In “Turning Red,” director Domee Shi turned Pixar upside down in the pursuit of a 2D anime look for dorky 13-year-old Mei (Rosalie Chiang), who transforms into a giant red panda as part of her sexual awakening. The unconventional coming-of-age comedy set in Toronto streams March 11 on Disney+ and will screen at Hollywood’s El Capitan for a one-week Oscar-qualifying run.
“I grew up watching anime films as much as Disney and Pixar,” said Shi, who makes her directorial feature debut after her Oscar-winning “Bao” animated short. “I really wanted to bring this expressive style into the movie and convey how Mei was feeling at any given moment. She has such big emotions and we had to push the animation in a way, like in anime, where the character’s embarrassed or mad or sad or has stars in their eyes. So it felt like the perfect opportunity to explore...
“I grew up watching anime films as much as Disney and Pixar,” said Shi, who makes her directorial feature debut after her Oscar-winning “Bao” animated short. “I really wanted to bring this expressive style into the movie and convey how Mei was feeling at any given moment. She has such big emotions and we had to push the animation in a way, like in anime, where the character’s embarrassed or mad or sad or has stars in their eyes. So it felt like the perfect opportunity to explore...
- 3/10/2022
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Turns out that Pixar director Domee Shi’s Oscar-winning “Bao” short was truly the appetizer before the meal of “Turning Red,” her animated feature debut (premiering March 11 on Disney+). Both rely on bizarre transformations to express identity crises while growing up as a Chinese-Canadian in Toronto. However, “Turning Red” allowed her to fully explore her awkward tween experience through 13-year-old Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang), who turns into a giant red panda whenever she can’t control her emotions about boy bands, pop music, her besties, and breaking free from her overbearing mom, Ming (Sandra Oh).
“Where did this wacky story come from? Back in 2017, as I was promoting [‘Bao’], a lot of people kept asking me: Why is Bao a boy? Because I only had eight minutes to tell the story,” said Shi. “For a mother-daughter story, I needed an entire feature film to unpack that. And, luckily, I was soon...
“Where did this wacky story come from? Back in 2017, as I was promoting [‘Bao’], a lot of people kept asking me: Why is Bao a boy? Because I only had eight minutes to tell the story,” said Shi. “For a mother-daughter story, I needed an entire feature film to unpack that. And, luckily, I was soon...
- 2/7/2022
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
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