Quote:
"I was born in Chongqing in China and immigrated to Toronto in Canada when I was two years old. Like Meilin [in Turning Red], I am an only child, and I was always very close to my parents, especially my mum, since my dad had to go away often for work. We were like two peas in a pod, and we literally did everything together. Then, as all kids do, I started to grow up. I started changing, and I started getting into anime and comics. She did not understand why I was obsessed with these anime characters and why I drew them over and over again in my sketchbook, with their huge eyes and strange, colourful hair. I started hanging out more with my friends and less with my mum. I was being pulled one way, but my duty, and my love for my parents, was pulling me another way. Turning Red is inspired by this universal struggle of growing up and figuring out how to handle that push and pull."
-- Domee Shi

Source:
Havis, Richard James. "When adolescence is too much to bear; Pixar's Turning Red is an animated feature made by an all-female creative team about teen angst in Toronto's Chinatown. Its director hopes it serves as a guide to growing up." Interview with Domee Shi. South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), March 10, 2022.