4-Town Fan Club (Turning Red Review)

This week Kat picks Turning Red for her and Ryley to review!

REVIEW OVERVIEW:

Regardless of the quality of this movie, it was a pivotal topic for a children's movie to be made about. It is very relatable. Being an awkward preteen is a universal experience.
That being said, although it is true to life, there are some cringey lines that make you want to retreat into yourself.
Kat: 9/10
Ryley 9/10

Both: [00:00:00] Hello

Kat: and welcome to

Both: Easy Bake Takes,

Ryley: the podcast!

Kat: Where we read you the one star reviews of your favorite movies and more. My name's Kat

Ryley: and I'm Ryley.

Kat: And this week and next week we're doing Pixar movies. Lighthearted, but emotional is just something we needed, I guess.

Ryley: Mm-hmm.

Kat: And this week I picked Turning Red, which came out in 2022, is rated PG, categorized as a family slash comedy and is an hour and 40 minutes long. The plot of Turning Red, if you haven't seen it, is, in 2002 Toronto 13 year old Meilin 'Mei' Lee, who lives with her parents, Ming and Jin, helps take care of the family's temple dedicated to their ancestor Sun Yee, and works to make her mother proud. She hides her personal interest from Ming, such as the fact that she and her friends, Miriam, Priya, and Abby are fans of the boy [00:01:00] band 4 Town. One night when Ming, who is strict and overprotective, discovers Mei's crush on Devin, the local convenience store clerk, she in inadvertently humiliates Mei in public. That night, Mei has a vivid nightmare involving red pandas. When she wakes up the next morning, she has transformed into a large red panda. She hides from her parents and discovers that she transforms only when she is in a state of high emotion. When she reverts back to human form, her hair remains red and she goes to school in a toque. Ming initially believes Mei is experiencing her first period, but learns the truth when she humiliates her at school, causing Mei to transform and run home in panic and tears.

Ryley: Oh those scenes are so hard to watch.

Kat: Because they're so true to life.

Ryley: Mm-hmm.

Kat: Ming and Jin explain that Sun Yee was granted this transformation to protect her daughters and her village during wartime, and that all her female descendants also had disability. This became inconvenient and dangerous and modern time, so the red panda spirit must be sealed in a talisman by a [00:02:00] ritual on the night of a lunar eclipse, which will take place in a month's time. Mei's friends discover her transformation, but take a liking to it. Mei finds that concentrating on them enables her to control her transformations. Ming allows Mei to resume her normal life, but refuses to let Mei attend 4 Town's upcoming concert. Instead, the girls secretly raise money for the tickets at school by exploiting the popularity of Mei's red panda form while lying to Ming about how Mei is spending her time. To raise the last $100 Mei agrees to attend school bully Tyler's birthday party as the red panda. At the party, Mei is upset to discover that the concert will be on the night she is to undergo the ritual. In her rage, she attacks Tyler when he insults her family, frightening the other kids. Ming discovers Mei's activities and accuses her friends of corrupting and taking advantage of her, ashamed of her actions and afraid to stand up to her mother, Mei fails to come to her friend's defense. To Ming's dismay, Mei's grandmother and aunts arrive to assist with Mei's ritual. As Mei prepares herself, [00:03:00] Jin finds videos she recorded of herself as the red panda with her friends and tells her she should not be ashamed of this side of her, but to embrace it. During the ritual as Mei's red panda form is about to be sealed, she decides to keep her powers and abandons the ritual to attend the concert at the Sky Dome. In making her escape, she breaks Ming's talisman, releasing her red panda form as well. At the concert she reconciles with her friends and discovers that Tyler is also a 4 town fan. However, an enraged Ming, having become a kaiju sized red pan, disrupts the concert intending to take Mei back by force. Mei and Ming argue about the former's independence. As they quarrel, Mei accidentally knocks her mother unconscious. Mei's grandmother and aunts break their talismans to use their red panda forms to help drag Ming into a new ritual circle. Mei's friends and 4 town join in singing to complete the ritual, sending Mei, Ming, and the other women to the astral plane. Mei reconciles with her mother. She helps her mend her bond with her mother, whom Ming [00:04:00] accidentally scarred in anger before her own red panda forum was sealed. The other women contain their red pandas in new talismans, but Mei decides to keep hers and Ming accepts that she's finding her own path. Later, as the Lee family raises money to repair the damages to the Sky Dome Mei and Ming's relationship has improved. Mei balances her temple duties where her red panda is now an attraction with spending time with her friends, who now include Tyler. The end.

Ryley: I love how that's the end. They're just kind of 'and now Tyler.'

Kat: Not to, not to be left out, Tyler.

Ryley: Not to be left out. That's so fucking funny.

Kat: 4 Town does slap though.

Ryley: I- oh I get it. I get it.

Kat: Did you know Billy Eilish and her brother wrote the music for 4 Town?

Ryley: No, they didn't.

Kat: Mm-hmm.

Ryley: They did. That is- that's fantastic. I love that.

Kat: They did a great job.

Ryley: Yeah, they did. Yeah.

Kat: But this movie was directed by Domee Shi who also directed the Pixar Short 'Bao' that played before Incredibles 2, if you remember.

Ryley: Yes, I cried. I love that little short.

Kat: It's so good. It was so jarring the first time you see it when she eats him.

Ryley: Yes, you know- yeah.

Kat: But it's, it's, [00:05:00] it's such a good short. But this movie was co-written by Julia Cho and Domee Shi, who also had the story by credit, and Sarah Streicher also had a story by. Cast includes Rosalie Chang, Sandra O, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Heyin Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, and James Hong. The budget for the movie was 175 million, but it only made 20 million at box office because at the last, maybe not the last minute, but Disney decided to put it on Disney Plus instead of having a theatrical release like originally intended. But I have some trivia. The tagline, there were two. The first one is growing up is a Beast and the other one is Unleash Your Wild Side.

