User Reviews

This movie does not glorify disobeying parents. It shows how overbearing parents often cause the same problems they had as a child because their parents were overbearing. A cycle, if you will. Of course this movie will make you cringe, feel awkward, and maybe experience second hand embarrassment! It's about teenagers understanding who they are! I often remember growing up, reading fan fiction, awkwardly expressing my interests, and hiding some things from my parents.

Disobeying parents is part of growing up. Yes, the child may get punished, but typically both the parent and child learn something from a "hairy" situation.

When you boil it down, the concept is very similar to Mulan going against her father's will to do something she thought was right. This is exactly what Mei does! She keeps the panda. It's a part of her she enjoys, even if it is against the matriarch of her family's ideals.

This movie is very sweet, and was very relatable. I loved the diversity of Toronto being displayed. However, I think Disney and Pixar have a very big problem always turning BIPOC into animals instead of letting them simply be BIPOC characters. Examples: Brother Bear, Princess & the Frog, Emperor's New Groove, and Soul. Give us BIPOC characters that stay human!

The various reactions to TURNING RED are more fascinating than the movie itself. The reaction is undoubtedly politicized: it's either a masterpiece of female empowerment or oversexed degeneracy out to make sure kids don't obey their parents. Turns out it's neither.

The movie is often touted as a metaphor for menstruation, but I found the red panda operated more as a symbol of the sense of independence and separation from one's parents that comes with puberty. It's not encouraging kids to disobey their parents so much as depicting that sort of rebelliousness often comes with puberty. The protagonist is torn apart by her desire to be independent and grown-up (though her ideas about maturity are decidedly immature, as it is with middle schoolers), and her desire to please and stay close to her mother. Similarly, the mother is not an ogre, but someone who wants to do what's best for her child while also keeping up the pretense of being perfect herself (a condition we later learn comes from her own domineering maternal figure).

As for the "horny" elements, it's pretty tame (the main character draws shirtless mermen and swoons over a boyband about as sexually dangerous as cotton candy), though any allusion to burgeoning sexual desire is a raging taboo by Disney/Pixar standards. Preteen girls tend to be boy crazy-- that's not being degenerate, it's being honest. However, this does mean that parents with smaller children might want to screen the movie first. Unlike earlier Pixar films, this one is more for the preteen and up crowd considering the themes it tackles.

Judging by my lengthy defense of the film, you might expect I loved it. Not quite. It's a decent coming of age movie with some funny scenes and a well-done mother-daughter relationship, but I confess I dislike the CalArts style, which is frankly unappealing in CG. Many of the supporting characters were not as developed as I would have liked either: with the exception of Miriam, Mei's other friends are simple types (the deadpan one, the hyper one), and I would have loved to have seen more of Mei's imposing but well-meaning grandmother. It has the same issue as Disney's THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME in that it wants to tell a more mature story but it's held back by the requirement of certain kiddie movie conventions, like the action-packed climax.

In the end, TURNING RED is undoubtedly a unique entry in the Pixar canon, exploring themes that still seem to be too taboo for mainstream western animation. The screenplay could have used a little more fleshing out, but it turned out much better than I expected. It's worth a single viewing at the very least-- certainly worth more of a viewing than something sterile and safe like THE GOOD DINOSAUR.

This is a story about a girl who turns into a big Red panda.

The animation is fresh with a scent of manga about it, the characters are pretty interesting and all in all this a solid enough movie.

I think a younger audience will like it and there is lots of relevant stuff for young people.

Looking back over the Pixar catalogue there is a dizzying choice of absolute classics that are loved by children and adults alike.

Many took really big choices like opening with a tragic death, including a full length music video or excluding dialogue for the entire opening act.

Pixar couldn't possibly keep this up forever and Turning Red shows signs they are running out of steam.

This takes no risks and is happy just being a kids film about a big fluffy creature.

The scenes with the Panda are relatively rare and after a few incidents everyone accepts the Red Panda and that embarrassment factor is removed diminishing the aliment.

The story shies away from any kind of conflict. Making it very soft and friendly - happily rolling around in themes of friendship and individuality - but removes any kind of tension.

The mother starts as a great character but the story can't stomach her overbearing nature for long and soon it is apparent that everyone is right and the things that were held as important really never mattered, everything works out and everyone agrees to disagree without any consequence.

This is all very nice and friendly; younger people of a milder disposition will love this.

As an adult it made the experience feel quite empty and pointless - I have a feeling this isn't going to stick long with a younger audience either.

Perhaps this is aimed at a eastern audience where perhaps it resonates better.

Nothing bad here but if I was to watch all the Pixar movies again this would be way down the bottom of the list.

*EDIT* my 8 year old grand daughter has since watched this and she loved it. When I asked what she liked most about the movie she said "the big fluffy panda" - She seemed a bit sketchy on what the actual plot was but she is a girl who knows what she wants and fluffy panda's is it - so a 9/10 from her.

