Parent reviews for Turning Red (2024)

MrsBIsMe Parent of 7 and 11-year-old

First of all, I’ll say this: any reviewer who talks about 4 boys in a band did not pay attention to the movie and I’d have a hard time trusting their review when they get such an easy detail wrong.That being said, I didn’t love this movie. I watched with my kids, a 7 y.o. daughter and 11 y.o. son.Yes, they had questions about what “pads” are. Yes, I thought the scene of her drawing pictures of the cute boy was—somewhat uncomfortable? Probably because the animators hid what she was drawing from us at first. The pictures were weird but I expected them to be more…explicit? So, no big deal.The confrontation between the mom and aforementioned cute boy was awkward to watch because that felt like a very grown-up, very serious issue. But honestly, everything after that was fine. We learned that yes, we can put too much pressure on our kids. We learned that kids are kids and will experience peer pressure, will disobey, will lie—guys, come on. We are not raising perfect angels, and if you think you are, YOU ARE THE MOM IN THIS MOVIE. The movie examines the relationship between mother and child, and between friends. It shows how damaged relationships can be repaired. It shows that we as parents need to give our kids freedoms; if we are overbearing, it will cause more rebellion. It shows kids how to manage their emotions. Are there are weird parts to this movie? Sure. But the weirdest thing is seeing the straight up fear-mongering “this movie teaches your kid to disobey” reviews. Kids know how to disobey; this movie shows the grace required to repair a relationship after that happens.

bumblebee4 Parent of 8, 12 and 15-year-old

Cringe !!! What happened Pixar? Didn’t think I had to preview your movies before allowing our children to see them. This one has more than a few creepy, cringy moments along with an abundance of things parents try to steer their kids away from. Lying, deceit, sneaking around. This wasn’t good Pixar.

ronun Parent of 15 and 18+-year-old

Watched this movie last night with my family, and honestly found it disheartening. There are lots of fun bits in this movie, and the animation is gorgeous, but I feel that the message is questionable and heavy-handed for its intended audience.Mei Mei is a 13-year-old with an overbearing mother. Throughout the movie, she finds ways to cope with this by being dishonest and disobeying her parents behind their backs. Now, there's nothing intrinsically unbelievable about this as a plot point, as growing up I've had several friends do the same thing. However, instead of eventually humanizing the mother character and bringing communication and reconciliation between the characters, the mother remains the antagonist; Mei Mei chooses to live her own life, which takes her away from her relationship from her mother (which she admits herself during a crucial scene in the movie).This all seems extremely unrealistic for a 13-year-old. Fantastical rituals aside, every 13-year-old will feel like their parents are overbearing; that's just a part of growing up. However, this movie pushes a theme that it's okay to disregard your parents rules and advice because you need to follow your own heart. Again, I can see what they're trying to say here, but it's not a great message to be telling such a young audience. In my mind, when you are living in your parent's household, you need to respect them and obey their rules. But, Mei Mei calling to her mom "my panda, my choice" in order to completely shut down a concern her mom has...that's just flipping the script and putting her mom in a place of having no say. It's not showing a relationship with open communication or reconciliation, just a power shift.Another thing, kids are very prone to imitate catchphrases and play out scenes in movies. If a young kid sees that a beloved movie character is rewarded for disobedience and complete disregard of her parents advice and concerns, that's going to set up a toxic mindset for how they approach relationships and conflict with their parents. Instead of working it out with open communication and understanding, the "my panda, my choice" mentality completely shuts down a healthy relationship.I also just find it disheartening that the overall message was "in order to be yourself you have to completely break away from your parents." Again, especially for a 13-year-old to be saying this is extremely concerning as always following your prepubescent heart with complete disregard to the rules of your elders will eventually get you into some sticky and regretful situations.Bottom line: I find it hard to imagine a young audience being able to understand and enjoy such a heavy-handed movie. Although it has several fun moments and characters, its message is something that would be more applicable to a character turning 19, not 13.

In my opinion, the movie content is too mature for a younger crowd but okay for children who are aware of sex and periods. Not just a funny "human turns into an animal" movie.

Lots of themes about sex and rebellion against parents. Be prepared to explain these appropriately to your children

Nique H. Parent of 6, 9, 11 and 13-year-old

I wasn't expecting much from this movie and I was still disappointed. My kids didn't like the movie either. My 13yr old son said it was a "waste of time." My 11yr old daughter was especially looking forward to the release on Disney plus and was sorely disappointed.The movies has some sketchy messaging and I might advise screening beforehand. The main character sneaks out of the house and is defiant and disobedient, and the movie seems to frame these things up positively, which might send the wrong message if you don't intend to have a conversation with your children about the behavior.

cbwq Parent of 9-year-old

This was a delightful movie, which very deftly explores the tension inherent in growing up between becoming yourself and becoming the person your parents imagine you to be. I love how it normalizes crushes, big emotions and menstruation. My boys enjoyed it; I think it's perfectly pitched to kids aged 9-12, who've been comfortable thinking of themselves as a long way away from all that messy teenage stuff, but are realizing it's actually right around the corner.

Some of the pearl-clutching and comments are laughable. "Mentions of periods"... seriously? Once your kids are hitting 8-10, you OWE IT TO THEM to discuss periods. Girls need to hear it because it'll help demystify the process that they're about to go through (and a not-insignificant percentage might hit that time earlier than average... you should be ready before that!) and BOYS need to hear it because they're often idiots about it and should know about it so they are NOT idiots about it.Is this movie for all 8 year olds? Nope, not even 9. I think it's fine for most kids around 10 and up.But it's got great themes. Yes, it demonstrates the mom in a bad light. She's kind of a crappy person so it SHOULD demonstrate the mom in a bad light. The movie is as much for overbearing tiger moms (and don't think for a second that it's only Chinese parents who are like that) as it is for kids.Instead, this movie is a terrific opportunity to talk with your kids, at a time that's appropriate for them, about teenage rebellion, parental and familial expectations, becoming your own person and how there's smart ways to choose to do that (such as finding positive friends that you like, even if your mom doesn't) and bad ways to choose to do that (sneaking out and going to a party with no parents around when you're too young to be doing that).Whether y'all like it or not, your kids are either thinking like this or WILL be thinking like this. Would you rather have a kid who trusts and talks to you, or sneaks around? Talking about it beforehand with the kid makes it less likely to happen if you lay out that you don't want it to happen AND you don't make it necessary by being too harsh.

Just a disappointing movie overall. We were excited to see it after hearing reviews, but sadly it was not as great as we had hoped. Definitely for an older audience. While the idea of what the movie was trying to convey was presented, it seriously lacked believability. Sadly... this movie encourages children to disobey/disrespect their parents (even if the parents make mistakes). It really isn't our cup of tea.

elyshao Parent of 6, 11 and 12-year-old

First of all, if your kids don’t know about puberty and all the things that go along with that- you better have a chat before you watch. However, this wasn’t my issue with the movie. My problem? This movie empowers impressionable, pre-pubescent kids to blatantly disrespect their parents. Kids, especially tweens, don’t need empowerment in this area, they will naturally push against the grain regardless. Which is normal. But this movie isn’t doing parents any favors. PIXAR produced a movie that gives kids permission to be disrespectful and thoughtless. It’s hard enough parenting tweens and this movie just adds fuel to their hormonal and rebellious fire. I was so disappointed, it had potential to be an inspiring movie giving parents and kids tools to navigate puberty effectively and productively . Instead, it just seemed overwhelmingly angry and chaotic. There are some valuable lessons from the movie if you can get past all the cringe worthy scenes, but in my opinion, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.