Ryley: Love it. Those are both very good.

Kat: I also wrote down, because it seemed like this was getting lost on some people, what I thought like the themes of this movie were, are like the messages.

Ryley: Okay.

Kat: One, your parents are human. Two, be honest with your kids. Three, puberty is stressful and scary, but can also bring out the best to you. [00:06:00] Unconditional love. Breaking generational curses slash trauma. Losing yourself within like the puberty process, you know?

Ryley: Oh, yeah.

Kat: All the stuff getting taken off her walls. Just, you know, for her not to destroy it, but like, I think it's symbolic. And then friends are very important.

Ryley: They help you get through the shit like that.

Kat: In a way that your sometimes your family can't.

Ryley: Yeah. And that's okay. That's what friends are for.

Kat: So those were just some things I wrote down cuz I felt like it got lost on some people. They were just like, it's about periods.

Ryley: No, it's fucking not.

Kat: That's part of it, sure.

Ryley: It's, it's about puberty for sure. But.

Kat: Yeah, it's just about puberty as a process.

Ryley: It's about change and growing, proccess and growing and, and the, yeah. All the other things you said.

Kat: But, uh, back into the trivia, the family's temple was inspired by the Bok Kai Temple, which is a historical landmark in Marysville, California that was built by the local Chinese community in 1880. And a special thanks is made in the credits to the, the temple.

Ryley: That's [00:07:00] nice.

Kat: The family's nickname for Meilin, Mei-Mei, is Mandarin for little sister.

Ryley: Aw.

Kat: The red pandas guarding Meilin's family's temple are based on Buddhist neo guardians. One has its mouth open, the other closed, symbolizing the birth and death of all things.

Ryley: Ooh.

Kat: Several Pixar animators visited locations, ani-murmer- several picks are animators visited locations around Northern California gathering inspiration and visual references. The design and animation were inspired by anime works. To capture these anime influences hand drawn, 2D animated effects were added at top Pixar's 3D animation. The visual style of this movie is-.

Ryley: Oh yeah, it's, it's gorgeous. It really is.

Kat: And then the production for this movie lasted four years, which is the fastest Pixar film production currently.

Ryley: Oh wow. Four years. Okay. Because I knew they were getting faster with their works, but still four years that's- takes some time. Wow.

Kat: The approach of using more personable stories followed from Luca under Pixar's new Chief Creative Officer, Peter Docter's Oversight, which shifted the direction the [00:08:00] studio took with both storytelling and film production. Which I thought was interesting cuz there was noticeably a shift in like, the types of stories they were telling at a certain point. Like Luca, I, I don't know if you've seen Luca.

Ryley: I haven't seen Luca yet.

Kat: But it is a much more like internal turmoil. More so than.

Ryley: Yeah, because like soul is about like the little things in life. Loving the little things in life. Compared to like the say, finding Nemo which is about a fish trying to find his son. Yeah, I I, okay, I get what you're saying now.

Kat: Shi was the first woman to solely direct a Pixar film.

Ryley: Oh, that's awesome.

Kat: The film's creative leads were also the first all female team for Pixar.

Ryley: That's amazing.

Kat: Chang, the voice of Mei initially provided the scratch vocals, which were the reference vocals for like when they were doing storyboarding and they needed a voice, and after auditioning various voice actors, Shi and Collins realized that they had fallen in love with Chang's scratch vocals and couldn't imagine anyone else's. And Pixar's Peter Docter personally approved Chang's casting.

Ryley: Oh, that's so sweet.

Kat: I [00:09:00] love that.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: The voice acting for this film was done remotely since the production started right before the onset of the pandemic.

Ryley: Dang. So like, how do you even do that? Because.

Kat: They, they just send you a kit.

Ryley: Better build it right.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: I'm sure someone comes over and sets it up.

Kat: I think at the beginning of the pandemic, they probably just were like, we're gonna leave this at your door.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: To a smaller degree, there've been podcast that I listened to where like their audio engineer was just like, I'm gonna drop off the equipment at your house.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: I'm all- you could FaceTime me, we'll set it up together.

Ryley: Okay. Yeah.

Kat: Yeah. Shi was also inspired by My Neighbor Totoro in creating an quote, "iconic grabbable giant animal that you just wanna rub your face in," end quote.

Ryley: I love that.

Kat: And the Nintendo games such as Earthbound, Pokemon, and the Legend of Zelda have also been cited as a major influence for the film, which I just think is so fucking cool.

Ryley: Yeah, that's awesome. Every fact is like just like, oh, that's perfect. That's amazing. like of course.

Kat: Yeah. Shi explained to the Boston Globe, quote, "we wanted to make a cuter [00:10:00] version of the Incredible Hulk. It's hairy and awkward and red. Red, like menstruation red, like the color you turn when you're angry or embarrassed or crushing after a boy or girl at school. It was definitely the color I felt like I was most of the time I was a tween. It just felt like the natural form that Mei puberty took," end quote.

Ryley: Absolutely.

Kat: Which is just-

Ryley: 100 percent makes sense.

Kat: It's so.

Ryley: This memory makes you like, feel seen like as a tween.

Kat: It really does. It really does. And I'll, no, I'll wait till we get there cause I have some gripes with, with people.

Ryley: I love how you said that.

Kat: Liu oversaw the production of the food scenes as she had done for Bao. They partnered with the nonprofit organization Gold House that specializes in promotion of Asian and Pacific cultures to identify what foods to include. For rendering the foods, they were inspired by the approach that Studio Ghibli had done, done with foods intheir works, as well as exaggerating their look in the [00:11:00] same manner that Sanrio uses to bring cuteness into their product and the way the film, the God of Cookery showed food in a dream glow.

