Watching TURNING RED For The 1st Time! | Movie Reaction, Commentary & Review! 

I believe this is the first Disney/Pixar that focuses on adolescence, puberty, and even periods. Periods are still stigmatized, and it's sad. I liked Turning Red because I have never seen any kids' content where they normalize menstruation, let alone talk about it. I was so glad to see Pixar pop that stigma bubble. When Mei's mom thought Mei was getting her period, she told Mei that it was expected, was nothing to be embarrassed about, and tried to give her everything she needed to get through it. It's still something that no one talks about, but we should because it's part of our everyday lives and crucial to our health as women. In my opinion, this movie was a great way to show the emotional rollercoasters teens go through. Apparently, Turning Red is also the first Pixar film solo-directed by a woman. And there was an all-female creative team. Finally!!!

"A year supply" he says at the pads. Oh I just wish 🤣

The lead singer was crying because he was singing from his heart (that's essential for the activation of the circle). I guess he(Robaire) was like some of those singers who get emotional and cry during concerts. Another reason might be from the fact that the kids who stayed back even after knowing that the giant panda had destroyed everything were still hooting, cheering and singing along when the band started singing. That must've made him emotional.

This movie is based on the director's real life experiences growing up in a chinese canadian family. She wrote the screenplay with another writer. So although there was things that might have not seem stereotypical asian, it was her story she wanted to tell.

It’s seems like that relationship you were looking for was with the mom Ming and the grandmother. I think Ming was trying to avoid the relationship she had with her own mom but ended up kind of repeating it with Mei.

The intro is Gold 💀💀💀

The panda as whole can be one big Metaphor for identity and repression vs Acceptance of it. It can be seen as many things that's why it works

It did show that the mom was vacuuming just before the friends came over, that's why she didn't hear them singing.

I just now realized that the two panda statues outside the temple are named Bart and Lisa

Its about generational trauma. The main part that should make this obvious is when she has to console her mom.

I feel like this film was hard for Jaby to relate to due to him and I both being males, and it kinda feels like maybe he mighta dug into it a little too deep, like the whole bit about "magic". But I feel like that's what makes this such a good film, the fact that I can't relate, but I get to see and understand how others could. Like you can see from Achara's facial expressions throughout the film, that much of it could resonate with her, and that's what's so fun about reaction videos. Seeing what people's faces reveal about themselves while watching things you may enjoy. That's what that one reviewer missed. Is that he's trying so hard to see how it can apply to his life, that he doesn't consider how much it can apply to others's lives. A lack of empathy.

Jaby can seem like such a buzzkill sometimes. I mean y'all watching a family movie about people becoming big red panda's and he's unironically wondering why the military hasn't shown up yet lmfao

The 'gyrating' is kind of common in Anime, Crayon Shin-chan anyone? I could see why it was 'shocking' to people who watch mostly Western animation, but a lot of funny anime involves lots of butt-shaking...haha.

It's his opinion and I'm sad this reactor never got more out of the movie but, he could get the magical quality from this?? We did both watch the same movie, didn't we?? The magic emanated from every frame! The ending is sheer genius and so damn poignant.

Jaby asking why they wouldn't give her a heads up and Achara just matter of factly saying sometimes they don't do that tho and he's still just stuck on the panda part, like bruh! That's the point! You'd think it'd get talked about, but sometimes it just doesn't! 😂😂

On the issue of Bao hitting harder than Turning Red - it's easier for Bao, since feature length and content have a lot more to do with how diluted you might have felt the emotional punch was. Turning Red had to be light enough not to alienate people who might not connect well to a spunky, awkward, modern, coming of age movie, not offend most adults sensibilities and still tell an authentic story of relationships (literally inspired by Domee Shi's and her DP's own childhoods and growing up, including influences of Inuyasha, Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura - fun note, Domee actually spent two years working at their family's temple back in China). I feel like instead of a movie told from a specific, more emo place, turning Red was like a love letter to growing up in the 2000's. All Bao had to do was to entertain and pull at the heartstrings of everyone watching in 4 minutes.

