Changing topics... has someone been fiddling with the movie even after its release? I'm specifically talking about the scene where Grandmother Lee gives Mei her own version of the "don't let the panda out" warning. When I first watched it a few days ago, I thought Grandmother Lee said that if Mei let the panda out too often, she could become locked in the panda form forever. I'm not the only one, either - that idea was all over the tropes pages for Turning Red. But I rewatched it last night, and this time Grandmother just repeated Ming's original warning: that every time Mei transforms, the panda becomes stronger. If she transforms too often, the ritual will fail "and you will never be free of it" — ie, Mei will have to deal with the panda transformation, and the need to rigidly control her emotions at all times, for the rest of her life. The threat of getting mode-locked in panda form was gone.
Was it ever really there, or did a bunch of people all misinterpret Grandmother Lee's warning the same way?
"Narn, Centauri, Human, we all do what we do for the same reason: it seemed like a good idea at the time." - Ambassador G'kar, Babylon 5I watched it on the day it released and I remember the grandmother saying that Mei would "never be free of it" if she went into panda mode too much. I never honestly got the sense that Mei would be locked into the form, just that the ritual locking the panda away would be made more difficult. And it did look more difficult for Mei, seeing what a struggle it was for her to attempt to go through the mirror in the spirit plane.
When we're done, there won't be anything left.TBH, I didn't get that interpretation the first time through and I watched within the first weekend. I think it's just a line that's easy to misinterpret, especially since "Mode Lock" is a common trope in transformation stories and one might just connect that as the intention without a second thought.
I also don't think Mei was having difficulty removing her Panda in the mirror; or at least not more so than expected. It's that she saw the damage she was causing to herself by literally severing part of herself away.
As for why it's easy for the older family members to do it later; they've been separated from their Pandas for decades at this point; their entire lives really. Those Pandas weren't part of them by this point. To go with the metaphor; it's not really part of who they are at this point so it's easy to separate the panda again.
Edited by InkDagger on Mar 24th 2022 at 12:05:22 PM
"It's that she saw the damage she was causing to herself by literally severing part of herself away."
This. And also something else, I think: it's subtle, but by this time Mei has been established as having a great deal of empathy for creatures in distress: "save the whales," and the photos of deforestation and the "sad orangutan". At Tyler's party, she refuses to let the goth girls be wallflowers. Then during the ritual she looks back and sees her panda spirit in distress. What's she going to do? Turn her back on it?
"Narn, Centauri, Human, we all do what we do for the same reason: it seemed like a good idea at the time." - Ambassador G'kar, Babylon 5
They are those over-the-top animesque expressions that we often see in 2010s 2D cartoons (Steven Universe used them a lot, for instance), but seldom in 3D.
I recall that one of the final gags in Inside Out is that the emotions find a "Puberty" button in the Headquarters, and a lot of people were joking that the movie's sequel will be entirely about Riley's puberty. Well, it's not an Inside Out sequel, but we got Pixar's puberty movie.
There's a Big Red Button marked "Panda Mode" on her control panel that all the emotions gleefully smash at every opportunity.
One of What Could Have Been concepts trending for this film is the reveal of Leo
- a proposed male cousin of Mei (designed by Maria Yi
). Interestingly, he has a variation of the red panda, and developed early enough to still have the size-shifting ability. According to Domee Shi
's Instagram status
◊, he was eventually cut to focus more on Mei's relationships with her friends and mother, but his personality was transplanted into Tyler.
Producer Lindsey Collins and director Domee Shi are getting promoted
.
After starting at Pixar as an intern, Shi was hired as a story artist on “Inside Out” and has worked on “The Good Dinosaur,” “Incredibles 2” and “Toy Story 4.” Her 2018 short, “Bao,” won the Academy Award for best animated short. With “Turning Red,” Shi is the first woman ever to be a solo director on a Pixar feature. According to Disney, the movie was the No. 1 film premiere on Disney Plus in the streamer’s history.
Congrats on them for the well-deserved promotion!
Furthermore, the physical release of Turning Red is coming on May 3
. It will contain some deleted and behind-the-scenes content.