Ryley: I love animated food. I love that it went this far.

Kat: In the lead up to the film's release, Disney partnered- partnered with Mozilla to promote the film via the Firefox web browser as red pandas are also known as Firefox's. Users on mobile and desktop are able to apply custom backgrounds and themes within the browser, respectively. So they had like a Firefox, like turning Red, red panda themed browser.

Ryley: Oh, that's so cute.

Kat: Yeah. And then one of the red pandas at the San Francisco Zoo was renamed Meilin on the day of the film's release.

Ryley: Aw, that's cute.

Kat: And then Air Canada decorated an Airbus A220 with images of Mei and her red panda form to fly over Canada promoting the film and also had a contest for the public to attend the premiere in Toronto and win special prize.

Ryley: I remember someone talking about this, and again, it just goes [00:12:00] back to like, I was just so sad it didn't get released-

Kat: In theaters.

Ryley: In theaters like they had hoped.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: That's- like that, that's crazy though. Like that's a whole fucking plane man.

Kat: But something that I'm very excited about. A manga focused on 4 Town titled 4Town 4 Real the Manga is set to be released by Viz Media in 2023, and I'm so fucking excited, dude. It's going right up here.

Ryley: You gotta show it to me when you get it.

Kat: I will. I will. I'm so excited.

Ryley: That's awesome though. That's like really funny.

Kat: The last trivia effect I have is a little, little sad.

Ryley: Oh.

Kat: The decision to cancel the film's theatrical release and instead release it on Disney Plus was met with backlash from the film's animators who saw the move as disrespectful to their hard work. One of the members of the film's crew spoke out anonymously claiming, quote, "We're all feeling extremely disappointed. Until today, we all thought turning red would be our return to the big screen, and everyone at the studio was excited about [00:13:00] this project in particular. It was quite a blow," end quote. And then the films director, Domee Shi, also spoke out against the decision saying quote, "we made this movie to be seen on the big screen," end quote.

Ryley: That's so sad. Yeah, they could have waited a little longer.

Kat: The world was up and running by.

Ryley: I can tell you right now, Texas was. Texas- Texas was already back in full swing. Not that they should have been, but.

Kat: When? When did, when did Dune come out? Because I remember seeing that in theaters.

Ryley: I remember dropping off Austin to go see that movie, I did not wanna see that movie.

Kat: Dune came out in October of 2021.

Ryley: I don't understand why it wasn't released in theaters that just sound- I would, I'm also upset by that.

Kat: Yeah, that's, that would feel like a huge slap in the face.

Ryley: It would, yeah. Absolutely.

Kat: What were your thoughts on Turning Red?

Ryley: I love this movie. I loved it a lot. It's such a, I wanna say milestone.

Kat: Yeah. It's, it's a very important movie to happen.

Ryley: Definitely for many reasons.

Kat: It's pivotal.

Ryley: Yes, very, for many reasons. Of course one of them being like, [00:14:00] they actually talk about puberty. They actually show pads and tampon. It's just for, um, a second.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: But it was still important. It's a movie that's talking about these things and normalizing it and I think that's just so Im important and I'm glad this movie did it and they did it in such a great, funny, sweet way.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: And it's just wonderful. I love this movie. It takes you back. Definitely takes you back.

Kat: It does.

Ryley: Yeah, what you were saying earlier, like it, it Pixar is changing its stories where it's less action and adventure and more like internal journey, yes. And not to say there is an action in this movie.

Kat: There's a whole Godzilla fight scene at the end.

Ryley: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. But, uh, I do see how Pixar's changing in that way. I love it and I think it's a wonderful direction.

Kat: Oh yeah. Like emotionally touching in a different way than say, like-

Ryley: Finding Nemo or.

Kat: Yeah. Or Up.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: They're a lot more like, relatable on a personal level.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: Not all of us understand what it feels like [00:15:00] to lose a child or lose the love of your life and have to like start life over. We don't all understand that, but at least half the population can understand going through puberty as a preteen girl.

Ryley: And you know, arguing with your parents and.

Kat: Being misunderstood by them.

Ryley: Being misunderstood. Exactly. And just growing up.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: Most people understand or haven't been through that, so.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: The movie's very special that way and definitely is a game changer, well you know, yeah, maybe a game changer is a good word for it.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: I would say maybe for Pixar.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: A lot of coming of age movie. Depict probably what- well, I don't know.

Kat: I think I get what you're saying. Like it doesn't capture the experience as well as like this one does. It feels more raw.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: I guess. I don't know.

Ryley: It, It is. Truthful. Very truthful. Very accurate.

Kat: Yes. Yeah.

Ryley: That's a good way to say it. It's just how accurate this movie portrays that part of life, you know.

Kat: Even outside of puberty, like just being that age.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: Like being a dorky little kid.

Ryley: Yeah. It's, [00:16:00] yeah, exactly. And it's, I think that's probably the best word to say, how, how accurate and truthful and, yeah relatable it, it is, so. Absolutely, so.

Kat: Yeah. Is there anything else specific you had to say?

Ryley: Uh, not specific.

Kat: Mm. The first thing I wrote is that prepuberty to post puberty self-confidence drop is real. Being more aware of your existence is like the best way I get, I could describe it.

Ryley: And hating it.

Kat: Being, yeah, like being like hyper aware that other people can see you like.

Ryley: And judge you.

Kat: And they have opinions.

Ryley: Yeah. So they have opinions about you. Yes.

Kat: It is terrifying. Middle school is a difficult time for everybody.

Ryley: Oh, no one's having fun.

Kat: No one should be.

