Original-Cin Q&A: Turning Red director Domee Shi talks Toronto, Goth-Days and Real-Life Friend/Characters
Domee Shi has put Toronto in the Pixar spotlight again. After winning an Oscar for her hometown-based short Bao in 2019, she now delivers Turning Red, a full length animated feature also set in Toronto.
The film centers around Mei Lee, a 13-year-old who is torn between being her mother's obedient daughter and the chaos of her youth. As if that were not enough, when she gets too excited, she turns into a big red panda.
Read our review of Turning Red
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Domee Shi and Pixar Producer, Lindsey Collins about the film.
CLICK HERE to listen to Bonnie’s interview with Mississauga’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) who lends her voice to Priya, one of Mei-Lee’s best pals!
TURNING RED starts streaming on Disney+ on March 11th.
Mei and friends in Turning Red.
ORIGINAL-CIN - Domee, so great to have you back home. A full feature Pixar film set in Toronto, how amazing! Turning Red is clearly an extension of your Oscar-winning Pixar short Bao, but what was it like when you went to the powers-that-be at Pixar and said, “I want to base a feature length film in Toronto even though the themes are very universal.”
DOMEE SHI: I honestly didn't know how they would respond to that because most of their movies take place in a very specific place. I think the fact that the story comes from my own personal experience, it wasn't a hard sell to also set it in my hometown as well.
I love Toronto, but I feel like it's never really depicted in movies. It's always pretending to be New York or another American city and it was a really great opportunity to just showcase the city and all its diversity and uniqueness on the big screen.
O-C: Lindsey, having the opportunity to develop this project with Domee must have been fun, but I was wondering from your perspective as someone who has been a producer with Pixar for many years, what did you love most?
LINDSEY COLLINS: I think I fell in love with the unapologetic, bold take on this coming-of-age story. I think that this story is universal and we've obviously seen a bunch of coming-of-age stories. But we've never seen one that is this kind of hilarious and cringey and specific and in-your-face look at what it is to be a 13-year-old girl.
Even people on the crew, men on the crew were like, “You guys really talk about all that stuff when you were 13? Did you really talk about being obsessed with mermen? Were mermen even a thing?” And we're like, “Oh, yeah. No, it's a thing, it's real.”
So I love that Domee has that, and has this kind of style and quirkiness to her storytelling. Obviously, we saw that with Bao, and I think you definitely see it in this film.
O-C: Domee, I have never watched a Pixar film and been hysterically laughing but also always crying so hard that i need a box of kleenex. I’m sure finding that balance must have been a challenge, but I think what brings it all home in Turning Red is the friendship between the four girls. How much did you base that on your real life girlfriends and have they given you feedback?
SHI: Yes, the girls are an amalgamation of my friends who I grew up with. I invited them all to the Toronto premiere, so I'm excited to see their response.
What I love about Mei’s friends is that they're very specific and unique. But they also feel like girls that we all know, and that was very important to me. We really wanted each girl to feel like a friend that you might have had growing up.
Miriam, the friend who wears green, is totally that rebellious girl who pushes Mei out of her comfort zone. Priya (voiced by Mississauga’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is the deadpan, gothy girl who's really into witchlore and vampires, as I was growing up and other teens I knew.
Abby is that little fireball, and she's directly based off of my real life friend who's the voice of Abby, Hyein Park. She is cute and small, but has a crazy powerful voice and will defend you in a bar fight.
O-C: As a friend should!
SHI: Exactly, as a friend should!
O-C: So, what does it take to unleash your Inner red panda?
DOMEE: Oh man. I would say notes! (Laughs) Last minute creative notes on stuff that I thought was done!
LINDSEY COLLINS: Oh gosh. I have three teens at home. So I can be like the super cool mom and then in a hairpin turn unleash the panda in a split second. They can get me there, no problem.