panda form, and her motivations for going against her family being that she wants to go see a concert, which many on the Ming side saw as being purely selfish.
• Catharsis Factor: After years of being "perfect little Mei-Mei", selling out her friends to protect herself when confronted, and having a concert she'd been working so hard for weeks towards prematurely end in destruction, Mei finally stands up to her Mom and combats both physically and verbally about hiding who she was and being her own person. Her friends, including Tyler even cheer her all throughout.
• Comedy Ghetto: Despite the fact the film still has Pixar’s emotional storytelling, many people have been turned off from this movie due to having a bigger emphasis on comedy than the average film from the studio.
• Common Knowledge:
  • It is commonly assumed by critics and audiences that the Red Panda form is a metaphor for female menstruation. However, this is only partially true, as the Red Panda form is meant to be a metaphor for puberty in general and all the sudden and unpleasant changes that come with growing up, not menstruation specifically.
  • Ming hating Miriam. While this is true and it's heavily implied that she dislikes her the most, the film makes a point that Ming dislikes all of Mei's friends and views all of them as bad influences on her Mei-Mei (seeing as she berates all of them at Tyler's party), not just Miriam in particular like some tend to think.
• Critical Dissonance: While the film has received universal acclaim and high scores across the board by critics, it has quickly become one of Pixar's most infamously polarizing films amongst audiences due to its humor, subject matter and visual style. Just for comparison, the film's critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes is an incredibly high 95%, whereas the audience rating is a still positive, but lower 70%.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • The circumstances surrounding Ming confronting Devon at the store over Mei's drawings of him shirtless would normally be pretty serious, since she finds Mei's drawings and mistakes the 17-year-old Devon for a 30-year-old who is preying on her 13-year-old daughter. It wouldn't be so funny if the real reason behind Mei's drawings weren't so simple (it was just Mei starting to form a crush on Devon, and she'd never even spoken to him before), and if Mei's horrified and embarrassed expressions during it all weren't downright hilarious.
  • Mei Shaking the Rump at her own mother likely wouldn't be so funny if they weren't both in their red panda forms, with Ming being the size of a Kaiju, or if Mei wasn't doing it just to get a rise out of her (which she succeeds at spectacularly).
• Crossover Ship: Mei is sometimes shipped with the titular protagonist of Luca, due to both being young protagonists of Pixar movies who can shapeshift between human and animal forms and have complicated but loving relationships with their relatively overbearing mothers. Miriam is also paired with Alberto due to them both acting as laid-back, fun-loving best friends to their respective protagonists.
• Demographically Inappropriate Humour: This movie is definitely about as radar-defiant as Pixar has gotten in recent years, from bursts of mild profanity to blatant references to menstruation to one character being Mistaken for Pedophile for uncomfortable laughs.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The movie's Boy Band, 4*Town, immediately rose to popularity after their music debut despite their relatively minor role in the movie.
    • Two members in particular, Robaire and Tae Young, are among the fan favorites for many reasons. The former for his charming personality and him being voiced by Jordan Fisher, while the latter for his adorable demeanor and caring personality, though his resemblance to Park Jimin also helps.
  • Despite being a minor character who only appears in a handful of scenes, Devon quickly became a popular character, largely due to fans finding him as cute and attractive as the main girls do.
  • Carter Murphy-Mayhew, doesn't speak a single word in the film, but he still has an impact on the plot. When Mei leaves a paw print on his shirt unintentionally, this gives Mei the idea to start marketing the Panda. He shows up in certain scenes on occasion but his life off the stage of movie remains largely a mystery.
  • Mei's classmate Stacy only has a couple of minutes of screen-time, tops, but within less than a month of the film's release, there were a surprising number of YouTube video compilations of her scenes (or at least the main ones). Put it down to her Big "OMG!" the first time she sees Mei transformed, her Squee reaction to Mei's panda form the second time she sees it, and her having a big impact on the plot despite her lack of screen-time. The presence of a patch on her shoulder also made her popular as representation for diabetics.
