100 Fun Facts About Turning Red

What animal does Mei Lee turn into when she gets emotional in Turning Red?

The transformation is a hereditary gift passed down from an ancestor to every woman in the family.

Who directed Turning Red, becoming the first woman to solely direct a Pixar feature?

She had won an Oscar for the short film Bao, which played before Incredibles 2.

In which city and year is Turning Red set?

The director grew up in the city; a giant statue of panda Mei was placed next to the CN Tower for the release.

How old is Mei Lee in the film?

Her voice actress was only 12 when Pixar hired her to record scratch vocals in 2017.

Who voices Mei's strict, overprotective mother Ming?

She was the director's top pick, partly as a fellow Canadian who could handle Ming's complicated emotions.

Who voices Mei?

Pixar's creative chief Pete Docter personally approved keeping the local child actor whose scratch vocals the filmmakers had fallen in love with.

What is the name of the boy band Mei and her friends are obsessed with?

Despite the name, the group has five members: Robaire, Jesse, Aaron Z., Aaron T. and Tae Young.

Which sibling duo wrote the boy band's original songs for the film?

Finneas also voices Jesse, one of the band members.

Which of these is one of the original songs performed by the boy band in the film?

The other two are "1 True Love" and "U Know What's Up".

Who composed the score for Turning Red, his first animated film?

The Black Panther and Oppenheimer composer recorded it in a two-week window after COVID lockdown rules relaxed.

What are the names of Mei's best friends?

Miriam is a tomboy with braces, Priya is deadpan and Abby is the short, aggressive one.

Which Never Have I Ever star voices Priya?

Priya is described as a mellow, deadpan Indo-Canadian girl.

Who is Mei's secret crush at the start of the film?

Ming finds Mei's drawings of him and humiliates her at the store.

What is the name of the ancestor whose temple Mei's family maintains?

She was granted the panda transformation to protect her daughters and village in wartime.

What celestial event is needed for the ritual to seal Mei's red panda spirit?

It falls, unluckily, on the same night as the boy band's concert.

What does Mei's mother initially assume is happening when Mei hides in the bathroom?

The director said the title is an allegory for menstruation and the team feared executives would cut those scenes.

What does Mei wear to school to hide her newly red hair?

Concentrating on her friends is what lets her control the transformations.

Which classmate's birthday party does Mei attend as the red panda to raise the last $200 for tickets?

She attacks him when he insults her family; by the end of the film he is part of the friend group.

Where is the boy band's concert held?

One year later the Lee family is still raising money to repair the damage Ming's giant panda form did to it.

Who voices Mei's quiet, supportive father Jin?

In the post-credits scene he is caught listening to the boy band in the basement.

Which veteran actor voices Mr. Gao, the elder and shaman who leads the ritual?

Hong, then in his 90s, had also voiced Mr. Ping in the Kung Fu Panda films.

What is the name of Mei's middle school?

Her teacher Mr. Kieslowski is voiced by Sasha Roiz.

Which earlier Pixar short by the same director won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film?

It played before Incredibles 2 and tells of a mother whose dumpling comes to life.

Roughly how long did Turning Red take to make, the fastest production for a Pixar feature?

The budget was around $175 million and the working title was simply "Red".

Turning Red was released in the US on which platform in March 2022?

The Omicron surge pushed it to streaming; it finally got a US theatrical run in February 2024, paired with the short Kitbull.

Which type of animation influenced the film's look, with hand-drawn 2D effects layered on the 3D?

The director cited Doraemon, Sailor Moon, Ranma 1/2, Fruits Basket and Inuyasha as inspirations.

Which Studio Ghibli film inspired the idea of an "iconic grabbable giant animal"?

The team also studied real red pandas at a California zoo, one of which was renamed Meilin on release day.

The director compared the film's plot to which 1995 animated film about a parent and child bonding at a pop concert?

Nintendo games like EarthBound, Pokémon and Zelda also shaped the film's chunky, cute world.

How many concepts did the director pitch to Pixar in October 2017, one of which became Turning Red?

All three were coming-of-age stories about teenage girls; producer Lindsey Collins said Mei and Ming were the clearest characters.

Which country refused to distribute Turning Red over its depictions of puberty?

Elsewhere without the streaming service, the film went to cinemas and grossed over $21 million.

Turning Red lost the Best Animated Feature Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards to which film?

It also earned seven Annie nominations, a BAFTA nomination and a Golden Globe nomination.

How many US households streamed Turning Red on its record opening weekend?

The figure came from analytics company Samba TV.

What Rotten Tomatoes approval rating had Turning Red reached by 2026?

Metacritic scored it 83, indicating universal acclaim.

