Turning Redis a heartwarmingcoming of ageanimated comedy that follows 13-year-old Meilin Lee (or Mei) on her journey from a young girl to a young woman. As if adolescence wasn’t already enough of a struggle, Mei is confronted with a family curse that transforms her into a giant red panda whenever she experiences powerful emotions. The film is directed by Domee Shi, who is also responsible for the wildly entertaining yet emotional animated shortBao.Set in Toronto, Canada circa 2002, the film follows Mei and her friends as they cope with the curse by exploiting the panda to earn enough money to buy concert tickets to their favorite pop group 4*Town (which draws some pretty strong comparisons to *NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys).
In the first week of its release on Disney+,Turning Redwas streamed in 2.5 million households, which was the most of any Disney original at that time (according to Samba TV). Critical reception was overwhelmingly positive, withThe Washington Poststating, “[The film] delivers a bigger, and in some ways more universal message: It’s okay to not always be in control, to let your freak flag fly. To paraphrase Sigmund Freud, sometimes a red panda is just a red panda. And sometimes it’s a metaphor for that inner spark of creativity, the flame of originality that is to be cherished, not extinguished. With ‘Turning Red,’ Shi demonstrates that she’s got it, in spades.” Here is how Pixar created its first boy band.
Paying Homage to Boy Bands of the 90s
Director Domee Shi previously explained that the purpose behind creating 4Town was to pay homage to the boy bands of her youth while showcasing a more modernized version of them. Furthermore, the boy band as a piece of pop culture is specifically tied to a young woman’s adolescence, which is a constant theme throughout the film. The fictitious 4Town draws heavy inspiration from the real-life boy bands of the late-90s and early-2000s, more specifically, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and, as the name suggests, possibly O-Town and B4-4 as well. Much like the real-life boy bands they are based on, each member of 4Town has his own distinct personality.
When asked bySlateabout her experience creating a boy band from scratch, Shi replied, “It’s kind of a dream come true. We would assign different roles and personalities for each boy. Tae Young’s the cute one, and Aaron Z’s the sporty one. Robaire’s the one that’s going to have that solo career after the boy band dissolves. Jesse’s the one that’s way too old to be in the band and he has two kids, and he probably drives them around and buys beer for them.” In addition to drawing inspiration from the boy band era, Shi also confirmed that band member Tae Young is inspired by the K-pop bands she listened to in her college years.
Related:Why Turning Red is a Must Watch for Tween Girls
The Significance of 4*Town
In an interview with Slate,explains why she thought a Boy Band was the perfect vehicle to tell a storyabout female adolescence, stating, “It’s a coming of age for a lot of girls to obsess over their first boy band. It just felt right for a movie about a tween girl that the stakes of the movie, the goal of the movie, is not to save the world. It’s not to save the princess. It’s to get to their first boy band concert and collectively become women together as they watch it.”
Shi also stated that she took the boy band plotline very seriously and was careful not to poke fun at them throughout the making of the film, instead opting to honor and validate the experience of an adolescent girl. The Oscar-winning director told Teen Vogue, “We wanted to treat Mei, her friends and their feelings for this boy band, and their feelings for each other super sincerely because at that age, and even now, it’s true,” adding later, “My one note for [the animators] was don’t treat 4Town like a joke. Make my heart flutter and make me fall in love with these boys.” Judging by audiences reactions to 4Town, the animation team succeeded.
Related:Turning Red Director says Girls Turn Into ‘Giant, Red, Hormonal Creatures’ Just Like Boys
Bringing the Band to Life
Turning Redproducer Lindsey Collins recently discussed how the concept of 4Town started with a simple joke. “I think there was a very early fake scene that was written between Ming and Mei that just kind of helped illustrate what their dynamic was,” Collins toldDiscussing Film. “Part of that [scene] was this joke of Ming basically saying, I don’t understand your obsession with this boy band 4Town. And if they’re called 4*Town, why are there five of them? And it always made us laugh.“From there on, Pixar realized the potential for a larger storyline featuring the band, and began making efforts to bring it to life.
Due to their increasing popularity at the time (2016) and their innate ability to write songs that speak to the younger generation, the Pixar team had their sights on Finneas and Billie Eilish to write the songs for the fictitious boy band. The production crew even made a Mei-inspired scrapbook with the artists heads glued onto characters as part of their pitch. The pair was so intrigued by the ask that before the meeting had come to a close, they agreed to create the songs for 4*Town. As scenes for the film had already been based around certain song dynamics, Pixar requested three very specific songs from Billie and Finneas: a “confidence booster”, a “hit song” and a “love ballad”.
Once the songs were taken care of, it was time to find the voice of each faux band member. Pixar ultimately settled on five talented actors with varying musical backgrounds. Jordan Fisher as Robaire, Josh Levi as Aaron Z., Grayson Villanueva as Tae Young, Topher Ngo as Aaron T., and Finneas O’Connell as Jesse. “We kind of met in the studio for the first time and it was magic being able to kind of find our sound and blend together in the moment,” Ngo toldMarie Claire.
