Domee Shi, Sandra Oh and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on why ‘Turning Red’ matters

Domee Shi didn’t set out to make history with her new movie. It just kind of happened.

The Chinese-Canadian animator behind “Turning Red” is the first woman to solely direct a feature film for Pixar in the animation studio’s 36-year history. The movie is also the first Pixar feature film to be set in Toronto and only the second Pixar animated feature film with an Asian character as its lead.

Shi says she didn’t really focus on the ground her new film was breaking during its production.

“I think I had it in the back of my head, but I was just worried about making a film that was funny and resonated with people,” Shi said in an interview. “With the pandemic and all the other craziness that was happening, I didn’t have time to worry about all of these firsts, but I’m very honoured to be the first of so many.”

“Turning Red” introduces audiences to Meilin Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a dorky 13-year-old torn between pleasing her overbearing mother Ming (voiced by Sandra Oh) and pursuing her own happiness and independence. The twist is that whenever Mei gets too excited she turns into a red panda, which only adds to the melodrama of being an awkward teenager.

The movie casts Toronto in a starring role, paying homage to the city the director grew up in. There are Daisy Marts on every corner, the “Cat on a Chair” statue at St. Andrew Street and Spadina Avenue, even an entire scene taking place inside the SkyDome (not the Rogers Centre, as Shi set the film in 2002).

“I have such nostalgia and love for Toronto, and I didn’t just want to pay it lip service. I really wanted to commit to celebrating the city,” Shi said.

The location isn’t the only thing audiences will identify with. The movie’s approachable characters, its honest portrayal of puberty, and its true-to-life depiction of the dynamic between immigrant parents and their westernized children make it incredibly relatable, especially to its creator.

“The closest relationship I have is with my mom, but I fight with her all the time. I was just really passionate and curious about unpacking that mother-daughter dynamic. It’s complicated and juicy and, while there is so much love there, there’s also so much fighting and misunderstanding. So much manipulation and embarrassment and guilt, and it’s a topic that’s just begging for a film to be made about it,” Shi said.

Sandra Oh was also drawn to the mother-daughter relationship that Shi is able to present so accurately.

“Every single person has a fraught relationship with their mother,” Oh said in an interview. “One of the things that I think is very special about ‘Turning Red’ is that Mei is given an opening into actually seeing her own mother’s pain, which I think takes a lifetime. For those kids who are at least old enough to even imagine that your parents have their own pain, it’s very moving.”

Shi has focused before on the relationship between a parent and child. In 2019, the filmmaker won an Academy Award for “Bao,” an animated short film that examined the complicated relationship between a mother and her kin. When asked about the Oscar, as you’d expect, the Canadian director played it cool.

“My life didn’t change that much after I won the Oscar because, at that time, I had already started ‘Turning Red.’ I had this little naked golden man statue in my hands and I just went back into the editing room … I did wonder if the statue had imbued me with filmmaking superpowers though.”

Whether it was her superpowers or just a super script — likely a combination of both — Shi’s passion drew some of Hollywood North’s finest to sign onto the project.

“Killing Eve” star and Nepean native Oh didn’t take much convincing.

“The fact that it was an entire Pixar film centred around a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl and her inner life as she goes through adolescence? The fact that it was set in Toronto? I was like, ‘Come on. I have to play this.’”

It was a similar story for Mississauga-born Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who voices the role of Priya, one of Mei’s best friends. She told the Star it’s a toss-up which she said yes to faster, “Turning Red” or playing the lead in Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever.”

“One was my agent saying, ‘You got the role of Priya.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, obviously I am going to do it … not a doubt in my mind.’ The other time it was Mindy Kaling calling you and telling you herself that she wants to offer you the role of Devi. Both were an instant yes.”

The two stars said voicing Pixar characters was a dream box they could finally tick off their checklists of making it. Ramakrishnan joked that her friends could now ask her to “do the Priya voice.”

“I want to get, like, a little Priya doll. I could do it for Halloween. The possibilities are endless.”

All jokes aside, the bright spotlight that Shi placed on Toronto’s multiculturalism was part of the film’s appeal for both cast members. Besides Ramakrishnan’s character, audiences will see a Sikh security guard at Mei’s school, a Muslim classmate and a deep appreciation for Chinese culture.

“The reality is a lot of people who watch animated films are younger demographics,” Ramakrishnan said. “It’s important to show them this diversity in the early stages of their life so that they can feel that sense of belonging in a natural way. Not where they say they love the diversity and inclusion in ‘Turning Red,’ but so that they can say, ‘Oh my God, that character looks like me! Sick!’ and then move on with their day.”

For Oh, it’s also about changing the direction of the conversation.

“I have gotten this question of representation for my entire career. What I find sometimes tricky about that question is that it also includes a type of marginalization that we’re continuing the narrative on, and I am ready to move away from it and to discuss representation only in terms of the actual celebration of it. If you’re tracking the change or the growth or the inclusion, it is happening because this film exists.”

During a conversation about the controversial character of Apu on “The Simpsons” (criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of the Southeast Asian community), Ramakrishnan mused that the character paved the way for Priya to exist.

“It’s important to recognize that happened, but I am grateful because it helped us realize we gotta keep fighting to get better representation and to keep pushing the needle forward,” Ramakrishnan said. “Just keep going until it just is.”

As for Shi? She is just happy she was able to recognize her parents, her city and her adolescence.

“Honestly, I was just excited to tell a story about magical puberty and to rope in my favourite animal in the process. It’s my first feature film. It’s a love letter to puberty and to growing up in Toronto. It’s a love letter to the 2000s. It’s from a very personal place and is a love letter to my mom. I hope people like it. No offence if they don’t. It’s fine.”

CORRECTION — March 11, 2022: This story has been edited from an earlier version that said “Turning Red” was the first animated film set in Toronto and the second with an Asian lead character.

Murtz Jaffer is a Toronto-based entertainment writer and a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @murtzjaffer