Say hello to Pixar’s puberty panda
Director Domee Shi and character designer Jason Deamer explain the big, furry transformation at the heart of TURNING RED
HUMAN MEI
Turning Red’s concept is at once simple and surreal. When talented 13-year-old Mei (voiced by Rosalie Chang) experiences an extreme emotion, she turns into a giant red panda — it’s a device that director Domee Shi calls “magical puberty”. Pre-panda Mei, shown via the film’s opening montage, is proud of her accomplishments: she has perfect grades, perfect hobbies and is the perfect, dutiful daughter to her super-protective mother, Ming (voiced by Sandra Oh). “I wanted her to be like this dorky Canadian folk hero,” explains Shi. “She’s the girl I looked up to when I was Mei’s age — confident in her body, in herself, proud of being smart, a momma’s girl, and she has a tight squad of friends.” In other words, Mei’s got everything under control, making it all the more entertaining when panda-dom strikes. “It’s fun to watch this confident girl get her life turned upside down when ‘magical puberty’ hits,” says Shi. “She scrambles to try and keep everything as it was before. Seeing this girl lose control, I think, is very powerful.” As it turns out, even the most self-assured teenager is thrown off-balance by changing into a giant red panda.
PANDA MEI
Once she transforms, Mei is the complete opposite — she’s frantic, uninhibited and distinctly out of control. “Panda Mei is all her raw emotions bubbling to the surface,” says Shi. “She feels everything 100 times more now. It’s a fun, crazy allegory for when we’ve all gone through those hormonal ups and downs.” The change itself is accompanied by a cartoonish puff of pink smoke, and even when Mei’s calm enough to return to being human again, her hair is still a shiny new shade of scarlet. “We wanted this visible indication that the panda hasn’t left her,” Shi explains. “It also adds some extra tension between her and her mom.” Her panda-personality may be entirely different, but even when fully transformed, that furry red face still looks like Mei. “That was influenced by the clear, graphic, huge expressions from anime,” character designer Jason Deamer recalls. Combining cuteness and Mei’s inner monster was tricky for Deamer. “We used human Mei’s exact same eyes, placed her snout where a human nose would be, subtle things like that,” he says. “Domee wanted to strike a balance between adorable stuffed animal and real red panda, which was a difficult challenge.” Almost as difficult as being a teenage girl. Almost.
TURNING RED IS ON DISNEY+ FROM 11 MARCH