Americans knowledge of Canadians is so abysmal LOL this was a great reaction though. Just finished watching the movie myself. Growing up in Toronto I loved all of the little Easter eggs and toronto-ness of it. It's so rare we get to see our city on the big screen. Correction. Our city is on the big screen constantly. Just not as Toronto LOL

@GETJaby, 37:33 I thought Mei Mei's mom Ming was trying to be the cool mom--she went out of her way to connect with her daughter in a way her own mother couldn't connect to her. She tried so hard not to be like her mother, but in the end something became something much worse, and that only happened when Mei Mei showed her mother her true self. Regarding the friends in the house with their shoes on, there are people who assimilate to the customs and ways of their new homes. We can see Chinese elements in their home, sure, but I see more western things than Chinese ones. In any case, I think Mei Mei's family was doing their best to blind in. That said, I don't recall the movie making it a point that Mei Mei's family took their shoes off before entering their home. They certainly didn't do it when they went to the Lesser Panda shrine. I don't see people do it much outside of Asia (I guess because it's an inconvenience), but you don't wear your shoes inside a place of worship. People in Japan wear sandals, but I noticed that Indians visiting places of worship in Japan go barefoot. It seems customs vary throughout Buddhism. Anyway, my point is, if you wear your shoes in a shrine, you probably wear your shoes in your own home too. I'm going to have to go back and watch the scene you're referring to because I only recall the scene in which Mei Mei yoinked her friends into her bedroom, shoes and all. Sandra Oh said in an interview that this story was a metaphor for girls getting their period, which is likely why they often showed pads and had Mei Mei's father backing away and letting his wife take the lead on this issue. Anyway, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It was a lot of fun. I think it's interesting that tiger/helicopter Asian moms seem to be a thing outside of Asia, at least in my experience. I live in Japan, and moms here are, well, moms. My Japanese wife is nothing like the Asian moms we see in this film. Living abroad likely transforms a person in ways they don't expect. I find myself being the strict parent in the house, expecting our children to work harder at what they do, though I do try to balance that with equal praise as well.

I think the reason why Ming doesn’t feel like the typical scary Tiger Mom-ish is because Meilin has always done what is expected of her; chores in temples and at home, excelling in her studies and extracurricular activities, very obedient and never talked back, and she done everything she was told with good attitude. Even when Ming becomes more overbearing, Meilin never really stood up against her. If Ming had been very mean and with that stereotypical Asian mum behavior when Mei Mei had been such a good girl, then she would seem very unreasonable, hateful and abusive. It’s only when Mei Mei finally rebelled against her mum (kept her panda spirit and gone to the concert) did Ming become very scary. “How could she do this to her own mother?”

