‘Turning Red’ premiered on Disney Plus on March 11 and was something we were strongly anticipating to be great after watching the trailer. 

However, we quickly concluded this movie would not live up to our standards, especially given the normal high quality of a Disney movie. The trailer led us to assume that this movie would be a fast-paced, unique coming-of-age story. But it was quite different from what we expected it to be. 

 The introduction of the movie was new and different, but beyond that, the movie left us wanting more. Overall, the characters were the most poorly represented teenagers we’ve ever seen in a Disney film. The portrayal of a middle school lacked any realism. The whole movie made us think, where were the teachers? And how did no one tell their parents about the giant red panda that kept coming to school? The plot was simply confusing and very unrealistic. 

As well, this movie lacked a plot line that was strong enough to warrant a two-hour duration, let alone be understood by any young audience. 

The majority of the problems’ protagonist Mei faced were so shallow; we had found it difficult to garner sympathy for her. The plot just seemed boring and hard to follow. 

The dialogue did not reach the high standards Disney Pixar films usually pass. We felt it was hard to listen to and cliché. Every line was predictable and lacked humor. There wasn’t one specific piece of dialogue in the movie that we actually found engaging or worth remembering.

On the other hand, the animation in this movie was impeccable and definitely worth mentioning. 

The animation captured the odd fun storyline the movie was going for, down to the detailed strokes of hair on the character’s eyebrows. We were blown away by the animation involved when Mei’s father cooked dinner, the food looked almost real and simply not animated. Overall, the animation was the best thing about the movie, it is the only thing we found above average and made the movie worth watching. 

This movie compared to therecent Disney movie, Encanto did not satisfy us. Without the mindset of reviewing this movie and expectation of the “best Pixar movie yet” we would have enjoyed it more. 

We have three final thoughts: this was a waste of a Friday night. What is the Panda supposed to stand for? And justice for Devin.