Ryley: No one should be. That's the whole thing. You're sitting there thinking, 'I did.'

Kat: You peeked at middle school. I also said that there's a very clear target audience for this movie. The irony of parents not wanting to talk to their kids about puberty, but this movie literally shows what happens when you don't teach your kid about what happens [00:17:00] to them during puberty.

Ryley: Exactly. And not having conversations, and not being-

Kat: Hiding things from them. Feeling like, oh, they're not ready.

Ryley: Communicating.

Kat: They're not ready.

Ryley: Oh, they're not ready. They're not ready. And they're not ready. When are they gonna be ready then? I mean, fucking, oh my God. I think the whole point, like people complain like, oh, my six, like in my opinion, it's not a big deal. It does not need to be something that needs to be hush hush until they're ready or ha- when they start. I mean, it doesn't need to be talked about all day long.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: But it's something that is so like this happens. It happens to half of the people on this planet every month. It is something so normal.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: I mean, it's the same as like bathroom talk. Like it's just.

Kat: Yeah. It's a bodily function.

Ryley: It's a bodily function. Like I don't, it shouldn't be. So like my child doesn't need to know about that. Yes, they kind of do. They do a little bit.

Kat: You can't- they're actually like the mom from Carrie, you know?

Ryley: They're acting like Karen's is what they're acting like. But yeah, they're acting like the mom from Carrie. Yeah, y'all need to calm down. Like the more you normalize it, the easier that pro- that whole process is gonna be. And less confusing and scary. You know how scared a lot [00:18:00] of people are when they first start?

Kat: You gotta remember you were in that spot once. Wouldn't you have liked to know?-

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: What was happening to your body? Doesn't your kid deserves some like forewarning that that's going to happen?

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: The other thing I had written down was.

Ryley: Sorry.

Kat: Oh, no, you're good. It's, it's one of those movies and that's why I wanted to get those points out of the way too, just so we don't spend the whole time talking about this amazing, amazing movie, on that.

Ryley: Exactly. Exactly.

Kat: But the other thing I wrote is like the range of emotions she has after her mom embarrasses her at the convenience store where she's like, okay, well she like contemplates moving out and then she, she, she's like walking back and forth and she like looks in the mirror. She's like, 'you are her pride and joy. You are her. You are her daughter, you are her, everything. You're her pride and joy.'

Ryley: God, I love that.

Kat: The mother daughter relationship, like the depiction of it in this movie is so relatable. It's, I think it's in one of the audience reviews, but they're like, this is like the pic- Pixar's. Ladybird.

Ryley: Yeah, yeah. Oh my God, that's such a good way to put it.

Kat: Also said that the animation is beautiful cuz It is. [00:19:00] It's a gorgeous movie. It's Pixar.

Ryley: It's very vibrant too. Like the colors in this are so like saturated. I love it too. Like I love the the color scheme.

Kat: Yeah. And then the last two things I have, one is extracurricular activities or how I also got away with doing things after school.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: Sorry, mom. Um, and then the other thing which I just loved was the aunties coming in.

Ryley: Yes. I love that too. That was hilarious.

Kat: But they're just like, my Malaysian great aunts. Every time I see them, it's literally like, oh, she looks just like her dad. Oh, she looks just like her mom. Like look at that face and they're just like all over you and all the loves. And it's so great. I loved the depiction of that cuz it's so relatable.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: But do you have anything else that you wanna add before we move on to the critics?

Ryley: Uh, not right now.

Kat: Okay. So I, I guess I'll get the points that boiled my blood outta the way. I don't think they were in the, they were more in the audience reviews that I found than the critics. It has a 95% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and like a 70% from [00:20:00] audience.

Ryley: That sounds wrong.

Kat: It is.

Ryley: There's no, there's no way I, I feel like that. Yeah.

Kat: I'll explain.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: One that I saw a few times was, there's no material in there for boys. It feels almost hostile to boys.

Ryley: Fucking, not every-

Kat: Do they need everything?

Ryley: Do they need everything? Can we not have one thing?

Kat: Yeah, just show your kid, Luca. Okay. That is the boy equivalent.

Ryley: It lit it like literally, like you, you act like that's, it never happens. They literally came out with one.

Kat: Yeah, and then this one just it- it just sounded like people who were not dorks at any point in their life, they just called all the preteen girls cringey or ufunny. I'm sorry, every preteen girl is a little cringey and unfunny.

Ryley: It's just echoing like how people just hate teenage girls and they hate on everything they like, but everything teenage girls like as ends up being like this really cool thing.

Kat: Yeah. And then the other one, obviously it was period, yucky.

Ryley: Okay, don't watch this then.

Kat: There was some like straight up racism.

Ryley: Oh yeah, I, that's what I assumed-[00:21:00]

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: That was like a good chunk.

Kat: And then they said that the movie was teaching kids to disrespect their parents and. , I would say by the end, Mei is, has a very mutual respect with their parents.

Ryley: Yes.

Kat: One other critique is like upset parents feeling like the movie was too mature for like, you know, showing her having like a crush on a boy and drawing her fanfiction about it.

Ryley: Okay.

That shit was funny. That shit was.

Kat: It was hilarious.

Ryley: So funny.

Kat: They didn't like that. They didn't show anything, you know, and a kid's not gonna get that, you know, it's one of those things, but they were saying it should be rated PG 13.

Ryley: Okay. Y'all are ridiculous. Y'all are stupid. Learn what PG means.

Kat: You as the parent, you decide what your kid can see.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: Okay?

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: But I made sure to get only reviews from women on this one.

Ryley: Yay.

