Disney and Pixar have released the trailer for the upcoming movie Turning Red. The movie centers on a teenage girl who transforms when she’s nervous or excited, but before you get too many Incredible Hulk vibes…she turns into a red panda. Not exactly the most intimidating thing in the world, and certainly not in the “Hulk smash” arena. In the trailer, we get to meet Mei, a loud, funny, confident 13-year-old girl whose group of friends look like they’re going to be instrumental to helping her get up to hijinks when she’s…y’know…furry.
Turning Red marks Pixar’s 25th feature film. It’s also the first to release to theaters since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. The Pixar film Onward, which starred Chris Pratt and Tom Holland, hit theaters just before the country’s March 2020 shutdown, and was almost immediately shuffled to Disney+, where it was received warmly as one of the first big family films available at home during the pandemic.
You can see the trailer below.
Disney’s practice of pushing most of their big movies to Disney+ has been a controversial one, because they opted for a premium video on demand model rather than simple streaming. That meant in order to see them you didn’t just have to have Disney+, but you also had to be willing to shell out the $30 for the movie itself, a practice some fans have objected to as double dipping. Other studios, like Universal and Warner Bros., have opted for an either/or approach, with premium VOD an option for some movies and others headed to apps like Peacock and HBO Max for free (as long as you’re a paid subscriber).
You can see the film’s official synopsis below.
Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter-an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda! Directed by Academy Award® winner Domee Shi (Pixar short “Bao”) and produced by Lindsey Collins.
Turning Red releases on March 11, 2022.