• Epileptic Trees: One popular theory involving Abby was that she was actually an older Boo from Monsters, Inc., due to their similar appearances, energetic natures, associations with pink flowers and love for fluffy things. The theory got so popular that Domee Shi herself explicitly deconfirmed it, though she implied the two could still be related somehow.
• Fandom-Specific Plot:
  • A popular fanfic plot involves Mei meeting other characters (usually OCs or characters from other universes) who can transform into animals.
  • Giving canon characters (such as Mei's friends) their own animal forms has cropped up too.
  • A common plot for one-shots is to show Miriam's ultimate reaction to finding out that Ming doesn't like her, since in the movie, her only reaction is a shocked "Wait; she doesn't?" before getting pushed away by Mei.
  • More than a few fics have someone after the power of the panda go after Mei, and they may or may not go after her family or friends to get her to comply.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • Ming Lee's childhood, the early days of her relationship with Jin, and her struggles with her red panda form has been the subject of several fanfics.
  • What kind of adventures Mei will get up to post-movie now that she's permanently a red panda shape-shifter is quite popular to write about.
  • Though the idea of animal-based shapeshifting isn't explored beyond Mei and her family, the concept is popular enough that fans have expanded upon it by introducing OCs with similar abilities to Mei or giving Mei's friends their own animal forms.
  • Lots of fans love to speculate on precisely why Ming is so adamant that Miriam is "odd" and a poorly chosen friend for Mei, with reasons ranging from Ming being unconsciously racist (believing Miriam's "oddness" stems from her race or religion) or classist (assuming Miriam's dress habits derive from a lack of familial funds, which could make her a potential platonic Gold Digger) to resenting Miriam for being Mei's first friend and thus "stealing" her away from Ming; some of these also have Miriam assume that her race or religion is the reason only for Ming to respond with shock at the idea and reveal the reason to be something else entirely.
• Fan Nickname: Ming Lee's red panda form has been referred to by fans as "Kaiju Karen".
• Fanon:
  • Although she only shows interest in boys in the film proper, Miriam is frequently interpreted by the fandom to be bisexual or a closeted lesbian, due to her interactions with Mei coming off as being romantic. Her butch-like appearance only adds to this. Said butch appearance has also lead to more than a few fans believing that Miriam is actually trans.
    • It's also becoming very popular (to the point of a specific tag on Archive of Our Own) to write Miriam as having anxiety, though it varies on if it's something she's experienced for a while or a recently developed issue.
    • While no character is immune to swearing in fanfic, Miriam is commonly portrayed as having an awful potty mouth and if anyone is influencing Mei to cuss, however mildly or justified, it's going to be Miriam or at least she's going to get blamed for it by Ming.
  • Priya gets along with goths and shows interest in creepy supernatural things like vampires and werewolves, but dresses in a relatively colorful manner. Since she briefly mentions her parents forbidding her going to the concert, it's often theorized that she's barred from dressing in more goth fashion (though she seems to get around it by wearing black nail polish). Less popular but some people think she'll eventually discover pastel goth (which became popular around 2010) and find that "gothic style, bright colors with touches of black" suits her, also having the additional benefit of being a compromise her parents will consent to.
  • Ming wonders why 4*Town has the number four as their title when there's five of them, so fans chipped in that there used to be four of them, but a member joined them (either Tae Young or Aaron Z., with some supporters of the latter option using it as a parallel to Tyler joining Mei's friend group since Aaron Z. is his favorite member). The band thought of changing the number, but it was too expensive, so they kept it that way.
    • Another slowly emerging theory is that the Aarons are childhood friends who went to what was intended to be an audition for 4*Town's fourth member together but when both of them impressed Jesse, Robaire and Tae Young (or the officials overseeing the auditions), they were both accepted. Alternately, the original intention was to just pick one of them but at their insistence, both were hired (with Jesse, Robaire and Tae Young also being impressed and touched by the duo's loyalty to each other).