Kat: To be fair to this movie and what it's about, I think women's perspective, whether it was a positive or negative review, is a little more impactful. The first one I have is from LA Weekly by Lina Lecaro from April 5th, 2022. And they said, quote, "directed by Domee Shi, the film succeeds in conveying the emotional turbulence of [00:22:00] adolescents and the burden women face once they realize they're gonna bleed every month. But ultimately it's a turnoff due to the mom's character, who is over so over the top protective. We found ourselves yelling at the scream for her to back off several times. It's hard to watch Ming's messy and just mean mothering, even when the movie tries to redeem her backstory. Still, Turning Red," is a great, "is great to look at thanks to Pixar's latest technology, especially the Panda whose cuteness quotient is so big, it becomes a plot point and the high point of the movie," end quote. I, I get what they're saying about the mom.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: But it's not like a mom like that doesn't exist.

Ryley: It's relatable for a lot of people to see her on screen.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: And yeah, it seems a little harsh sometimes, and especially when she's embarrassing her, like it's, it is hard to watch sometimes.

Kat: Yeah. And I don't think that just because they showed her backstory that that means that the movie was by any means, trying to say she didn't do all that shit now. I think the movie was just trying to say, here's the reason, you can decide whether or not that's enough for you and for Mei it was.

Ryley: Yeah [00:23:00] and empathy. Like she went through the same thing I'm going through and it's just one of those things that that she, um, sorry, I lost my train of thought. Go ahead.

Kat: I get, I get, I think I get where you were going with that. Like they were a hurt kid once. That's all it is.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: If the, if that didn't resonate with you, that's just another part of the movie that didn't, that, that it didn't work for you.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: But it seems like they liked it outside of that, so.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: And the next one is from Women's Voices for Change by Alexandra Macaaron from March, 2022. And this website was for like promoting a more positive outlook and response to like menopause, so I thought that was like an interesting outlet.

Ryley: Definitely.

Kat: So they start with quote, "the new Pixar film Turning Red has earned a mostly positive reception with a 95% fresh rating on critic aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes. I say mostly positive because there is a small but extremely vocal minority out there finding a litany of faults with it. According to social media naysayers, this animated feature dares to [00:24:00] depict girls disobeying their parents, girls going to co-ed parties, girls fantasizing about older boys, girls listening to contemporary music and perhaps the most egregious inclusion of all, you may wanna sit down, a girl getting her period for the first time." End quote.

Ryley: Oh, that's fantast- they fucking nailed it, man. They nailed it why everyone has a fucking issue and why it's so fucking ridiculous why they do. How dare we show something of a girl just not doing what she's told ?

Kat: Yeah, literally.

Ryley: And having a period. God. I love it. I love it. Perfect.

Kat: They also say, quote, "besides the obvious menstrual metaphor, the panda represents every heightened emotion, anger, lust, joy, embarrassment, especially embarrassment, that a girl might feel as she heads into the awkward hormonal minefield that is adolescent." End quote.

Ryley: Perfect.

Kat: Hormonal minefield is just a perfect way to describe it.

Ryley: Yes, it is. Yep.

Kat: They also say, quote, "both Shi and her co-screenwriter, Julia Cho, wanted to examine the [00:25:00] mother-daughter relationship, which they felt was particularly strong and respectful, but also fraught with tension in the Chinese American community," end quote. And then quote, "aside from its groundbreaking, women-led creative team, feminist story and messages, Turning Red is great fun to watch. It moves quickly as most Pixar features do, and benefits from the voice talents of Golden Globe Winner and Asian activist Sandra Oh as Ming and relative newcomer Rosalie Chang as Mei Mei," end quote. And then quote, "turning Red does a lovely and loving job of celebrating Chinese American culture. Mei Mei's, schoolmates are racially diverse, and whether their parents or the aforementioned social media critics agree, generally respectful of each other and each other's culture. Yes, you might have to explain what menstruation is to younger viewers, although by no means does the film depict it graphically or even in much detail. But shouldn't we be doing that anyway? The stigma of the red peony is ages old and crosses most religious and cultural lines, but given that it's [00:26:00] experienced by roughly half the world's population, it might be time to retire it." End quote.

Ryley: That's what I was saying earlier, like in no way does it show graphically, just like this person said.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: Younger viewers are like, oh yeah you might have to explain that to them. I think that's fucking okay though because like, if we already went into that, but yes, I think that this, so far, this is an amazing, amazing review. This is summing up everything we've been saying.

Kat: Yeah. And I meant to bring this up earlier. But think of something like Bluey that talks about really, really tough topics with children. It's all about the way that you go about talking about it.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: You need to be honest but use language that they understand and is at the right level for them. That's all.

Ryley: I think my mom always said, like, tell 'em what they can handle at that time. Tell 'em what they'll understand.

Kat: Exactly. But they end with quote, "all in all, the most important message to take away from turning red is that it's okay to change, to feel strong emotions, to take the time to become your true self, even if the process is a little messy," end quote. It's more about coming [00:27:00] into your own than anything.

Ryley: It's about growing up, changing.

Kat: Yeah. So we'll move on to the next review, which is from Alternative Lens by Jennifer Heaton, July 26th, 2022, who gave it an 8.5 out of 10. Saying quote, "if people thought Luca was a strange change of pace and style for Pixar, it has absolutely nothing on turning Red, which similar takes far more influence from Eastern animation than Western. While Luca took obvious notes from the Studio Ghibli Playbook, Turning Red is more like if the Farewell was also a Shojo Anime, but it's an absolutely joyous, relatable, and heartfelt experience. Rosalie Chang and Sandra O give stellar vocal performances, the original early 2000s style boy band tracks from Billy Eilish are spot on and its story is the honest and necessary reflection of what it feels like to grow up that kids movies rarely show just with. a giant red panda. My only an annoyance with the movie is that I had to watch it on Disney Plus instead of getting to see it in a cinema." End quote.

