From “Sailor Moon” to “My Neighbor Totoro,” Pixar’s Domee Shi Explains the Inspirations Behind “Turning Red” at Animation Is Film Festival

As convenient as streaming is, there’s nothing like seeing a movie on the big screen. Pixar’s Turning Red went direct to streaming on Disney+, and while I’ve seen it several times at home, it was a treat to catch it on the big screen with an audience at the Animation Is Film Festival. As an added treat, Oscar-winning director Domee Shi (Bao) and producer Lindsey Collins held a live Q&A, moderated by Variety’s Peter Debruge. Here’s what I learned.

Some of the most embarrassing moments in the film came directly from Domee’s childhood. While her mother never found it in real life, she had a secret notebook full of images she wouldn’t want her mother to see, like the one Ming finds of Devon, the cute Daisy Mart clerk, kissing Mei without a shirt on, or members of 4*Town as mermen. Domee knew she wasn’t alone, with other Pixar artists confessing to having had a similar secret notebook when they were teenagers.

The anime-inspired animation style of the film required all of Pixar’s departments to work together to achieve the overall look. Domee taught a class about what elements were being pulled from anime and how to work in that style in the 3D space. Her storyboards helped support the more cartoony qualities she was striving for. The film’s camera movements also take a different approach than your typical Pixar film. It may not look like it, but Turning Red was one of the most technically challenging projects the simulation team has ever been given, with Mei transforming into a furry red panda, hugging her long-haired friends, and characters with lots of dangly things hanging from their backpacks.

On a technical level, one of Luca’s innovations helped bring the anime esthetic to Turning Red. The technology that allowed animators to transform Luca and Alberto into sea monsters, with a controlled slider to change the speed with which their scales would appear or retract, was also used on Mei and her friends when they see anything cute, especially boys. Their eyes become big, round, and overly reflective, something the rigging department set up so the animators could switch them on and off. One of the rules established is that they could only change when a character blinked to prevent the transition from becoming disturbing. As for the stars in their eyes, that required the lightning team to turn extra reflection points on each time the effect was used.

Set in 2002, Turning Red’s esthetic is inspired by many of the shows, movies, and comics Domee Shi loved as a 13-year-old. Sailor Moon inspired the film’s color palette and Mei’s friend group, each of whom have their own unique silhouette and signature color. She pays homage to the film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in the sequence where Mei runs across rooftops at night on her way to the 4*Town concert, transitioning between a girl and a giant red panda with joy. And the visual language of Toronto was inspired by the graphic novel Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley and the film adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World directed by Edgar Wright,

(Pixar/Studio Ghibli/Toei Animation)

Why a red panda? Well, the character fit in with Mei’s Chinese heritage, but Domee Shi had another idea in mind as well. As a huge Studio Ghibli fan, Domee wanted to give Pixar Animation Studios their own version of Totoro, who became the Japanese animation studio’s mascot after the release of My Neighbor Totoro. Perhaps someday there will be more Turning Red projects. If so, I hope to see a blue intro with a white Mei red panda silhouette as an intro. While Turning Red was animated from home, Pixar was able to host an outdoor wrap party for the project with a big-screen viewing of the film, a magical way to celebrate the hard work that went into making the film.

Pixar’s Turning Red is now streaming on Disney+, along with the documentary Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red. If you want to dive deeper into the making of the film, the Blu-Ray release offers lots of bonus features, including a filmmaker commentary and deleted scenes. And you can learn more about the film here on Laughing Place with the following articles: