“Turning Red” asserts the value of a metaphor signifying more than one thing. With any story centered on a 13-year-old’s multidirectional hormones in the sweaty grip of puberty, anything less than one would be a cruel lie.
This is the latest feature from Pixar, quicksilver in its pacing and clear-eyed in its conflicts between parents and children. It’s set in 2002 Toronto, with a Chinese Canadian protagonist blessed with toothy grin reminiscent of Wallace of “Wallace & Gromit” fame.
“Turning Red” is also the first Pixar feature on which a female filmmaker — co-writer and director Domee Shi — ran the show and receives sole directorial credit. Well, these things take a while. Thirty-six years, in this case.