Ryley: Yeah, the last bit. That's so funny. I did not know Billy Eilish until you told me earlier. That is so [00:28:00] funny. I love that.

Kat: Yeah. The next review I have is from Culture Vultures by Natasha Alvar from March, 2022. Starting with quote, "I remember my horror when my mom discovered I was reading a Sweet Valley book entitled 'Elizabeth's First Kiss,' one's burgeoning interest in the opposite sex is not something you want your Asian parents to be privy to." end quote.

Ryley: Oh, bless their heart.

Kat: And then quote, "after Meilin suffers a humiliating encounter facilitated by her mother. She wakes up the next day to discover that she's turned into a red panda. The fact that this transformation occurs after Meilin demonstrates some interest in a cute boy makes the metaphor quite apparent. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that it's meant to signify a certain coming of age event. The fact that this red panda transformation is only passed down the female lion adds credence to this. However, the metaphor also feels a bit muddled since most of her female relatives have banished the panda, which doesn't make sense if it's meant to be symbolic of womanhood." End quote.

Ryley: Wait.

Kat: I think it's more like banishing this part [00:29:00] of yourself that you, you wanna hide. And I think like, not explicitly being a woman, but like, you know, being excitable or obsessed with boy bands just, you know, being, you know, being a, being a woman in part actually, the parts of womanhood that get made fun of. The parts of being a teen girl that get shut down and criticized that you have to hide away to be like accepted in society. So I think it's a little-

Ryley: A little bit more than that.

Kat: Yeah. But I understand- I understand how that could be kind of lost in there, but. And then they end with quote, "because of its subject matter, turning red may not appeal to everyone compared to Pixar movies like Soul, which offered commentary on life purpose and meaning. Meilin's desire is a pretty niche one and may be hard for some of us to relate to. For those of us who grew up in the age of Tomagotchi and boy band mania, the film does stir up a certain sense of nostalgia. However, it speaks to a past version of me, not the person I am. Turning Red's a lot of fun to watch it's got humor, heart, and the amazing vocals of Jordan Fisher. It just [00:30:00] feels like a product of another time." End quote. That is something that I could say that we don't get a lot about movies that are like period pieces.

Ryley: So they're like, they're complaining about it.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: I think that's kind of weird. This is a little bit before our time, still relatable though. I, I don't think that's a good complaint.

Kat: The two complaints they've really had kind of, kind of felt like just grasping for something to.

Ryley: Yeah like nitpicking.

Kat: Yeah. I sort of get what they're saying. If you're looking at it for like, it's a movie for kids now, but think about all of the things that are, that were made recently that are set in the eighties.

Ryley: That's the whole thing. And I'm sorry, I watched movies that were, yeah, in the eighties and in the nineties and.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: Kids are kids. If you sit them down and to watch something, they'll watch. If they like it, they'll watch it like.

Kat: It's hard to make a movie about the time that we're in because we're in it.

Ryley: And we're adults in it.

Kat: Yeah, we're not kids in it.

Ryley: No. And

Kat: I.

Ryley: I think it was a dumb complaint, I don't.

Kat: Yeah. Moving on to the last review that I have. This one was [00:31:00] negative.

Ryley: Oh.

Kat: And I apologize for ending on the negative one.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: From Screen Zealots by Louisa Moore from March of 2022. Um, saying, starting with quote, "I had a strong negative reaction to Pixar's Turning Red, which actually surprised me. The film has the gold standard animation and technical proficiency audiences have come to expect from the studio, but the story and characters leave much to be desired. Just because the film should be commended for featuring more diverse representation and attempting to shatter what many considered a taboo topic doesn't automatically make it good. The end result is a film that's trying too hard, feels like it's aimed solely at giggling preteen girls, and features a very lazy metaphor for puberty and womanhood." End quote.

Ryley: You're dumb.

Kat: Do you hate? Do you hate women?

Ryley: Do you hate women? Misogynist. Misogynist.

Kat: You need to work on your internalized misogyny.

Ryley: Yeah. Pick me energy.

Kat: This- this is pick me energy.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: But they also said, quote, "the film gets off to a shockingly rough start, and if not for the quality of the visuals, it would be quickly indistinguishable from the garbage pile of other inferior animated [00:32:00] movies. The script is thin," end quote.

Ryley: Making shit up now.

Kat: 'Oh, well if it wasn't for the animation, it'd be bad.'

Ryley: No, it wouldn't. No, it wouldn't just.

Kat: Shut up.

Ryley: They're just making up stuff cuz I like, I can't even tell 'em why they're wrong, they just are.

Kat: They just are. Yeah.

Ryley: Did you not see the movie?

Kat: Go to therapy.

Ryley: Go to therapy. I wanna say that now, every time someone disagrees with the movie.

Kat: You need to go to therapy.

Ryley: You need to go to therapy and figure yourself out.

Kat: Because this is bigger than this movie, whatever you're going through.

Ryley: It it-really though, yeah, it kind of is a little bit. This movie? Yeah.

Kat: They also say quote, "this thing is just plain weird. First, it features unexpected topics and themes for a Disney, Pixar movie, it may be startling for some to hear such frank conversations about menstruation and becoming a woman. This may be the first mainstream animated movie to feature feminine hygiene products. Kids too young won't understand, but it may open the door to questions that some parents may not be ready to answer. It's-"

Ryley: Too bad. Too bad you're a parent. Answer 'em. Answer the question.

Kat: "It's terrific that the film attempts to shatter taboos about women's [00:33:00] periods, but this is a bit of a surprising topic to see in an animated family movie. I realize this may make me sound uptight and like a prude."

Ryley: Yes.