Given all the negative reviews Turning Red's been receiving as of late, I thought I'd make my point very clear: Please, for the love of God, WATCH the movie before you drop your review. I've seen countless reviews of Turning Red on the internet, and I'm tired of hearing the exact same thing over and over again that hardly even relates to the movie itself.

With that out of the way, here are my thoughts: As a 14-year old teenager who already loves animated films, I really enjoyed this one (and not just because Red Pandas are my favorite animals)! I will admit, it's not a perfect film ("gasp! So shocking coming from me who's supposed to be defending the movie!"), but I would at least give it a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. Why? Because, like I said, I enjoyed it. It's not my favorite Disney film, but it's definitely not my worst. Far from it, actually. Why did I like it so much? Because it provided a main character I could FINALLY really see myself in, a mom that my real-life mom could see herself in, and a touching story that made BOTH my mom and I emotional, especially towards the end. It's very, and I mean VERY rare, that I find movies nowadays where I can see myself in the protagonist. Not that I can't enjoy movies where I can't see myself, because as much as I absolutely adored Encanto, I really can't see that much of myself as the epicly heroic and courageous Mirabel, who's willing to travel to the ends of the Earth (if she had to) for what she thinks is right. I know what it's like to feel left out from my family, absolutely, but aside from that I couldn't see myself.

That being said, I know this movie isn't gonna "click" for everyone, I 100% get that, actually, but there's been so much hate centered around this film (even before it even released, with people bashing it because they "didn't like the artstyle" which is a flat-out ridiculous reason to hate an entire film in my opinion), I really couldn't sit idly by and not say SOMETHING. Yes, I get it. I'm technically the "target demographic" for this film, so of course I would enjoy it. But, I really think there's something so much more universal about this movie.

I've seen several very positive reviews on YouTube with ACTUAL ADULT MEN praising how much they enjoyed the movie. They're not young, teenage girls! They're not moms! They're men. Actual. Adult. Men. So I quite frankly do not understand in the slightest why some people think it's alright to say that this movie is for a "specific target audience," when really, it's not. Remember what I said about Encanto? I said I couldn't see much of myself in the protagonist, Mirabel, but I did relate to what she went through in the story. Which I think is the case for most of the people watching Turning Red. There's no doubt a lot of us have been under an immense amount of pressure, anger, and that feeling of wanting to be perfect at one point in our life (I know I sure have), and a lot of us know what it's like to be 13 years old.

Being 13 is a point in our life that we try to black-out for a reason. The experience 13 years old is a crazy, emotional trainwreck (for the majority of us, at least) that we would love to forget about. This movie is about embracing another side of yourself (quite literally, actually), you don't have to be a "goody-goody two shoes" to be good enough. You're already perfect, whether you see that or not. And you don't have to be a "mama's girl" to be a good person. This movie encourages young girls to become their own person, which I think is a very important theme, especially in kids films. (And before you even THINK to mention, "Oh yeah? Well this movie encourages kids to run off and disobey their parents and go party!" there have been SEVERAL Disney flicks that have encouraged the same thing, and I don't see anyone complaining how a young teenage girl literally was about to hitch a bus and run away from her parents, even stealing their money to do so.) And yes, I know the main character twerks in this movie. But do you know what? That's reality for you. You can take it or leave it, I don't really give a d*mn for all I care.

So go ahead. Ignore my review if you want to. I don't care anymore, life is too short. But, if you chose to read all the way down to here, I thank you immensely. You don't have to agree with my opinion, I'm not about to come over to your house and attack you, but I hope you at least realize that I enjoyed this movie. My mom enjoyed this movie. My friends enjoyed this movie. People online (including people outside the supposed "target demographic") enjoyed this movie. Heck, my DAD enjoyed this movie. Our opinions can't speak for everyone, but I think it's important to know that regardless of what negative thoughts you might have about this movie, we are still gonna like it. There are still people out there who were able to see themselves in the characters, and the story, no matter what age or gender they are.

Take it from Mei Lee, the main character in Turning Red: "We've all got a messy, loud part of ourselves hidden away. And some of us never choose to let it out...but I did. How about you?"

Honestly one of the worst Pixar movies I have ever seen. In fact, it's one of the worst movies I've seen in general. First off, the main protagonist is just plain annoying and obnoxious. All of her friends are equally annoying as well. The designs of the characters in this movie are also super off-putting. Especially that of Meilin. Seriously, what is up with those big ass teeth? And finally, I found problems with the voice over. When people speak it just seems unnatural, like the voices aren't matching up with movement of the lips to whoever is speaking. This is especially prevalent with Meilin. It's so weird watching her talk. The plot is just bad, and illogical at times. The movie is filled with so many cringe-worthy moments. I mean, why is this 13 year old girl twerking?

I could go on and on about how terrible this movie is, but I'll cut it short with this:

Pixar what the hell are you doing?!