Quote:
"When I was first asked to pitch three ideas as a feature film, I knew all of them were going to be girl coming-of-age stories. I was really passionate and wanting to make a story to help girls Mei's age and guide them through this tumultuous time in their lives. [In Turning Red] I really wanted to dive deeper into that mother-daughter relationship, especially from the point of view of an Asian kid, and really explored that nuance of how she looks up to her mom. She loves her mom; she actually genuinely is her best friend in the beginning of the movie, and they enjoy spending time together. But then she's changing; nature setting in, she's changing, and she's getting all of these new feelings and new interests. She's starting to get into boy bands and hanging out with her friends more, and she doesn't know how to deal with that. The red panda comes in and just brings her struggle to the surface. I thought that was just a really a juicy topic to explore."
-- Domee Shi

Source:
Hullender, Tatiana. "Domee Shi & Lindsey Collins interview: Turning Red." Interview with Domee Shi, Lindsey Collins. Screen Rant, February 8, 2022.