Kat: "but I assure you I am neither of those things because I feel like a parent should be aware," end quote. Um.

Ryley: Prude.

Kat: What do you, what do you mean they have such frank topics about periods? Because-

Ryley: They don't.

Kat: I don't- they don't.

Ryley: They don't. They just, they- You're making that up. You're fucking lying.

Kat: The, they literally, I don't even think they really even say it they just.

Ryley: I don't think they even say the word period. If-

Kat: No.

Ryley: I, I, they might, I might be wrong.

Kat: I don't think they do. And if they do, it's very, brief.

Ryley: Like they act like they have a whole fucking conversation when they do not.

Kat: No. She just goes, do you need, do you need these?

Ryley: Yeah, exactly. It flashes for five seconds on the screen.

Kat: As a mother, would you know?

Ryley: Yes. Oh my fucking God. This person is a prude. You're just lying. Ooh, this one's making me angry.

Kat: Yeah, they're misrepresenting the movie.

Ryley: It's disrespectful. How do you call yourself a critic and you're just lying about shit In the movie? You are lying and you are a prude.

Kat: And you are uptight.

Ryley: And you are uptight.

Kat: But they end with quote. "The hardest thing for the movie to overcome, and sadly it [00:34:00] never does, is how extremely annoying Meilin's character turns out to be. Not only does she have a throwaway grown worthy lines like my panda, my choice mom. Yes, really." I, I can't disagree with that. That's just a cringy little line.

Ryley: Okay.

Kat: 'My panda, my choice.'

Ryley: I support it.

Kat: "But she is not a likable little girl. Meilin may have an enviable confidence, but it's not a good thing when you're leading lady is super irritating. I couldn't wait for turning red to end just so I didn't have to spend time with her anymore." End quote. Oh my God. Do you kick puppies too? ?

Ryley: Oh my God. This person's insufferable. Insufferable.

Kat: You're not supposed to hang out with 13 year old, weirdo.

Ryley: Exactly.

Kat: Like I don't, you don't need to have an opinion on it.

Ryley: Yeah, exactly.

Kat: But anyway, yeah, that was, that was that review. It's the most negative one I could find that was written by a woman.

Ryley: And it was.

Kat: Like I said, it critics gave it 95%.

Ryley: Yeah, cuz it's a good movie.

Kat: Other women got it. This woman did not.

Ryley: Nope.

Kat: Are you ready to move on to audience reviews?

Ryley: I am.

Kat: The first review I have is a four star review from letterboxd from March of [00:35:00] 2022 that says, "this movie is so unrelatable," like in the, in the annoying voice typing.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: And then they say, "you've never been embarrassed by your parents? You've never felt your parents were unfair? You've never lied to your parents? You never had a crush on anyone? You never felt out of place or awkward? You never had friends you'd do anything for? You've never been bullied or teased? You've never been obsessed over a musical artist? You've never gone through puberty? Turning red may not be perfect, but if your criticism is that you can't relate to it, kindly exit stage left."

Ryley: Kindly stop lying.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: That's what a lot of people sound like though when they're like that last review like she, she was lying about stuff. Yeah. I feel like people. I feel like people will just say anything like, 'oh, I, I didn't find it relatable.' No, there's no way you didn't.

Kat: You know a movie's doing something important if people are having to do back flips to shit on it.

Ryley: Uhhuh. Mm-hmm.

Kat: The next one is four and a half stars from March of 2022. That says, "really appreciate how it captures the essence of being 13 and your mom discovering you're [00:36:00] cringey anime inspired fan art."

Ryley: Oh, I. I wanna move on.

Kat: One out of 10 star review titled 'movie Changes midway through' from IMDB from March of 2022. That says, "the beginning of the movie is a beautiful and cute description of life as a pre-teen, but just around the halfway mark, the storytelling basically stops and there's nothing but hammer blow subtle messaging. If you agree with the message, you may not dislike it as much, but even you will have to concede the sloppy storytelling and dramatic shift in tone." And I think they're talking about around the time when she attacks Tyler. But I think the dramatic shift, as they say, works with a story like this.

Ryley: It's the, uh, climax , the, uh.

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: That's, you know, the movie.

Kat: They have this thing called the Heroes Journey, I don't know if you know about it.

Ryley: Have you heard heard of it?

Kat: It goes up, but it comes back down.

Ryley: Back down.

Kat: Yeah. Usually around the middle too.

Ryley: Yeah. Usually in the run length of the film, you can tell when the climax is happening is gonna [00:37:00] happen.

Kat: Sometimes you fight your mom in the sky dome.

Ryley: It happens.

Kat: It happens.

Ryley: We've all been there.

Kat: The next one is Four Stars from April of 2022. "Wait a minute. Those grown ass white men were bugging. This movie owns."

Ryley: Yes. Yes it does.

Kat: One outta 10 from IMDB titled "terrible" from March of 2022. "This is a terrible movie. One of the worst movies for kids I've seen. It has no identity, no theme, terrible plot in story, tries to be Canadian, but there is no alignment or resemblance of Canadian culture. It's very confusing because it's based in Toronto but seems it's based in on Chinese culture. It's just weird and confusing and it simply makes no sense. Tries very hard to virtue signal, and his layered with political messaging that you pick up on throughout has a girl's only vibe rather than unity, and clearly makes an effort for a girl's only audience, and that's something even my seven year old daughter picked up on, which speaks to the foolish approach by the creators. Just awful and a major fail."

Ryley: There's a lot to unpack here.

Kat: I don't know. I'm sorry. Some people are [00:38:00] proud of their fucking culture, you weirdo. Also, they make friends with Tyler at the end. They include him.

Ryley: Yeah. If you're thinking there's overt political message, That are totally saying what you think, there's, you need to calm down, step away. Step away from the media for a little bit.

