The latest entry of the Disney+ YouTube Series, Bridging The Gap, brings several of the key creative team behind the latest Pixar film, Turning Red, together to discuss the groundbreaking nature of the film.
What’s Happening:
- A new entry into the Disney+ YouTube series, Bridging the Gap, rounds up much of the all-female creative team behind the latest film from Pixar Animation Studios, Turning Red, to discuss the groundbreaking feature.
- And to celebrate Women’s History Month, guests Domee Shi (Director), Lindsey Collins (Producer), Rosalie Chiang (Voice of Mei Lin), and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Voice of Priya) discuss the power of coming-of-age narratives that showcase nuanced female leads to empower the next generation of women.
- Together they discuss the groundbreaking, unapologetic nature of the story that was created by an all-women creative team, a first for the studio. They also point out many of the other firsts, including the first Asian lead in a Pixar film.
- The discussion is broken up with solo videos of the panel sharing some kind of personal message. Rosalie takes on the topic of the authenticity of the adolescent experience, something she was experiencing as she took part in the making of the film.
- Domee also shares that her approach was to showcase something she doesn’t see on-screen too often: a young multi-dimensional female character in the coming of age type of narrative.
- They also get into the authentic Chinese imagery and themes and specificity of the content, including food and art and other details, describing their intense focus to make sure it was 100% authentic and couldn’t be confused for another Asian culture.
- The conversation takes an interesting turn when Lindsey is describing raising her adolescent kids who were around her during the production, much of which took place at home. The group laughs because they were immediately reminded of Zoom calls where you can hear the producer yelling at her kids, and suddenly they found new appreciation for Ming, the mother character in the film, when Lindsey found herself sympathizing with her. She even exasperatedly told the crew at times “Come on, can we just cut [Ming] some slack, she’s just trying her best.” Domee laughed at the anecdote, adding that Lindsey did some “great research” and brought a great perspective to the film that she didn’t have.
- The discussion then turns to the idea of misrepresentation of API narratives and what Turning Red did to change it, including the addition of writers, animators, and people in every department with that background to make sure there was one person in every room to provide cool, authentic ideas to add to the film.
- If you haven’t watched Turning Red yet, it is currently available to all subscribers of Disney+.
Sign up for Disney+ or the Disney Streaming Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and ad-supported Hulu) now