Hi, random independent animation film director, here, to chime in a bit. First off, your reaction was adorable ! Achara tearing up at the reunion in the bamboo forest was the same reaction I had. That, to me, is the true climax of the movie, instead of the skydome "battle". She also totally got the metaphor of the Red Panda, it's not just puberty, it's basically a metaphor of your own voice, all your repressed emotions that you keep pushing down to "look good in front of society" (especially in patriarchal Chinese society), which is what all the aunties and granma (and especially the mother, who at once might have had the most emotions she wanted to express in her) decided to do, but Meiling, being the most modern one, having grown up her entire life in Canada and being the most westernized of them all, shamelessly embraces it at the end. As for some little tidbits from someone who's working in the animation industry : - I actually feel like it's refreshing to have movies that are more like in the slice of life genre, with a little touch of fantastic, but not too much. It's a welcome change of pace from "because it's an animation, they've got to save the country/world/universe/multiverse, or go explore a fantasy magical land in a remote era in a galaxy far far away". No, just ground it in a very recognizable true location (here Toronto, which, btw, is consistently popping up as THE number 1 most cosmopolitan city in the world every year in international social polls, and it is shown pretty extensively all throughout the movie in the school's students, and especially Mei's besties, which are all from a different backgrounds), and let the whole plot actually happen there. Sometimes, a touch of fantastic element is enough, it is its interaction with the mundane daily life that makes up the spice of the story. There is value in these type of stories too. And sure, there is no police, no governement, no stakes in keeping the Panda form secret, (pretty much everybody at school knows)... like everybody can be a hero in My Hero Academia ! Who knows, this is the Pixar-verse anyway, weirder things have happened already (walking and talking toys, or fishes, or bugs, or cooking rats, or cars, or Superheroes... I'm pretty sure that in this world, people seeing a giant talking twerking red panda would be like, "Oh ? Tuesdays...") - I believe it was very much intentional of the director Domee Shi to basically nostalgically recreate a fantastic version of her own teenage years. She grew up in Toronto, and this movie felt like a love letter to the city, and it's great ! I'm personally kind of tired to see New York, San Francisco, London, Gotham, or Tokyo, or even HK or Shanghai or Paris in movies. What about other less covered cities, like Brussels, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Praha, Vienna, Mumbasa, Bogota ?), so this movie (Red Pandas excepted) is basically an autobiography of her in 2002. It makes it feels all the more personal and almost like an author film, which, in the big Disney/Pixar cogwheels machinery, does not happen that often. This movie couldn't be dissociated from Domee, it really is her own movie rather than just a "generic" Pixar movie, and that's something I love about it. - Also, as a pro, I don't think the fact that the pandemic got in the way has impeded into the storytelling itself. That script was written way before 2019, and in animation, the production process is not like in live action, where you can re-write and reshoot on the spot to adapt to the circumstance, in animation, once the script and storyboard are lockdowned, it's set in stone, and there is nothing that can be changed anymore, since we have to create every single frame you see on screen from scratch, and any single modification or retake costs an insane amount of time, effort and money. Storyboard might be an afterthought for live action filmmaking, but in animation, we basically do the final editing of the movie down to the single frame during the animatic phase. So I really don't think there is a director's cut somewhere in Pixar's hard drives where there is a version of the script where she goes into Ta Lo and cuddles up with the big gates lions of the village, while training her taichi with Michelle Yeoh. It really wasn't the tonal purpose of the movie, here. But who knows, maybe for a chapter 2, if the movie is successful (and I've heard it did big viewing hours on Disney+, so really hoping that if they do make a second one, they'll finally release it on theaters ! I frankly hated the fact I couldn't watch this movie in IMAX 3D ! As an animation filmmaker, this is the one true way to watch a movie, especially a Pixar one ! They are the only studio that have unequivocally mastered the potential of 3D movies !). - As for your remark on how Bao destroyed you and this feature film didn't have the same emotional punch : Well, shorts filmmaking as an art is very underestimated in terms of storytelling power. Here you don't have the luxury of 1h30, you only have a few couple minutes to tell your story, so you better make it REALLY intense ! No space for fluff or any fat, or even dialogues (most of the most powerful shorts are silent movies), it's extremely trimmed down to leave only the good stuff ! It is a very different form of storytelling than feature films, which is why a lot of features from the same directors than shorts feel like diluted or with unnecessary fluff in them, compared to short ones. You only have to watch one of the most renowned shorts animations directors of all times, Michael Dudok Dewit, and his multi-awards winning Father and daughter, get emotionally wrecked, watch the rest of his shorts filmography, get wrecked again, and then when he got invited by Studio Ghibli (of all studios, coz Miyazaki and Takahata were both great fans of his shorts, suffice to say that this is the only non-japanese director that got a chance to direct a Ghibli-produced movie) to direct a feature film, it did result in The Red Turtle, which, while it is one of the most beautiful animated movies of all times, it also did felt like it had some obvious padding in it in order to fill the 70-80 minutes mark to qualify as a feature film. - I'm myself coming form the short films world, trying to break out in the TV series or feature world now, so I'm quite well aware of the differences : There is so much more to write than in a short ! It feels like it's taking forever ! And not all the things you write in there are necessarily all great ideas, but you have to move forward for the sake of padding this runtime. - All in all, this movie is probably not the best Pixar ever, but goddamn, is it a welcomed one ! It dared take risks, which is not something you see often in a Pixar film (just the visual style itself is a mix between 90's Anime like Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2 and some 2000's kids shows pastel color palette, with a little bit of Miyazaki - The Panda looks reminiscent of Totoro -, and even a little bit of Wallace and Gromit - the teeth and smiles - all of it blended together in a Pixar lighting and fur style). It also does wonder for the representation of not only Asian people (after Shang Chi from Marvel, Asians now got Turning Red from Pixar, only 2 of the BIG 3 studios in the world, with Lucasfilm)... AND it's also a movie that has been done by a full team of women director, producers, writers, leads and cast, etc... and, surprise muddafukkaz, not only it didn't stink, but it was actually a beautiful, great fun and emotional ride ! So basically, diversity done right ! So I'm all in for more of these, please ! Pixar, your future is in good hands ! (if Disney doesn't tank them first, of course, with this movie being the 3rd one they release on Disney+ only, while they have no problem putting their own Raya and Encanto in theaters, which reeks of fishy corporate monkey business). But strictly creatively speaking, I'm super interested to see where Pixar will head to in the coming future years.

