Turning Red2022

**Verdict: 🥇 MUST SEE ** Ever since the announcement that Domee Shi would be directing the next Pixar movie, I was ecstatic. Pixar’s shorts are renowned for their unique precision in humor and emotional resonance, but Shi gave us one of the best shorts in Pixar history with Bao. Shi used her chances with Bao and, subsequently, with Turning Red to make gorgeous love letters to Asian-Canadian culture centered on profound familial relationships with visual brilliance and stunning wit. in fact, the first 15 minutes had scenery and emotive expressions that had me remembering Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki himself gave up on a CGI project because he couldn’t get it to feel alive. Turning Red had me thinking several times, “wow, I think Pixar cracked the nut Miyazaki couldn’t at the time.” Textures are gorgeous, color is vivid, emotions are real and on full display, and the orchestration is masterful. Turning Red was Domee Shi and Pixar doing their best Miyazaki impression, inevitably with their own unique flair. There may be an age at which Turning Red doesn’t resonate, but having an 8 year old daughter who is about to confront these same life experiences was enough for me to have a strong connection. Only Pixar would have the guts to treat puberty, periods, and pads head on. Can you imagine working at Dreamworks or Sony Animation and seeing the risks Pixar is taking while you’re making another movie about animals escaping something?