Due to the surge in case counts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant across the U.S., the early months of 2022 may look a lot like 2021 when it comes to movies. Disney has announced that Pixar’s next animated film, Turning Red, will no longer be released in theaters domestically. Instead, Turning Red will be the latest exclusive movie to debut on Disney+, in March.
In a statement, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution Chairman Kareem Daniel said: “Disney+ subscribers around the world enthusiastically embraced Pixar’s Academy Award-winning Soul and the critically-acclaimed Luca when they premiered exclusively on the service, and we look forward to bringing them Pixar’s next incredible feature film, Turning Red. Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions as we prioritize delivering the unparalleled content of The Walt Disney Company to audiences around the world.”
However, there will be theatrical releases for countries that don’t have Disney+. It’s also possible that there may be limited theatrical runs in the United States in order to ensure that Turning Red will be eligible for the Oscars.
Rosalie Chiang stars in Turning Red as the voice of Mei Lee, a 13-year-old Toronto girl whom the studio describes as both “confident” and “dorky.” While Mei isn’t embarrassed by her intelligence, she does have a very big problem. Any time that Mei becomes too excited, she transforms into a giant red panda. That may be why Mei’s mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), has been such a helicopter parent. Apparently, Mei’s family has a very strong mystic connection to the pandas that dates back centuries. And that fact does make us wonder if Mei’s family members have panda forms of their own.
Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Hyein Park also star in the film as Mei’s friends Miriam, Priya, and Abby. Orion Lee will portray Mei’s father, Jin Lee, with Wai Ching Ho as Mei’s grandmother, Tristan Allerick Chen as Tyler, and Addie Chandler as Devon. respectively
Domee Shi, the Oscar-winning director of Pixar’s critically acclaimed animated shor, Bao, helmed Turning Red from a script by Julia Cho and Domee Shi. Turning Red will premiere on Disney+ on Friday, March 11, for no additional charge to all subscribers.
