What Is Turning Red, Pixar’s Next Animated Feature Film?

Turning Red is Pixar’s next animated film, about a young girl who has a habit of turning into a red panda.

Yep, sounds about Pixar, but also like Pixar, it’s very, very cute. You might not know all that much about the upcoming animation feature, but we’re here to fill in the blanks about Turning Red.

Turning Red trailers

Here’s the official trailer for Turning Red, released on November 18, 2021.

And here’s the teaser trailer for Turning Red, released on July 13, 2021.

So, what is Turning Red?

Turning Red is a coming-of-age animated comedy from Pixar, an animation-focused studio owned by Disney (you may know them as the studio behind Toy Story, Cars or The Incredibles).

The story follows Mei Lee, a 13-year-old girl, as she struggles with being an obedient daughter and focused student while also being a bit chaotic. Demonstrating her chaotic side is her ability to turn into a red panda… which she can’t control. It’s a power that exists within her family bloodline.

But it also seems like a pretty smart film, in that it finds a creative way to talk about periods and puberty without being overly explicit. In an interview with Polygon, the director discussed that the film is meant to cover these topics deftly in a way that young teens will find entertaining.

“The Red Panda is a metaphor not just for puberty, but also what we inherit from our moms, and how we deal with the things that we inherit from them,” director and co-writer Domee Shi told Polygon.

“And all of these changes are happening not just to her body, but to her relationship with her mom and her friends.”

This film is Shi’s first major Pixar release, with her first project being the short film Bao.

Pixar is known for being able to apply emotional messages and conveyances to these kinds of topics – a good example is with Inside Out, in which the production studio applied personalities and characteristics to emotions, effectively making them characters within the heads of people.

While Pixar is animating humans instead of toys, cars or fish this time, along with one giant fluffy Red Panda, the humans look extremely expressive, with big wide mouths and giant open eyes.

I’m very here for it.

Will Turning Red be in theatres or exclusive to Disney+?

While Turning Red was originally expected to go to theatres, it is now set to release on Disney+ as an exclusive. Pixar fans weren’t too pleased, considering this is the fourth Pixar film to release exclusively on Disney+ without a theatre release (after Luca, Soul and Onward).

Turning Red cast

Rosalie Chiang will be the leading voice actor, playing Mei Lee. Mei Lee’s mother, Ming, will be voiced by the amazing Sandra Oh. Other involved actors are Sasha Roiz, James Hong, Jordan Fisher, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Finneas O’Connell, Wai Ching Ho, Lori Tan Chinn and Sherry Cola.

You can also expect to hear Lily Sanfelippo, Ava Morse, Anne-Marie, Orion Lee, Hyein Park, Addie Chandler, Topher Ngo and Tristan Allerick Chen.

Turning Red release date

Turning Red will release on March 11, 2022, exclusive to Disney+.