'Turning Red' shows Pixar hasn't lost its golden touch

Pixar has a knack for coming-of-age tales, but few that mix the touching and adorable much better than "Turning Red," a bright and appealing animated movie somewhat surprisingly headed directly to Disney+.

Directed and co-written by Domee Shi (the theatrical short "Bao"), the film tells the story of 13-year-old Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), whose family runs a Chinese temple in Toronto. An honor student who craves the approval of her mother (Sandra Oh), Mei has a trio of close friends with whom she shares a passion for a boy group named 4*town, which will soon be playing a concert in her town.

Budding boy mania, however, triggers another unexpected response: Mei's transformation into a furry Red Panda, a legacy of her family's mystical history. The parallels between that and the advent of puberty are unavoidable, and Shi and co-writer Julie Cho hilariously lean into them, with Mei's introduction to dawning womanhood bringing with it a series of mortifying side effects.