How Anime Inspired Pixar’s Turning Red

Pixar’s Turning Red is very much inspired by anime. Here’s what the creators had to say about that inspiration, and how it shaped Turning Red.

All it takes is one look and it is clear that Turning Red is heavily inspired by anime. Writer and Director Domee Shi is making her feature film directorial debut with Turning Red, and it is a story that is near and dear to her heart. Mostly inspired by her true life events, which includes boy bands and anime, she was connected to this idea from the start.

So just how did she help to inspire the anime creativity with the team behind Turning Red to create something like Pixar has never seen before? She explains to Mama’s Geeky.

The biggest inspiration taken from anime television shows and movies is the expressive eyes. What exactly is meant by that? Well, if you have ever seen an anime style character than you know they give off their feelings with their eyes.

For example, stars when they are excited, big tears when they are upset, and tiny pupils when they are in shock. Mei is a hormonal teenager (her transformation into a red panda is a nod to puberty after all), so her emotions are all over the place. These techniques are used in order to help the audience understand exactly what she is feeling in each moment.

“Our teenage years were filled with best friends, boy bands, punky music videos, and glitter accessories. And we also watched a lot of anime movies and TV shows. And we wanted to mix in that chunky, cute design sensibility, expressive character designs, and poppy color palettes.” – Rona Liu, Production Designer

The creative team behind Turning Red explains that their biggest challenge in making this film was taking the inspiration of anime, which is mostly done in 2D, and making it 3D. 

“What does a CG film inspired by anime and teenagers look like? Since everything is seen through a 13-year-old’s lens, we imagined that Mei’s world would be very vibrant and very colorful. Our Toronto be filled with bright and beautiful pastel colors, and our nighttime would feel dreamy and full of city lights.” – Domee Shi, Director

In order to pull this off, they needed to incorporate all sorts of elements to make something new — and trust us, they pulled it off. The anime inspiration is clear, but it doesn’t overshadow the movie, or the Pixar feel of it. Being the first woman in twenty years to hold the position of Director made her determined to pull it off. 

Related: 10 Fun Facts About Pixar’s Turning Red From The Creators

Whenever possible in Turning Red, the animators would do a side profile face with just one eye visible. This is not common in 3D animation, and is the first time this was the focus of a Pixar film. 2D hand drawn cartoons were used as inspiration to help them get this style down. During the press day we were shown versions of scenes with both eyes showing, and then with just one eyes showing. The difference is noticeable, and it is clear the side profile works best with this story.

Something else that was taken from anime has never been done at Pixar before is isolated motion. Isolated motion is when a character completely still while only one part of them moves. This is uniquely Domee, as the team calls it and it was very hard for them to get used to this style of animation. They had never been asked to do this before, but it is another aspect of the film that makes Turning Red so uniquely beautiful. 

When Turning Red comes to Disney+ on March 11th, we hope you enjoy picking out all of the inspirations from anime now that you know what to keep an eye out for!

NEXT: Bao Is An Adorable Pixar Short That Every Mother Needs to Watch

About Turning Red

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.

Turning Red comes exclusively to Disney+ on March 11th.