10:31 did you notice that the girl in the bathroom had a diabetic patch

Regarding the pizza thing in Soul: I think it's because it was New York and that's what you grab off the street corners. ALSO Joe wasn't currently in his body at that time...

This movie was such a good period piece.. Iykyk...

did anyone notice the stickers on the flute case at the beginning of the movie are different, in the video it has "pi heart", in the one I have on Disney plus has "this girl loves math"

I think you're missing the thirteen-Ness of this movie. It's like you're expecting a 15 or 16 year old experience.

so he didnt like it because he's comparing it to every animation from the studio. INSTEAD of judging it on it's OWN!!

One of the best Pixar movie I've ever watched 🙌🙌 #Turningred

26:19 if u look closely the bao place is in the background if you look when mei gets off the bus

Jaby needs to get in touch with his inner tween. 😂

It’s a slice of life anime inspired Pixar film lol. And it’s based on a real experience about a teenage girl going through puberty and dealing with overbearing familial expectations. The fantastical elements were never the point. And even though the story beats were fairly relatable, it’s still implicitly a coming of age story about a teenage Chinese-Canadian girl. So there are going to be some elements that are specific to that experience & POV. Personally, as a black dude from Philly it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the movie at all. Though I will admit, I’d rather they explored more of those specific Asian cultural elements instead of seemingly trying to relate to everyone. But I can accept that this just wasn’t THAT story.

I still can’t get over the fact Greg is the younger brother.

It can be about embracing who you are and who you want to be and choose to be that is universal theme

huh, I wonder if they'll do The Mitchells vs The Machines

i don't know if you guys noticed or not but there was a sikh character in this movie as a security guard in the school scene

@GETJaby the reason why this movie feels different from other PIXAR films is because it's from a new director who wanted to highlight her Asian Canadian roots. It's not following the usual Pixar formula to the T.

Glad I decided to watched it with you guys. Dont feel like I would have enjoyed it all that much with the side by side reactions.

How the hell Pixar always kills it no matter whosoever watches it

i just took it as a metaphor for puberty, periods/menstral cycles and growing up, thats it

19:40: We got a freakin' kaiju, up in this shit! For the record, the SkyDome is 282 feet tall.

Great point Jaby about feeling something is missing; the magical element in the movie. Thanks for being respectful when sharing your perspective. It helps me to think about my own reaction to this movie. Overall I enjoyed the movie, laughed myself silly, and I know it’s not for everyone. 👍great reaction Jaby and Achara.

24:02 the scene w/ Mei's mum in the bamboo forest reminds me of ParaNorman

Canadians of all ethnicities take their shoes off in the house. Tbh there were a few things about this movie that the fact that it was mostly made by U.S. Americans bled through, the shoes thing being one of them. Most of the things were pronunciation inaccuracies because they cast u.s. voice actors.

Oh I can't wait for the Pitch Meeting

I'm glad Abby is Jaby and Achara's fav character.

weird thing I think that I saw a meme in I think 2018 or 2019 that has the similar scene to the school when her mother was hiding behind the tree

Tbh I interpreted the panda as the inside rage, since it was a thing made to defend others

Attack On Titan was what I got reminded of too but because of her ancestor gaining powers and them being transported through generations.

It's nice to see the old name on the stadium it is now called Rogers center

I think people were saying OMG and LOL back in 2002, bc texting was becoming popular on those nokia phones, n it was good for saving space in the texts, and even online messengers like AIM were popular and people used that stuff.

This movie so relatable i grow up in a home bunch of women. Time of the month. Never stayed in the house turn into big 🐺

Jaby and achara are probably my favorite combo. My wife and I agree had our kids stop watching turning red mostly for her it's the bedroom scene

Her panda is big because of stress she gets from her mom

20:03 She actually referenced O-Town!

Same. At first I thought the grandmas voice was Michelle Yeoh.

I saw a breakdown of this from a Canadian youtuber, and it was interesting to hear about the references in the movie that were of Canadian culture, especially from that time. It was a millenial creator. Pretty interesting, but not a lot of specific things that he thought, as they were pushing it to be Canadian heavily, but the youtuber pointed out that there weren't that much references 😂🤷‍♂️🤔

5:43 Oohhh no you didn't! LMFAO DUDE THAT REFERENCE!!!!

