Spot all the Canadian references in the first trailer for Disney and Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’

Pixar movies have taken viewers from preschool to college, under the sea, around racetracks, to the Land of the Dead and up in the clouds. In a similar vein to 2015’s Inside Out, the emotional rollercoaster of surviving elementary and high school is examined in the studio’s latest offering Turning Red, which got its first movie trailer treatment today. Less than two minutes was apparently all we needed to fall in love with the latest animated film from Disney.

Academy Award-winner Domee Shi, who took home the 2018 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for her touching family short Bao, is back with what appears to be another beautiful examination of coming of age and family dynamics. The film stars newcomer Rosalie Chiang as 13-year-old Mei Lee, a young girl who has the unfortunate tendency of turning into a giant, red panda when she gets overly excited. Mei’s condition isn’t helped by interference by her loving but overbearing (heavy on the ‘bear’) mother Ming, played by Golden Globe winner and Ottawa native Sandra Oh. Again, we are in love. 

Walt Disney Studios Canada has confirmed that the film will be set in Shi’s hometown of Toronto, with one promotional image showing Mei posing with the CN Tower in the background. 

The new trailer has eagle-eyed viewers already spotting several nods to inclusion, diversity and Canadian easter eggs, including one student who appears to be wearing a diabetic device.

In the same scene, Mei’s mother gets into a heated argument with the school’s security officer, played by a Sikh character in a turban.

In reaction to the embarrassment and anxiety caused by her mother’s appearance, Mei poofs into her red panda form, escaping the classroom and running over rooftops in Toronto’s Chinatown. She passes over a group of boys playing basketball, with one player appearing to be wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Mei also begins the film wearing a red toque with maple leaves knitted around it and later dons a t-shirt with a maple leaf in her bedroom.

Fans are already falling in love with Mei and her red panda alter ego.

Reactions to the film haven’t all been positive, with some movie goers concerned about using a POC character in animal form for most of the story.

While there are several Canadian pop artists who could have been use in the trailer, including Drake, Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, The Weeknd and Aleesia Cara, most fans are pleased with the use of Backstreet Boys’ “Larger Than Life,” with the boy band trending on Twitter on July 13 behind Turning Red. Considering BSB’s early success in the truth north, we’ll count them as honourary Canadians.

The film will be set in 2002 or 2003, which means 1999’s “Larger Than Life” was still enjoying plenty of radio airplay.

Pixar’s Turning Red will poof into theatres in March 2022.

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