Part of parenthood is the understanding that today’s loving, obedient child can be tomorrow’s willful, snarling teenage beast. And in the same way that Pixar’s “Inside Out” skillfully broke down the swirl of emotions swimming around all of our heads, the studio’s latest, “Turning Red,” uses a big, fluffy wild animal as a way to explore one girl’s passage to womanhood.
For 13-year-old Meimei (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), her entry into adulthood is marked by her occasional transformation into a giant, red panda whenever she gets excited or agitated. Meimei’s no-nonsense mother Ming (Sandra Oh) reveals that this shape-shifting is a family trait that’s been passed down from mother to daughter over the centuries, all the way back to an ancestor who was blessed with this gift because of her close relationship with the red pandas.