You’re never not on my mind…🎵

Yay! I love this movie.

anyone my age know what song they used as instrumental in the intro when mei is talking? it is so familiar. come on my 90s rnb heads, give me the deets

I never knew there were deferent types of the movie there's somethings that are changed

I hope you guys watch the Adam project! It’s great! and this movie was unexpectedly funny 😂

5:41 LMAO LOVE THE MULAN REFERENCE

lmaooo the intro is funny asf

Waiting for cobra Kai you guys said you were gonna do more cobra Kai 😭🥋😫

please do more disney films reactions

Koay that intro is 😎👍🏻👍🏻

OMG..you guys watched this 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗Thank you so much

So, are you guys gonna do more movie reactions?

It was a fun animated movie but I don't understand why you'd nitpick details like drawing perfect circles or the US govt getting involved when the mom turned kaiju panda. Its just a fantasy cartoon movie made for kids, not a nat geo documentary... Sheesh!

19:36 Me: Oh, God! We've got a freaking kaiju up in this shit!

They tone down Ming character because Ming is a Tiger Mother, just like the Grandma.. She would transform into Tiger whenever you try to argue or question her decision.. Tiger mothers are Stubborn, Ferocious, and they always thought they were right because they had more experience and saw more things even before their kids born.. So if Pixar blatantly Blame Tiger Parenting by showing us Ming Shouting Mei Mei, and abuse Mei Mei at home.. All Tiger Parents would just be ignorant and thought Pixar just Exaggerating the effect of tiger parenting to the kids while in real life they practically doing the same thing.. remember, they are stubborn, and they are getting used to be the "always right" human being That's why when Mei Mei finally tell the truth of herself, Ming simply won't accept it.. To the point where Mei Mei needs to Physically Headbutt her mother to make her tiger mother unconscious.. That's exactly the only way you win an argument with Tiger Mother..

The "told.... " part of it may be intentional, sometimes you think your relationship with your perants is different from what it is. You tell your self your mother is your bestfriend because she keeps saying it but you're afraid to tell her stuff, afraid to be hurt by them but still Say your connection is different from what it is.

I was waiting on Jaby to say "for if your mom finds out you're a red panda, the penalty is death" 😂

I feel like mom tried to become flash while chasing her daughter/ Panda

I guess Pandapocalypse is the reason why the Skydome became the Rogers Centre.

Did anyone else notice that the sticker on her flute case changed? The version I watched had a sticker that said "This girl loves math" but this version has a pi symbol and a heart. I'm very confused by this

1:18 jaby, you are the man dude hahahaha

21:30 Yep, that’s every Asian mom 😂

It did come in a way when she apologized to her friends at the end

How do you guy upload the full version on patreon ? Is there a way tk bypass RU-vid ?

Okay so at the start of the movie,i really thought that the movie is going to talk a girl getting in to periods..and revolves around how she feels and the big red teddy bear is just to portray to us like..she is getting the pain or something like that...but woahhh hahaa it was a whole different story and i felt dumb.

A year's supply of pads? Lol

that scary version of her was the panda side of her. the panda was contained into the necklace. suppressed emotions. locking them away because its inconvenient to let that out in a un censored way. The surface level metaphor was the females getting their Period. The Puberty level of your emotions becoming stronger. the sort of dancing she did at the end was more showing her mom what she liked. a flood gate being open of all the suppressed hidden side.

9:55 Jaby and Achara that's a sikh punjabi guy, there are lots of Sikhs in Canada

This movie is more relatable to we asaian bcoz this is how our parents are always ordering , cant do a thing without there concern otherwise they'll do emotional blackmail etc ..... And this was till i was 24 and now i have job outside my city and finally having freedom for the 1st time, and i like it , but they still do damage to my soul by call ,

wow, they both have very nice teeth hahah

What happened to the series of Achara watching old classics...Raid 2 is on the list...

Jamie Lee Curtis voice: It's a story about trauma.

When is the adam project reaction coming....???...

Jaby is like me when I talk about k-pop groups 😂😂😂 aren’t they from Nepal? 😂😂😂

You both should do a reaction on Encanto too🥺🥺 U would love it♥️

She seemed to really relate to this movie

He cried cuz he song from her heart

Did you stay for the after credits scene?

Can we talk about Canada and the harp seals?

If Abby were to get a spin-off and Jaby were to watch it, he's bound to go ROFL.

Y'all guys watch the Adam project...it serves the purpose of your discussion

Why are some shots and designs totally different from the one I saw. are you watching an early cut??

I loved turning red

23:26 She's the Collosal Panda