  • It's becoming popular fanon that Jesse is Robaire's second-in-command unofficially and that the pair are close friends and confidants.
  • Jesse's two unseen children are commonly interpreted as being twins, one boy and one girl. They also almost always call the other band members "Uncle [Name]".
  • Many a 4*Town fanfic (particularly those on Archive of Our Own) has the older boys nickname Tae Young "Tae-Tae", almost a parallel to "Mei-Mei".
  • Tyler in the film doesn't really show any explicit signs of attraction to the 4 main girls and is even implied to just be gay from the way he has a crush on Aaron Z. But some fans, especially those who ship Tyler with Mei, like to headcanon that he's at the very least bisexual.
• Foe Yay Shipping:
  • Despite Tyler spending most of his screen-time bullying Mei, some fans ship them under the belief that Tyler secretly has a crush on Mei and is bullying her to hide it. The fact they later bury the hatchet and become friends added more fuel to the ship.
  • Not quite as popular but Tyler/Abby has similar roots for those who ship it since Abby was technically a victim by proxy of Tyler's bullying of Mei.
• Fountain of Memes:
  • Everything Mei does has spawned a meme in one way or another.
  • Practically everything Abby says has become a meme.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Mei is shown attending Lester B. Pearson Middle School. Although there is no such school in real life, the fictional school is modeled after Orde Street Junior Public School, which director Domee Shi had attended in her childhood. She also later attended a more closely named Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute; a high school which is also named after 14th Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson.
  • From the architecture to the signs of businesses, the backgrounds are full of Toronto-specific references that would only get picked up by locals.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Just a week after Turning Red's release, Sandra Oh would again play an overbearing, overprotective mother in Umma — only in that case, it's a horror film.
  • In the Japanese dub, Jin Lee is voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto, whose one of his most well-known roles was Guile; One of his victory quotes is "Go home and be a family man!". In this film, he voice a literal, sensible family man.
  • This wouldn’t be the last time in 2022 James Hong would deal with a mother with a troubled relationship with her own daughter. Except this time, he's the feared grandparent.
  • During the opening, Mei calls the two red panda statues outside her family's temple Bart and Lisa from The Simpsons. In 2023, Rosalie Chiang (Mei's voice actor) replaced Tress MacNeille as the new voice of Hubert Wong on that show.
• Ho Yay: This movie is already getting a reputation as "Pixar's gayest film yet". Shortly before the film was released, an anonymous letter from Pixar employees claimed that Disney was prone to censoring scenes showing explicit queer affection, which added further fuel to viewers looking for hints of gay subtext.
  • Priya is shown connecting with a goth girl during a game of charades, and the two are later seen dancing together under blue, pink, and purple lighting, while her friends cheer her on and smirk knowingly. The storyboard of this scene even includes the goth girl blushing◊, and the moment was later confirmed as queer by Andrea Goh of the Pixar Cultural Trust. In addition, during the 4*Town concert Priya wears a shirt with a rainbow on it.
  • Mei and Miriam's friendship is sometimes interpreted as hinting to a closer connection, due to their many affectionate scenes. At one point, Miriam sings "Nobody Like U", a 4*Town love song, to Mei to bring the latter out of her funk. Miriam also dresses in a somewhat butch manner, and Mei's mother refers to Miriam as "odd" and disapproves of their bond the most. This is in addition to Mei's transformation arc being interpreted as paralleling coming out.
  • The concert scene reveals Tyler is a fan of 4*Town, ecstatically squealing over the band just like the girls. He even shouts to one of the band members, "Aaron Z! I love you, man!"
• Inferred Holocaust: The climax features Ming heavily damaging the crowded Toronto SkyDome with a lot of children in danger from the debris and her enormous paws. She even comes close to killing the boy band and maiming Mei when grabbing her. The ending does show the family fundraising for the SkyDome's reconstruction, but lots of people could have been hurt from the amount of falling equipment, and the city would be well within their rights to ban Ming from setting foot there for life. That's not even going into the emotional damages from the trauma.