Kat: Yeah. I'm sorry that this is for the girls.

Ryley: How dare there'd be a movie with women in it?

Kat: Oh, there's a bully and he is a boy and they hate him.

Ryley: But then they're friends with them at the end.

Kat: The horror.

Ryley: I fucking hate this, it's so fucking obnoxious.

Kat: Somebody think of the children. But we'll move on.

Ryley: Oh my God. That was a lot to unpack in such a short paragraph too.

Kat: Yeah. Two stars from 2022. "Was a five outta 10, then they said, my panda my choice and I cringe into the next century so now it's a four. Lots of people will like this, lots will hate it. I just wish the dad was an actual character outside of the one scene in the third act."

Ryley: No, I think his scene is perfectly fine. It's not about-

Kat: [00:39:00] Father daughter.

Ryley: You could argue like it could have been more if she had both parents in it, but really, I mean, it was focused on the mother and daughter relationship and I think that's fine. I don't think dad needs to be an also a main character thrown in there.

Kat: Yeah. Some households, that's the dynamic.

Ryley: Also, the conflict isn't happening with the dad.

Kat: Yeah, exactly.

Ryley: The conflict's happening with her and her mother, so naturally her mother is going to be parent that is the main character and that we're dealing with.

Kat: I do agree with the 'my panda, my choice.'

Ryley: I understand. I do understand. That's probably why it's not gonna be a 10 outta 10 for me. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding.

Kat: One outta 10 from imdb titled 'Maybe Too many Good Movies and now this' from June 9th, 2022. "Meh, more like Turning Bad. The characters are way over the top and unlikeable, especially the main character, she is often very rude. That with the strange story, makes this movie just bad definitely for Pixar. Every company has its good and bad movies. This one is very bad. I hope this doesn't happen too often because that comes at the expense of the quality of Pixar." 'More like [00:40:00] turning bad'

Ryley: Shut up.

Kat: Four stars from March of 2022. It's the quote from John Mulaney that says, "you remember being 12 when you're like, no one look at me or I'll kill myself."

Ryley: Yes. I definitely, I re, I was thinking of that quote.

Kat: Yeah. Two and a half stars March, 2022 on Letterboxed. "And here I believed no animated movie could make food look as sexy and delicious as Ratatouille. I stand corrected. I've never been more annoyed by a teenager and her friend group in my entire life, and that's saying something. Mei is so self-absorbed and I just hated her character arc as well as some peculiar cringey messaging about puberty and sexual awakenings." Well, Zach, um.

Ryley: Teenagers are, they're selfish. They are self-centered. That's what being a teenager is, and then you grow up and hopefully do not-

Kat: Yeah.

Ryley: Hopefully-

Kat: You unlearn that.

Ryley: You unlearn that or you outgrow that and you're like, oh yeah, there are other people around me.

Kat: Yeah. Three and a half Stars from 2022. "Checked this out because I'd seen it compared to Nichijou. It's not a [00:41:00] patch on the greatest television comedy of all time, but it makes due with being very charming and sweet and definitely the best directed Disney Pixar animation since the Incredibles. Abandons the insane drive of the last five years towards photorealism in favor of a pleasantly pastel aesthetic and some genuinely dynamic character animation. There are a couple very funny gags, loved the main character's drawings of her crush inexplicably depict him as a merman, and delightfully elastic sense of movement throughout. It's definitely hyperactive in dealing with well-worn kids movie themes, but I enjoyed this more than I've enjoyed one of these in a very, very long time." I do think it's some of the best Pixar at work in a very long time.

Ryley: Oh yeah, definitely.

Kat: But also they came out with like back to back to back, really, really, really good ones. And then a three star from 2022. "Periods? In my Pixar movies? The feminists are taking over!"

Ryley: 'I'm an adult virgin.' No that was a good one. That was a good one.

Kat: And then the last review I have is from IMDB. It's a 10 [00:42:00] outta 10 titled 'Some Are Too Quick to Judge' from March of 2022. "It's disappointing to see how many low reviews there are with this movie when it did such a great job connecting to those who have dealt with strict moms. I personally like how this movie is a little different from most Pixar movies. With the animation being slightly related to anime, being more bold with the PG rating, side note, PG doesn't always mean your eight year old is going to understand everything the characters are saying, and overall, having fun with the awkward pre-teen characters. I encourage everyone to have an open mind with this movie. Even if it's not your new favorite Pixar movie, this movie did a fantastic job with connecting to those who can relate."

Ryley: Very true.

Kat: Perfect way to put it.

Ryley: Yeah.

Kat: But what would you give it if you had to rate it?

Ryley: Probably a nine out 10, honestly.

Kat: One point for my panda, my choice.

Ryley: Yes. No, but seriously, this is a very fantastic movie.

Kat: Yeah, I agree. I agree. And I, I think I would also say around nine out of 10, probably for the same reasons.

Ryley: My panda, my choice.

Kat: My panda, my choice. Is there anything else you wanna say about this [00:43:00] movie?

Ryley: Um, no.

Kat: So, if you have any feedback for us or any critiques or any gripes, if you have any movie suggestions for us, feel free to message us on our Instagram at Easy Bake Takes. We also have a TikTok at Easy Bake Takes. Be sure to check out our website, easy Bake takes podcast.com where we post the transcripts and review overviews of every episode. The same review overviews are over on letterbox where you can follow us. And don't forget to leave us a review wherever you listen, follow us, share us with a friend, cause it really helps us out a lot. And thank you so much for listening. My name's Kat

Ryley: and I'm Ryley.

Kat: This has been Easy Bake Takes. Easy watching out there.

Ryley: Bye.

Kat: Bye.