Which Pixar film's personal storytelling under Pete Docter paved the way for Turning Red?

Elemental's writer Brenda Hsueh consulted on Turning Red's ideas.

Where was the director born before immigrating to Canada at age two?

She spent six months in Newfoundland before her family settled in Toronto.

Which 2025 Pixar film did the Turning Red director go on to co-direct?

It earned her a second Best Animated Feature nomination.

Which of these was NOT part of the all-female creative leadership Pixar highlighted on Turning Red?

Pixar boss Jim Morris said the all-female team "happened very organically"; a documentary, Embrace the Panda, chronicled it.

What does Mei accidentally break during her escape from the ritual, unleashing her mother's panda?

Her grandmother and aunts later smash their own talismans to help drag giant Ming into a new ritual circle.

What does Mei decide about her red panda at the end of the film?

Her panda form even becomes an attraction at the family temple.

Which co-writer worked with the director on the Turning Red screenplay?

Cho is an award-winning playwright and TV writer.

Which real red-panda-related landmark helped Pixar animators research the film?

They also studied Chinatown architecture in San Francisco and the Bok Kai Temple in Marysville.

At which park did "Red Panda Mei" become a meet-and-greet character in 2023?

Disney spent $23 million on TV spots for the film, more than for Black Widow.

What was Turning Red's working title during development?

The final title was locked by December 2020, and the first look was shown at Disney's Investor Day that month.

Which web browser maker partnered with Disney to promote Turning Red, since red pandas are also called 'firefoxes'?

Firefox users could apply Turning Red themes and backgrounds, and a San Francisco Zoo red panda was renamed Meilin on release day.

Which airline decorated an Airbus A220 with images of Mei to promote the film?

It also ran a contest for the public to attend the Toronto premiere, and a giant red-panda Mei statue stood beside the CN Tower.

Approximately what was Turning Red's production budget?

Despite the cost, most markets never saw a proper theatrical run until a 2024 re-release, when it was paired with the short Kitbull.

Which Pixar executive personally approved casting Rosalie Chiang, originally hired for scratch vocals, as Mei?

Chiang, then 12, was hired partly because she lived in Fremont, a short drive from Pixar's Emeryville studio.

How many original 4*Town songs did Billie Eilish and Finneas write for the film?

Finneas also voiced Jesse, one of the five members of the fictional boy band.

Which manga publisher released the 4*Town 4*Real tie-in manga in 2023?

The boy-band manga came out on April 25, 2023, alongside novelizations, a sticker album and colouring books.

Embrace the Panda, the Disney+ documentary about Turning Red, focuses especially on what?

The 48-minute documentary was released on Disney+ the same day as the film.

What is Mei's full first name?

Her parents are Ming and Jin, and the whole family lives beside the temple they keep.

How old is the convenience-store clerk Mei has a secret crush on?

Ming marches to the store with Mei's notebook of drawings, a public humiliation that triggers the panda nightmare that night.

Who does Ming clash with at school, making Mei transform in front of everyone?

Mei runs home in panic and tears, and that night her parents finally explain the family curse.

How long after Mei's first transformation is the sealing ritual scheduled?

Jin and Ming frame the panda as an inconvenience of modern life rather than the wartime blessing it once was.

What does Jin find while cleaning that prompts his heart-to-heart with Mei?

He tells her not to be ashamed of that side of herself, the push she needs to abandon the ritual.

Where are Mei, Ming and the other Lee women sent when the new ritual works?

There Mei helps Ming mend the bond with her own mother, whom Ming had accidentally scarred in anger long ago.

What completes the stadium-floor ritual when the chanting alone isn't enough?

The composer had to match the ritual chant and the pop song in beat and key so the two could overlap.

What name does the concert disaster go by a year later?

The Lee family is still fundraising for the stadium repairs when the film ends.

How does the fight between Mei and her giant mother at the concert end?

Ming's panda is described as kaiju-sized, large enough to wreck the stadium.

What is the surname of Mei's friend Miriam?

Priya is a Mangal, Abby a Park, and the class bully a Nguyen-Baker.

Who voices Mei's energetic, aggressive friend Abby?

Abby is Korean Canadian and shares a surname with the woman who voices her.

Which classmate catches sight of Mei's panda form in the school restroom?

She is voiced by Lily Sanfelippo and described as British Canadian.

Which British pop singer voices classmate Lauren in the UK version?

It is a tiny role swapped in for the British release.

Which actress, Marvel's Madame Gao, voices Mei's grandmother?

The Hong Kong actress played Madame Gao across Daredevil, Iron Fist and The Defenders.

Which of these actresses voices one of Mei's aunts?