• Informed Wrongness: Ming is portrayed as wrong for making her daughter Mei seal her panda spirit away with a ritual at the first red moon after it manifests. However, not only does Ming have understandable reasons for wanting to seal it up (she injured her own mother with it), but Mei herself attacked and terrified Tyler at his party with her panda form after losing her temper. What's more, the decision to not seal the panda during the first subsequent red moon is explicitly stated to be a permanent one, while the inverse is not, because Mei's aunts and grandma release theirs. But all of Mei's family, including her mother, ultimately accepts her autonomous decision without even a discussion.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
  • For fans who disliked the art direction change Pixar took with Luca, the fact that this change continued with this film led to further complaints.
  • The film continuing Disney Animation and Pixar's The New Twenties trend of not having an explicit villain, particularly just months after Encanto similarly featured generational trauma as the primary antagonistic force, led to some criticism of the trend, with many comparing it to Disney's The New '10s trend of twist villains and mourning the loss of traditionally memorable Disney villains. Though some compared it more favorably with Encanto as Ming doesn't veer as sharply into What the Hell, Hero? territory compared with Alma and the Madrigals' abandonment of Bruno.

J-Z

• Jerkass Woobie: When Mei enters the spirit world after stopping her mother's destructive rampage and performing the panda ritual on her, she meets a younger version of Ming who is afraid and ashamed of her terrible temper, and sobbing over the fact that she scarred her own mother during one of her panda rages.
• Just Here for Godzilla: After it was announced that Billie Eilish and FINNEAS would be writing songs for the fictional In-Universe Boy Band 4*Town, and that FINNEAS himself would be voicing Jesse, many of their fans are seeing the movie to hear their music and voices.
• LGBT Fanbase: The film has gained one immediately upon its release, due to Mei's struggles with her red panda form hitting home for many LGBT folks (especially for those having been or currently in the closet involuntarily), on top of the aforementioned Les Yay between Mei and Miriam, and Priya and the goth girl and Tyler being pretty much all but stated to be gay or at the very least, bisexual. The fact that there was originally going to be more overtly LGBT content that was stomped down violently by Disney only made the LGBT community more sympathetic towards both this movie and the staff behind it.
• Memetic Mutation: Now has its own page.
• Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: While the film has been criticized by some for presenting a stereotypical view of Chinese culture (despite the film being directed by a Chinese-Canadian woman), the film has become praised by many North Americans of Chinese descent due to how much Mei's experiences resonate with their own experiences and has been praised amongst native Chinese audiences as well, with the film getting a 8.2/10 on Douban (a Chinese film rating site).
• Misaimed Fandom: A few fans take the aesop of the movie the wrong way. They interpret it as encouraging kids to rebel and be completely disobedient to their parents. The movie actually teaches children that they won't ever be their true selves if they are constantly being a slave to their parents' viewpoints of them. If anything the movie takes a negative stance on total rebellion, with Mei making some of her worst mistakes when she completely disregards her mother’s advice and only gets on the right track when she knows what she should be calling her mom out on.
• Moe: Mei is pretty cute-looking, especially in her giant red panda form. Her friends have also stolen hearts for their quirky personalities and unconditional support of Mei's transformation. The rest of her family's red pandas are look adorable too.
• Older Than They Think:
  • One defense about the film's "inappropriate" puberty themes is that there's incredibly mature and/or dark topics in previous Disney and Pixar movies (e.g. genocide, murder, among other things).
  • Another complaint is that the movie "encourages" children to rebel against their parents, which numerous Disney films before it already portrayed kids defying their parents in a positive light, such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Mulan, and Moana. Likewise for Pixar movies like The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Coco.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Sun Yee in flashback, and in the astral plane. Ming describes her as a matriarch that would do anything, even sacrifice her humanity, for her family to keep them safe. She was a tough lady who wasn't afraid to risk her life. She never speaks both times that Mei encounters her. Yet, when Mei asks her if she made the right decision to not seal away the red panda, Sun Yee takes her for a flight, showing her the wonders of the astral plane. Without words, she expresses her approval of her descendant and great-to-the-double-digit-nth-degree (meaning at least 10 "greats") granddaughter.
