“Red”: Director Domee Shi talks about adolescence, Asian food and her new classic for Pixar

Adolescence is a period of abrupt changes that can make us feel like we lose control and sometimes even turn into something monstrous, although not often do we see a fiction where this metaphor ends in an adorable red panda. This is the premise of “Red” (“Turning Red” in English), the new Pixar feature film to be released on March 11 exclusively on the streaming platform Disney+.

The film stars Meilin ‘Mei’ Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a typical 13-year-old girl of Chinese descent living in a suburb of Toronto, Canada in the early 2000s under the care of her loving but overprotective parents (played by Sandra Oh and Orion Lee) hanging out with her friends and dreaming of the most famous ‘boy bands’ of the moment. But these days of mundane normality come to an end when Mei hits puberty and discovers a family secret about her: the fact that every time she loses control of her emotions, she transforms into a gigantic panda. Red.

Stories that revolve around the maturation of the protagonists are nothing new in the industry and neither in pixar, a studio that has touched on the subject with various master’s degrees in titles such as “Luca”, “Onwards” and “Inside Out”, managing to show this delicate period of human growth with an expert touch. But even within this already explored theme, Domee Shi’s feature debut manages to touch unexplored veins, presenting a moving story about parents and children, as well as the confrontation that occurs within Mei between her identity as heir to two different cultures. .

Weeks before the release of the feature film, Trade and other media in the region had the opportunity to speak not only with Domee Shi, but also with the film’s producer Lindsey Collins, who revealed details of their long-awaited film, the topics they wanted to leave behind and the importance of food in the asian cultures.

From “Bao” to “Turning Red”

Although this is her first feature film, Domee Shi’s name had already become known in 2019, when her short film “Bao” for Pixar won an Oscar, a victory that led the company to invite her to propose an idea for a film.

“It was very overwhelming to take on the responsibility of directing a full feature film coming from ‘Bao’, but I was really excited, because it feels like you have a bigger toolbox or a bigger sandbox to play in.”, pointed out the director. “Instead of the eight minutes I was limited to with ‘Bao’, I now have 90 minutes to tell this more complex story about a father and son.”.

In a way”Turning Red” is a continuation of the story that Shi had already explored in “Beam”, where min pao who magically comes to life and becomes a replacement son for a mother of a family in the suburbs.

“In Bao’s case, the story was a bit simpler and told through the mother’s point of view.Shi said. “I think with ‘Turning Red’ I wanted to change perspective and tell the story from the point of view of the son, ”

They say that filmmakers write what they know, and to “Turning Red” Domee Shi He overturned part of his childhood. The director was born in the Chinese province of Chongqing, but her family moved to Canada when she was two years old, so she also spent her childhood in the city of Toronto. However, despite these common elements, the director herself pointed out that she tried not to make it too autobiographical.

“If it sounds too much like real life or your own personal experiences, so I was definitely aware of that when we were writing the script for Turning Red so that it would not reflect too much a story 100% of my adolescence growing up with my mother”, considered the cheerleader.

Thus, Mei’s story, her acceptance of her physical maturation and the changes in her relationship with her overprotective mother differ from her personal experience. “A lot of these things feel like I haven’t figured them out yet.”, he added. “So when we were making the film, it took us a while to get to the end because I still haven’t come to a satisfactory conclusion on these issues in my own life.”.

Producer Lindsey Collins noted that including personal elements is common in Pixar projects, though she stressed that sooner or later you have to let the film “become its own teacher to some degree and stop forcing it to become a retelling.” Exactly from your personal experience.

Red pandas are a fundamental element in the film, not only being the animal that Mei becomes when she loses control of her emotions, but also a being that connects her with her ancestors and also with her Chinese ancestry. But of course its main function is to be a metaphor for the changes that occur during adolescence.

“When you go through puberty, no matter how hard you try to reject all of that, it’s still inside of you and no matter how hard you fight it, you can’t stop that change.”, stated Domee Shi. “So I think that’s what we’re trying to say with the scenes with the red pandas: change is coming and ”

An element that marks the beginning of this maturation is the change of Mei’s hair color from its natural black to an almost mystical red after her first transformation, showing that even when she has returned to human, the protagonist’s problems are not over. . Collins revealed that this element was one added late in the film’s production.

“It’s a great way to remind the audience that she (Mei) is still dealing with her problems and (the red panda) can come out at any time.”, said the producer.

The sound of an age

An element to highlight in the film is its peculiar soundtrack, full of sounds and music from the beginning of the new millennium. This was in charge of the renowned Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, Oscar winner for the soundtrack of “Black Panther” and remembered for movies like “Tenet”, as well as shows like “The Mandalorian”. On “Turning Red,” the artist makes his magic by creating music that Domee Shi herself describes as “new jack swing meets jazz flute and early 2000s/late 90s pop″.

“(The soundtrack) is so unique, but it’s also a reflection of Mei, because she can’t be identified as Asian or Canadian because she’s a mix of all those things as well. So I think Ludwig was able to capture that.Shi opined.

On the other hand, the film will also feature the collaboration of two high-profile musicians,

“They were our number one choiceLindsey Collins confirmed. “Not only because of their ability to connect with this generation, but because when you hear them talk about their influences, they mention pop music from the early 2000s, even though their sound is very different.”.

A digital banquet

One of the best animated scenes of “Turning Network” it is also one that at first glance might be expendable. It is a carefully animated sequence where Mei’s father cooks some traditional Chinese dishes, showing in detail textures and colors that whet the appetite even though it is known to be computer graphics.

The emphasis that was placed on that scene is almost like an author’s signature on the part of Domee Shi, who in 2014 launched an online comic strip titled “My Food Fantasies.” “Bao”, of course, also contains a scene with a banquet of Chinese dishes.

Regarding this aspect, the director affirmed that making appetizing food using computer graphics is a very difficult challenge “because it is organic, soft and malleable”.

“That was important to me for many reasons, one of which is that I know that in Asian cultures, and many other cultures, food is the universal language of love.“, he claimed. “For Mei, her father is a kind of soft but stoic rock in the family, who doesn’t talk much, but supports his wife and daughter with food, being like a support system for them. And she wanted to show her super power and her role in her home.”

“And also in many Chinese families, I’m not sure if it’s known, but the men know how to cook very well, so I wanted to celebrate that with the scene.”, he added. A reality that in Peru, with its love of chifa, we are very familiar with.

“Turning Red” will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on March 11. “Bao” is now available on the same platform.