Turning Red had plenty of great moments in it as the latest masterpiece from Pixar Animation Studios. It’s one of the best Pixar films in a while for many, many reasons. However, 5 of those moments stood out the most to me in my mind when I watched it on Disney+ a mere day after it launched on the streaming platform on March 11, 2022.

Thus, here’s my take on the 5 best moments of Turning Red. Needless to say: spoilers abound below. If you want to watch this latest Pixar masterpiece for yourself, stop here, and come back once you’ve unburied yourself from the red panda fluff on Disney+. Otherwise, read on:

5. The Best Looking Food This Side Of Ratatouille

"Turning Red" screenshot showing Mei's father doing the most wonderful food porn ever.
Mmm, just look at that. Ratatouille must be jealous.

Mei’s dad has the best cooking I’ve ever seen, hands-down. Or rather, woks-up. That’s why it gets 5th place on this list of best moments of Turning Red. I mean, just look at that stir-fried pork belly with some kind of greens and chili peppers. It’s so wonderful. It’s like something right out of Ratatouille, but better. The sights and sounds of that food cooking, and those slow-motion scenes? Priceless. Jin Lee should be a professional chef. He’s just so good at it. Maybe he and Remy can exchange some recipes and cooking tips one of these days? Just a thought.

4. Tyler is a 4*Townie?!

"Turning Red" screenshot showing Mei, her best friends, and Tyler gushing and crying tears of joy over 4*Town's live performance.
The moment we find out that Tyler’s rude, macho, and bratty behavior is a cover for his 4*Town fanboying.

Tyler spends the majority of Turning Red being an obnoxious jerk to Mei and her best friends, seemingly like the stereotypical Jerk Jock. Then we see him at the 4*Town concert, and suddenly it all clicks into place. Yes, the dissonance of seeing him fanboying over 4*Town is utterly hilarious, but it also reveals why he was such a bully to Mei and her friends. He’s trying to cover up his own fanboying of the boy band, with the implication that he’s gay. Or at the very least, is interested in things that aren’t stereotypically masculine. The humor combined with Tyler actually getting character development is why this goes into 4th place on this list of best moments.

3. Attack of the Fluffy Mom-Zilla

"Turning Red" screenshot showing Ming Lee in her red panda kaiju form, looking down into the SkyDome.
A red panda big enough to look down into the SkyDome is probably

The moment you saw the red eyes glowing in the darkness beyond the opened ceiling of the SkyDome and saw the face of a giant red panda kaiju thing appear out of the night, you just knew that Mei was going to have a bad night. That’s why this moment of Turning Red gets 3rd place on this list of best moments. Ming Lee’s red panda form is somehow both adorable and terrifying at once. Yes, red pandas are cute. However, a multistory tall and very angry red panda is a surprisingly fearsome sight. If that was how big Sun Yee’s red panda was, it was no wonder she slew an army. It almost certainly helped prevent more armies from trying to take her village too. No village, no matter how strategically significant it was, is worth trying to slay a red panda kaiju over.

2. Angry Red Panda: Gyrating and Crass

"Turning Red" screenshot showing Mei in red panda form demonstrating just how crass she could be to her mom by twerking. Yes, you read that right.
I never thought I would ever bust a gut laughing at a red panda twerking.

Have you ever seen a were-red panda twerk? I hadn’t either. Not until I saw Mei demonstrating just how crass she could be to her mother by twerking right in front of her. Yes, you read that right: twerking. A giant red panda trying to do a sexy dance is one of the most hilarious things I’d seen in a while. It’s not just the comedy value that I place this Turning Red scene in 2nd place though. It’s a physical demonstration of rebellion against her metaphorical (and currently literal) mom-zilla. Yes, she’s growing up. Yes, she’s going through puberty. That’s part of growing up. The twerk is simply the best way to demonstrate that.

1. 4*Town, Sing Your Boy Band Hearts Out!

"Turning Red" screenshot showing 4*Town rising from the wreckage and proving that they're more than just a mere boy band.
More than just a boy band.

At first glance, you might think that 4*Town is just your typical, over-the-top parody of a 90’s era boy band, right? Well, they prove that wrong in one of the last parts of Turning Red as they rise from the ruins of their stage, and join in on the chanting to seal away Ming Lee’s red panda kaiju form. At that point, they transcended being a mere parody of pop culture, and joined the ranks of true artists. Not to mention landing 1st place on this list of best moments. As Mr. Gao said, only singing that comes from the heart has any effect on the sealing ritual. Thus, at that moment, 4*Town truly believed in the power of their own music. If that’s not proof of them being true artists, I don’t know what is.

Source: Disney+