All of us inherit weird ticks from our parents but an affinity for spontaneously turning into a red panda isn’t exactly one you’d call common. Pixar’s newest film,Turning Red, follows a 13-year-old girl named Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) as she faces puberty’s newest challenge for her: the great red scare. And not the one you think.
Meilin uncovers a secret ability that’s been passed down in her family, an ability that turns her into a giant red panda whenever her emotions flair up. The film follows Meilin and her friends as they try to capitalize on her ability, using it to find a way to pay for concert tickets to the hottest boy band of 2002, 4*Town. All while keeping Meilin’s family from finding out what she’s up to. It’s a touching story of family and friendship, but where does the curse come from?
When the curse first manifests, Mei doesn’t understand what’s going on. Red pandas are the symbol used by her family’s temple that she helps to maintain, but she’s unaware of their deeper significance until her own furry problem starts to rear its head. That’s when Meilin’s mom, Ming (Sandra Oh), explains some crucial family history she’s avoided mentioning for a bit too long.
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The temple Meilin’s family has maintained is dedicated to their ancestor Sun Yee who was said to have a mystical connection with red pandas. But Ming explains it goes far deeper than that. During a time of war, Sun Yee was looking for a way to protect her daughter and her village while the men were away fighting. On the night of a red moon, Sun Yee prayed to the gods to make her a red panda and give her the strength to protect her people – a prayer which the gods answered. By harnessing her emotions Sun Yee was able to transform into a massive red panda and protect her village and her family. Sun Yee then passed the power on to her daughter, those daughters passed it on to theirs, and on and on until Meilin Lee was born with the very same gift.
What once was a mystical gift became more of a hindrance as time wore on and the family emigrated from their homeland. So, the women of Mei’s family sought a way to rid themselves of it. As Ming explains, through a ritual performed during a red moon, the power of the red panda can be sealed away inside an amulet. The ritual pulls the person it’s conducted on into the “spirit realm” where they encounter Sun Yee, and she offers them a chance to sever their connection with the red panda thus making it possible for Mei to resume her normal life. That is if she chooses to go through with it.
As Mei learns to harness her powers over the course of the film, she begins to doubt if banishing the curse is the right call. While the curse is triggered by emotions, it can also be controlled by them. Stressful emotions cause Mei to burst into a giant ball of fur but when her friends come to her aid, she discovers that thinking about their constant support is enough to calm her back down. Mei’s friends become her anchor and show her that the red panda within isn’t only a force of chaos. With this newfound discovery, the curse her family has passed down for generations isn’t as unbearable as it first seemed to be. Mei questions if banishing her powers is the right choice for her.
In the end, after a climactic red panda kaiju battle, aSailor Moonteam-up from the aunties, and 4*Town’s most bizarre performance ever, Mei decides to embrace her panda rather than push it away as her family members had for generations. Mei’s family, though fearful for her, accept her choice to determine her own path. The gift of the red panda may be a curse to some, but it’s ultimately up to each individual to decide how they use it. When her ritual is finally completed, Mei embraces Sun Yee in the “spirit realm” before returning to the real world as her full self – red panda and all.
