The beauty of Disney Parks in recent years is how it seems like we’re getting new additions to the theme parks all the time to reflect the new movies and television shows the studio is putting out. With the Disney+ exclusive release of Pixar’s latest, Turning Red, we have to wonder how the coming-of-age movie could fit into the studio’s many lands and attractions.
When CinemaBlend spoke to the filmmakers behind Turning Red, I asked director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins about how they’d like to see their film be reflected in Disney theme parks, and they had great ideas. Here’s one from Collins:
I want a full 4*Town concert parade show, for sure.
4*Town is the early ‘00s boy band the animators crafted for Mei to be obsessed with, like many 13-year-olds were of Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC at the time. Billie Eilish and Finneas wrote three songs for the boy band led by Jordan Fisher’s Robaire, one of which is called “Nobody Like U,” which has already been released.
This is an incredible idea. Imagine going to a Disney Park and seeing men in full character as an early ‘00s signing group belting out these tunes as a Panda Mei follows them around? It would be absolutely genius. Disney, are you taking notes? Director Domee Shi, also threw out this concept:
I want like an entire restaurant and like panda-themed food. Bao cakes, burgers, everything. I just love food in general so that’d be so cute to see Turning Red-themed [food].
Domee Shi got her start with Pixar with the animated short Bao, so it’s clear she’s a food connoisseur. Currently, Disneyland does feature Bao in Adventureland at the Tropical Hideaway, but imagine if an entire restaurant was all about Chinese cuisine found in Turning Red?
One main setting of Turning Red is her family’s temple, which they double as a business for tourists to flock to and learn more about their culture. If Disney Parks recreated this place in some fashion and included the legend of their family alongside some sweet treats? Lindsey Collins threw in another idea as we got talking about it:
And of course you have to have Panda Mei herself, like walking around, seven-feet tall. Gushy, furry, hot, poor, poor person. They’re like ‘Please don’t put me in the Panda Mei costume, please don’t put me in the Panda Mei costume’.
As Collins alludes to, a Panda Mei character would not be the most comfortable for the person inside the suit, but it’d be absolutely adorable to see the character walking around the parks. I totally want to hug a Panda Mei, and hopefully Disney can find a way someday to do so in a way that doesn’t have the cast member in a fit of fur.
We’ll keep our eye out for Turning Red developments at Disney Parks alongside other new things coming to Disneyland. Until then, you can check out the latest Pixar film with a Disney+ subscription.
