Chinese director Shi Zhiyu analyzes Pixar's new film "The Metamorphosis of Youth", which tells the story of her childhood with her mother
Reporting by journalist Maggie Ma los Angeles
Domee Shi, a Chinese-American female director who won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film with the animated short film "Bao", and her team at Pixar recently participated in an online discussion to analyze the original intention and process of Turning Red, Pixar's first Chinese-starred animated feature film. This is not only the first time that Pixar has used a Chinese female director to produce a feature film, but also the film's producers, special effects, animation and other behind-the-scenes creators are all women. Based on a story between Shi Zhiyu and her mother when she was a child, the story tells the story of the various mental growths and changes experienced by a Chinese girl in adolescence.
Shi Zhiyu's Oscar-winning short film "Bao Bao Bao" tells the story of the family relationship between Chinese American mother and child, and fully demonstrates the traditional Chinese cuisine in the film, and the rich oriental elements are impressive. She then received permission from Pixar to direct her first animated feature film, The Metamorphosis of Youth, which will be released on March 13 this year. At the heart of the film is a Chinese mother and daughter living in Toronto. MeiMei, a 13-year-old Chinese junior high school student, usually has excellent grades in school, usually likes to draw, but also likes pop music and men's groups, and is a full-fledged otaku. At home, she is a well-behaved child in the eyes of her parents, and after school, she will help her mother to take care of the temple at home, industrious and simple. But like many Asian-American mothers, her mother was very strict with her, even stalking her to school and meddling in her relationship, making her life full of embarrassment. What's worse is that Meimei actually inherits a magical ability from her family, that is, when she is angry and scared, she will turn into a huge furry red raccoon!
Shi Zhiyu said in an interview that she hopes to tell the growth experience of young girls through this film, especially Asian immigrants often face cultural differences between the East and the West, and it is difficult to find their own position. She also grew up with her mother, because her father was often absent from work and her mother was her best friend. She wants to be a child of filial piety in the eyes of her mother, because filial piety is an important virtue in traditional Chinese culture, and children must abide by it. However, after experiencing adolescence, she will also rebel and will have her own secrets that she does not want to be known to her mother. As a result, she often struggles and wanders between being an obedient child and being herself.
Shi Zhiyu's hometown is Chongqing, Sichuan, so she chose the Sichuan specialty raccoon to show the trepidation of adolescent children when they face psychological and physiological "changes". The background of this film is also chosen in Toronto because this is where Ishiyuki lived after immigrating with his family. She and the team behind the scenes show the beauty of the film's adolescence, which makes her world full of warm and unrestrained colors; but her mother is very different, conservative and strong, so she has always worn green clothing, and even the decorations in the home are mostly green, showing that her mother is in the main position in the family.
Meimei also has several good friends in the film, who are also ethnic minority teenagers of different skin colors, and they all like a boy band called "4 town". Ishiyuki explained that many adolescent girls chase stars, and "4 town" is inspired by the boy band of the 90s, because she herself liked NSYNC the most during that period. But in order to combine the characteristics of the current era, "4 towns" are not all white, more diverse, and one of the members is called Tae Young, who was inspired by the Kpop boy band.
The film's producer, Lindsey Collins, a veteran female producer at Pixar, also said that she also liked boy band Boyz II Men when she was younger, and that her daughter is currently in adolescence, similar to the girls in the film. She has rarely seen such a detailed story of young girls' inner world in Pixar for many years, and it is precisely because the entire creative team is mainly female that she can show the girls' minds and preferences to the fullest. And most of the heroines in the previous Disney cartoons were princesses, while Meimei was an ordinary immigrant girl, even a little eccentric, but more representative of the young people of that year.
In the film, of course, oriental features can be seen everywhere, and the temples opened by Meimeijia are built according to traditional Chinese temples, but the stone lions have been replaced by raccoons, because raccoons are the ancestral mascots of their families, and the times have close ties with this family. In addition, in addition to the Chinese food itself, the film also shows the process of Meimei's parents making Chinese food, whether it is dumplings, stir-fry will definitely make the Chinese company feel very intimate.
As for the scene where the mother hides behind a tree at school to peek at her daughter's class or even fight with the security guard, Ishi said that this did happen in her childhood memories. My mother did something similar, but she didn't fight with the security guards. She grew up in two different cultural backgrounds, Chinese and Western, and hopes that through the role of beauty and beauty, she can also show the collision of the two cultures, especially the relationship between Chinese children and parents is not the same as in Western society, often listening to their parents more, but hoping to be free.
Other Chinese involved in the film include Pixar animator Rona Liu, who is responsible for character design, and Rosalie Chiang, who voices the protagonist Meimei. Korean actress Sandra Oh voices Mimi's mother.
"The Metamorphosis of Youth" currently shows the media only the first 20 minutes of content, and it can already be seen that the description of oriental culture and immigrant families is very close to life, Meimei and her friends are also vivid and interesting, and the big raccoon is even more generous and very pleasing. But what kind of adventures will Meimei encounter after transforming into a raccoon, and how will she finally resolve the conflict with her mother? Viewers will see the film on Disney+ after March 13.