The four aunts arrive uninvited, along with Mei's grandmother, to help run the ritual.

Who voices 4*Town frontman Robaire?

Fisher's bandmates were all first-time chart artists when their single landed.

Which 4*Town member shares the rap verse with Robaire in 'Nobody Like U'?

The song runs 2 minutes 40 seconds at 104 beats per minute, in the style of Max Martin-era boy bands.

What peak did 'Nobody Like U' reach on the Billboard Hot 100?

It was the first song from any Pixar film to make the Hot 100 at all.

'Nobody Like U' earned a Grammy nomination in which category?

The nomination came in November 2022, eight months after the film's release.

What are 4*Town's fans called?

The fictional band even got its own real website.

Which Japanese boy band recorded Japanese versions of the 4*Town songs?

The Mandarin versions went to the boy band W0LF(S).

Which 4*Town song was written to be the group's ballad?

"U Know What's Up" was meant as the confidence booster of the set.

Which Chinese zither did Göransson take up to write Ming's theme?

Mei's own theme leans on flutes, including the Chinese dizi.

In which language is the chant used in the panda-sealing ritual?

Herman Wong of Disney Character Voices International helped create it.

Which Destiny's Child hit is heard in the film?

DJ Casper's 'Cha Cha Slide' also turns up, right on period for 2002.

Which Backstreet Boys song played over the film's first trailer?

The second trailer used NSYNC's 'It's Gonna Be Me'; neither song is in the actual film.

How did the producer pitch the boy-band job to Billie Eilish and Finneas?

Producer Lindsey Collins went after the duo because her own child was a fan.

Before Turning Red, Eilish and Finneas wrote the theme for which James Bond film?

Disney Music's Tom MacDougall had followed the pair since 'Ocean Eyes'.

Which Hollywood venue hosted the March 1, 2022 premiere?

The Disney-owned venue then ran the film for a week from March 11, despite the streaming-first release.

In which city was Turning Red first screened, on February 21, 2022?

The hometown screening came later, at TIFF Bell Lightbox three days before release.

Why was the film's Russian release, set for March 10, 2022, delayed indefinitely?

The announcement came on February 28, four days after the invasion began.

Which country delivered the biggest theatrical opening, about $920,000?

It opened in second place there, as it did in Poland and the UAE.

Per Nielsen, where did Turning Red rank among the most-streamed films of 2022?

Americans logged 11.4 billion minutes of it that year.

Which outlet pulled a review that called the film's Asian-Canadian focus 'limiting'?

Critic Sean O'Connell had written that the film felt made for the director's friends and family.

Which newspaper listed Turning Red among the 23 best Canadian comedies ever made?

Critic Barry Hertz admitted it wasn't a Canadian production but gave it a pass for its hometown director.

Critic Richard Roeper spotted a homage to which 1984 comedy in the film?

Roeper gave the film just 2.5 stars out of 4 in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Which city's Society of Film Critics gave Turning Red its Best Animated Film award?

It also took the prize from the Florida and Toronto critics' groups.

What title was Domee Shi promoted to at Pixar in April 2022?

Andrew Stanton, Peter Sohn and Dan Scanlon were promoted alongside her.

Which moment from Shi's own teens was written into the film?

Shi has said her mother was always making sure she never wandered too far.

How did Shi sum up the film's overall visual style?

Executive producer Dan Scanlon called it a soft, idyllic, almost youthful version of the city.

Which non-profit helped Pixar choose the foods shown in the film?

Production designer Rona Liu ran the food scenes, as she had on the director's earlier short.

The 'dream glow' of food in which film inspired Turning Red's food shots?

Studio Ghibli's food and Sanrio's exaggerated cuteness were the other two reference points.

In what year was Shi announced as writer-director of the film?

She had pitched the idea the previous Halloween, on October 31, 2017.

What did Rosalie Chiang use to record her audition?

She had done only short films and commercials before landing the lead.

Before acting, Chiang published two children's books of what?

A is for Albatross earned a Skipping Stones Honour Award.

How did Shi finally tell Chiang that the lead role was hers?

Shi and producer Lindsey Collins had listened to many professional auditions first.

Where did Chiang record most of her lines after the pandemic hit?

Pixar shipped her a mountain of professional audio gear to make it work.

Kitbull, paired with the 2024 re-release, teams a stray kitten with what?

The 2019 SparkShort had already racked up more than 100 million YouTube views.

What did Shi call the red panda a metaphor for?

She wanted to avoid the trope of characters of color being turned into nonhuman forms for no reason.

Which label released the Turning Red soundtrack on March 11, 2022?

It came out the same day as the film, digitally and on CD.