In his later life Joseph Heller was often told he had never written anything so good as Catch-22. The story goes that, on such occasions, he immodestly, if not unreasonably, replied: "Well, who has?" The Pixar honchos might say the same thing when told their films are not what they were either side of the millennium. That legacy is a lot to bear for a film like Domee Shi's Turning Red. The struggle with a glorious past is not helped by the film's arrival exclusively to Disney+'s smaller screens. They wouldn't have done that to 101 Dalmatians.
None of which should be allowed to distract from Shi’s achievement. The first Pixar film directed solely by a woman may not be up with the golden-era releases, but it remains an enchanting entertainment that – for at least one reason – earns itself a place in cinema history.
The picture begins with an introduction to infuriatingly perfect Chinese-Canadian youngster Meilin Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang). She is brilliant at every subject. She keeps her room tidy. She honours her parents. Life falls apart when, one morning, Mei wakes up as a giant red panda. Tensions bubble up with mom. She defies the rules and plots to mitch off to a gig by a shiny boyband.
Shi and her bosses at Pixar take a real risk here. The transformation into a beast is, of course, a generalised allegory for puberty and a more specific one for menstruation (have a look again at that title). But, lest they be accused of obfuscation, the script contains more explicit references to the girl's first period. Mum worries outside the bathroom door and asks: "Did the red peony bloom?" If that is still too oblique, her pals later discuss the availability of "pads". I am going to assert, without further research, that this is the first time female sanitary products have been mentioned in a family animation from the Disney empire.
What follows is an immensely agreeable and well-thought-through fantasia on the adolescent experience worked in with fun variations on the Teen Wolf scenario. The allusions to physical transformations acknowledge challenges, but, thankfully not lunging into Carrie territory, the film remains reassuring throughout. Conversations with grandparents press home quite how wrenching the puberty experience can be. “Your mother and I were close until the red panda took that away,” Mei’s granny says.
All this is conveyed through cheery animation that rarely pushes any boundaries. In the final act, as Mei is confronted with wider manifestations of the (if you’ll excuse me) ancient curse, the visuals do stretch out a little, but nobody who has sat through Up or Wall-E is going to be knocked back on their couch. For all that, Turning Red remains a charming film that will win friends and trigger worthwhile conversations. The right sort of feel-good.
On Disney+ from March 11th
