Turning Red Film Review, A Warm Story Of Parents Accompanying Children Growing Up

Turning Red (Disney)

JAKARTA - The animated film Turning Red tells the story of a teenage girl Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) towards adulthood. She is a confident 13 year old Chinese girl and has a solid group of friends.

Meilin also excels in school and has a close relationship with her family, namely her strict mother Ming (Sandra Oh), and easy-going father Jin (Orion Lee).

The three run a temple honoring their ancestor, Sun Yee, located in a Chinatown in Toronto, Canada. In the history of the Lee family, Sun Yee's ancestors had a special ability and relationship with the red panda. The Lees believe that the mystical creature has blessed their family with good luck and prosperity.

Like any little girl who is growing up in her teens, Meilin also begins to find interest in various things other than academic activities at school. She and her friends start to have a crush on a boy, to listen to pop songs from an idol group, in this film called 4*Town.

Having a mother who is so strict and orderly, sometimes makes Meilin unable to freely express herself and explore her interest in light things and is popular among her peers. That phase of growing up made Meilin sometimes get out of control and fight with her mother because of differences of opinion.

One day, Meilin wakes up in the morning and finds herself turned into a red panda instead of her adorable self with her round glasses. At first, she tried to hide the change from her parents and friends.

That morning, Ming, not yet aware of the drastic change, assumed her daughter had her first period. However, it seems that Meilin has transformed into a more shocking and large form.

Quoted from ANTARA, Director Domee Shi, an Oscar winner for his short film Bao (2018), co-wrote the script with Julia Cho. Both of them are of Asian blood, able to create a balance between fantasy, culture, and contemporary teen film tropes in Turning Red.

In addition, the depiction of the Asian mother, which is so familiar to Indonesian viewers, is also very accurate and fun to watch. The warmth that is presented in Turning Red seems to be a reminder that this film was made with care, sincerity, and full of joy by the creators behind it.

The dynamics of the relationship between parents and children, which are told honestly, become a "time machine" for adult audiences to return to their childhood -- bringing smiles to feelings of emotion at small moments that may have been felt before.

Chiang and Oh's performance as a mother and daughter duo also reinforce the intentions of the filmmakers well. Chiang was able to bring the cheerful and expressive Meilin adorable and authentically in her voice-over debut in her first animated feature film.

Meanwhile, Oh as Ming brings the character who is so orderly in everything, but on the one hand, she is also good at dampening her fragile side with sincere love and concern for the happiness of her only child, Meilin.

But there's also the internal conflict that Mei learns not to lose control of, just like any other teenager, as she struggles with her deep-rooted fear of disappointing her mother.

Not only familiar conflicts but also full of deep meaning in them, there are light problems and dilemmas that feel challenging for 13-year-olds like Meilin: how to get money to watch a favorite idol group's concert!

The journey is also a lot of fun, and adds a refreshing yet humorous element to the film.

Portraits of loving teenage friendships are also reflected in "Turning Red". The instant acceptance of Meilin's friends for her transformation resulted in some joyous moments.

There is also a "Bootylicious" montage that is fun to watch and is one of the unforgettable things of this film. Apart from being warm, it also adds to the emotional side that is attached to the audience.

The personalities of all the girls are well described -- not only in facial and physical characteristics, but also in the voice acting of Ava Morse as Miriam; Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya; and Hyein Park as Abby.

Fun fact, Park is an artist at Pixar who worked on "Bao" (2018), "Toy Story 4" (2019), and "Soul" (2020).

Overall, the film warmly celebrates the racially diverse characters in the multicultural city they live in.

Set in the city of Toronto, Canada in the early 2000s, "Turning Red" has a visual that is largely shaped by a bright, eye-catching palette of pastel colors.

The animation style is also quite new and different from previous Pixar films. Director Shi and the animation team adapted a lot of depiction styles such as Japanese animation and comics (anime and manga). This makes the characters in "Turning Red" dramatic, expressive, and witty.

On the audio side, Shi collaborated with GRAMMY, Oscar and Emmy award-winning Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson ("Black Panther", "The Mandalorian"). There is no doubt how the scoring of the film complements the visual beauty that is presented.

In addition, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS also took part in writing songs for the group 4*Town. There are three songs specially composed for this film, including the song "Nobody Like U" which is the song in the "Turning Red" trailer.

Overall, "Turning Red" is a story about the changes and transitional moments that preteens go through. The story is both refreshing and relatable to many people -- about the phase of life when we try to find out who he really is.

Turning Red is an original, sweet and witty film. It is a warm and loving reminder that adolescence is a time of life that is not easy to "tame", and that sometimes what is hidden within us needs to be released. Turning Red premieres on Disney+ Hotstar on March 11, 2022.