turning red is a 2022 american computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by pixar animation studios and distributed by walt disney studios motion pictures. the film was directed by domee shi (in her feature directorial debut), written by shi and julia cho, and produced by lindsey collins. it stars the voices of rosalie chiang, sandra oh, ava morse, hyein park, maitreyi ramakrishnan, orion lee, wai ching ho, tristan allerick chen, and james hong. set in toronto, ontario, in 2002, turning red follows meilin "mei" lee, a 13-year-old chinese-canadian student who, due to a hereditary curse, transforms into a giant red panda when she expresses any strong emotion. inspired by shi's experiences growing up in toronto, the film began development in 2018 after she pitched it to pixar in october 2017. it is the first pixar film solely directed by a woman and the second to feature an asian lead character after up (2009). special screenings of turning red took place in london at everyman borough yards on february 21, 2022, and in toronto at tiff bell lightbox on march 8. the film had its world premiere at the el capitan theatre in los angeles on march 1, and was released on the disney+ streaming service on march 11, along with simultaneous limited in certain theaters. it was released theatrically in most countries without disney+, grossing a total of $17.1 million worldwide, and received critical acclaim.