  • The short purple-haired goth girl who interacts with Priya at the party doesn't appear much and doesn't have a name, but her subtext with Priya has immediately made her popular amongst the LGBT Fanbase.
• One True Threesome: Some fans do consider Miriam/Mei/Tyler to be a valid option instead of Mei/Miriam or Mei/Tyler.
• Popular with Furries: The movie being about a girl who turns into an adorable red panda who learns to embrace that part of herself struck a cord with quite a few members of the furry community.
• Realism-Induced Horror: The story makes no bare bones about the fact that although it comes from a place of love, Ming's obsessive overprotectiveness is causing a ton of strain to her relationship with Mei. She's also in denial of the fact that her relationship with her mother was indirectly responsible. Miriam recognizes the red flags and encourages Mei to realize that pleasing her mother all the time is not healthy. Any time Mei steps out of line, or even her sight for a few minutes, Ming overreacts. Ming has obvious anger management issues, and keeps insisting that she knows best. Her husband doesn't even get the opportunity to gently suggest that maybe she's going too far in not letting Mei attend a concert and trashing something that her daughter adores.
• Ron the Death Eater:
  • Some detractors see Mei as a Spoiled Brat who takes her mother for granted and throws tantrums all because she wouldn't allow her to listen to the music she likes. They tend to ignore that Mei has been nothing but kind and loyal to her mom her entire life, Ming does things that would be humiliating for any child to deal with (like accusing Devon of being a predator after seeing Mei's drawings and spying on Mei while she's at school), and Mei realizes that being her true, authentic self makes her significantly happier while her family wants her to hide it away. Even before then, she never got to be herself around Ming because she didn't want to disappoint her.
  • Conversely, there are also a number of viewers who view Ming as a borderline Abusive Parent whose lack of letting Mei have any free-will is the reason she became a brat in the first place^note It's Truth in Television that children and teens with overly controlling parents are more likely to become rebellious. and was too Easily Forgiven in the end. This also ignores the fact that Ming's controlling behavior wasn't out of malice but rather because she genuinely thought she was doing the right thing for Mei. Furthermore, the film makes it clear that Ming's in the wrong because of her over-protectiveness and that she needed to learn that she can't keep smothering her daughter. The fact that even those who don't see her as abusive genuinely found it hard to sympathize with Ming even after her whole backstory is revealed doesn't help.
• Rooting for the Empire: There are fans that feel that Mei's ultimate philosophies can come across as misguided or selfish. Many of these fans tend to side more with Ming as a result, feeling that for all her flaws, she is the more reasonable one in the conflict and the more sympathetic character overall, especially after her backstory is revealed.
• Ship Mates:
  • Rare crossover example. Miriam/Mei fans tend to get along with Luca/Alberto fans, due to the two having similar dynamics and arcs, on top of helming from Pixar films that have garnered LGBT Fanbases (which are also Friendly Fandoms to boot). Thanks to this, it isn't uncommon to see art featuring both pairs.
  • Within the fandom itself, Mei/Miriam fans tend to ship Tyler/Abby, and Priya/Goth Girl is supported by Mei/Miriam, Mei/Tyler, and Tyler/Abby fans alike.
• Signature Scene:
  • Mei going "AWOOGA!" upon seeing Devon while in her red panda form.
  • 4*Town joining in during the second ritual to help save Mei's transformed mom.
• Spiritual Adaptation: As a movie taking place in Toronto that deals with a teenage girl's puberty in the form of an animal transformation, with an overprotective mother as an antagonist, it's probably the closest thing possible to a Disney adaptation of Ginger Snaps.