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I see, I really wish he was in the movie since I find tyler very granting and easly the worst part of the movie.
"And I think that if this film had been made by a male team, you'd get a lot of those jokes."
Mostly yeah, the story really took seriously going to the concert as thing worth having not matter how unrealistic that was, it feel....odd(in a good way) to see that.
Edited by unknowing on Apr 11th 2022 at 5:21:30 AM
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"Who knows, and that without going with the fact, from what I discussed with my family about the film a few days ago, that most of the film wouldn't had fly if the characters were ethnic Chinese from mainland China rather than Chinese-Canadians, starting with Mei's red hair in school, and the fact that, considering the Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, destroying an stadium and paying for damages would be the Lees' least of their worries if the same event had ocurred in China.
Correct me if I am wrong, but considering the time period the film takes place, and other cultural quirks between China and Canada (and by default, other western countries), Mei and her family would had to explain why she suddenly had red hair without going with the excuse of dyeing red, since, from what I heard about Chinese schools, they are pretty strict about their students' physical appearance, at least more than Japan or South Korea.
Edited by luisedgarf on Apr 12th 2022 at 7:06:34 AM
A few messages up, M84 wrote: "I'm just gonna say I'm really impressed with the facial animations in this movie. Pixar hit it out of the ballpark on this front."
I had a similar thought. I'm impressed by the fact that in two places in particular, the animators threw away the traditional exaggerated expressions that populate most Western animation as well as anime, and instead went for subtlety. The first is when we see Mei in panda form after she broke her ritual: the play of expressions across her face tells us exactly what she's thinking without getting cartoonish about it. The second is when Mei finds her mother on the astral plane: the two of them exchange far more information with their expressions than they do with their words - but again, it's done subtly. I honestly don't remember the last time I saw an animated film handle a scene that important without using either exaggerated expressions and gestures or "let's make sure the audience can't possibly miss the point" dialogue. Or both.
"Narn, Centauri, Human, we all do what we do for the same reason: it seemed like a good idea at the time." - Ambassador G'kar, Babylon 5I first watched this movie in March, but I'd like to share some of my 5 centsnote on this.
First and foremost, as a millennial Korean-Canadian who lived all his life in Toronto, this movie was almost surreal. I live on the opposite side of Toronto, but I've been to Chinatown a lot, to the point where I can literally pinpoint to you where some of the shots are. Finally, while this movie was obviously about a different ethnicity and religion than myself, they definitely hit a lot of the family dynamics, the intergenerational conflicts and the struggle between maintaining an Asian cultural identity versus the realities of life in the Westnote right on target (and way too close for it to be a comfortable watch in some parts).
There were some parts where, as a Torontonian I was kind of disappointed by, like how the characters incorrectly pronounce Toronto as To-ron-to instead of T(o)-ro-no or Chron-o, and the Anachronism Stew in some parts (the skyline, the fact that the Skydome is called the Rogers Centre 2 years before it got renamed, etc), but for the most part I think it captured the Asian-Canadian community really well.
Edited by SantosLHalper on May 31st 2022 at 6:42:01 AM
Viz Media is publishing a companion manga
to the film in 2023, focusing on the the boy band 4*Town:
An official synopsis reads: “4*Townies are hyped to see 4*Town performing their favorite hits live, but how will Canada’s greatest boy band spend the day leading up to their epic Toronto concert? Hang with Robaire, Jesse, Tae Young, Aaron T, and Aaron Z as they enjoy a rare break in their busy schedules! Jesse and Tae Young embrace their artistic side and visit a ceramics museum, Aaron T gets his fashion on at the mall, and Aaron Z and Robaire stay in the dance studio to master their moves before the sold-out show. Only the realest fans deserve to get this up close and personal with Tween Beat Magazine’s Hottest Band of the Year!”
Turning red getting a manga... oh okay... *looks closer* wait it's all about 4 town!!?
Not going to lie though, I'm kind of living for this news. Given their bios and everything I wish we saw more of them in the film.
Bide your time, and Hold out Hope — GANKUTSUOU Just because it's irrational, doesn't mean it's not real.

Edited by lbssb on Mar 23rd 2022 at 9:23:40 AM
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