• Strawman Has a Point: Ming is portrayed as an overbearing, domineering mother for making Mei seal her panda spirit at the first red moon after it manifests. However, not only does Ming have understandable reasons for wanting to seal it up (she injured her own mother with it), but Mei herself attacked and terrified Tyler at his party with her panda form after losing her temper. What's more, the decision to not seal the panda during the first subsequent red moon is explicitly stated to be a permanent one, while the inverse is not, because Mei's aunts and grandma release theirs. But all of Mei's family, including her mother, ultimately accepts her autonomous decision without even a discussion.
• Tainted by the Preview: When the first trailer was released, there was some criticism about the premise following the ongoing trope of "protagonist of color transforms into an animal or non-human creature". Though the criticisms were pacified when it was established that the director was a Chinese woman who uses her own culture into the movie mixed with Mei being able to turn back human throughout the movie rather than at the end.
• Testosterone Brigade: Despite being marketed to tween girls, the movie has developed a huge male fanbase, owing to the cuteness of Mei's red panda form (as well as Mei's natural form and her friends) and the message that anyone can relate to in general (the movie itself has quite a gender-neutral moral if you bar the menstruation metaphors).
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Jin gets very little focus and presence in the movie with the exception of the scene where he talks with Mei before the ritual. Some people felt he could have had a bigger role in the story.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Mei physically attacks and terrifies Tyler in her panda form, and Ming destroys the SkyDome stadium in her panda form. These dangerous events might have at least lead to a serious conversation about the pros and cons of keeping the panda form, and the consequences and responsibilities that come with such a choice. This discussion could have even involved Sun Yee in the astral plane, as she asked for the panda form in the first place to protect her family. But such a discussion never happens; Mei's family, including her mother, rather quickly just accept her decision without objection.
• Toy Ship: Miriam/Mei and Mei/Tyler have quickly emerged and grown into popular ships shortly after the film's release.
• Trailer Joke Decay: The bathroom "OMG!" scene appeared in nearly every trailer and commercial for the movie.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Mei's fur in red panda form is very detailed and fluffy. Some viewers have even said it almost seemed like they could actually reach out and touch it. The cityscape of Toronto is beautiful as well, and the bright pastel color palette is very pleasing. Domee Shi has referred to the palette as an "Asian Tween Fever Dream".
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: While still kid-friendly and the topics it tackles aren't inherently too mature for its target demographic, the film is more overt about puberty and pubescent sexuality than you might expect, even from Pixar. An early plot point has Mei excitedly doodling shirtless drawings of a seventeen-year-old clerk working at the local convenience store, which her mother discovers and misinterprets as a sign of the guy having taken advantage of her, even mistaking the clerk for a 30-year-old man. The film also notably averts the concept of No Periods, Period, where not only does Mei's mom assume Mei is menstruating (with the Unusual Euphemism of "the red peony blooming") and bring her maxi pads, but she also mentions that Mei should clean her "petals" regularly. There's also brief references to drugs, "stripper music", and being a "perv", all of which are surprisingly explicit for a PG Disney film.
• The Woobie: Mei starts the movie as a cute, smart, confident girl who honestly believes she's in full control of herself and her life. Then in short order, she gets horribly embarrassed by her mother twice, discovers the red panda transformation (which she finds horrifying), discovers she has no control at all over the red panda transformation, has to run home across town in broad daylight in her panda form, and discovers her trusted parents knew about the red panda and didn't tell her. Finally, she finds herself facing solitary confinement for a month, living in an empty bedroom cut off from friends, school, and everything she enjoyed about life. She doesn't regain her confidence until after her friends promise they will never abandon her and she learns how to properly control her panda form.
• Woolseyism:
  • In both French dubs, Mei practices Spanish instead of French, and as she describes the members of 4*Town, she notes that Robaire likes poetry.
  • In the Japanese version of "Nobody Like U", the "Glendale" line is replaced with "Seiyo", a city in Japan.^note In the movie proper, when Mei listens to the song, the line is replaced with "Tee-Oh", i.e. one of the nicknames of Toronto, Ontario.

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