'Turning Red's' Domee Shi Draws From Her Past

As far as elevator pitches go, it's not exactly "'Jaws' in space" or "Snakes on a plane." But that highly specific logline is the one that Domee Shi used to persuade Pixar to greenlight her feature directorial debut, some half a decade ago when the then-20-something was a budding storyboard artist on the studio's Emeryville campus. Shi was particularly heartened by the responses the film has drawn from women and Asian communities, in particular, although there were a few loud voices on the internet who found some of its themes too mature for a Pixar audience. Born in Chongquing, China, and raised mostly in Toronto, Shi grew up "Watching just as much anime and Miyazaki as I did Disney and Pixar," drawing and writing stories from a young age. Shi admits to some complicated feelings about the release. Shi does hasten to add that, notwithstanding the studio's first episodic series, "Win or Lose," premiering next year, Pixar is still very much in the business of theatrical features. So how did Shi navigate Pixar's famously intense creative process, which yielded no fewer than eight different provisional versions of "Turning Red," as a first-timer? She credits a closeknit creative team, especially production designer Rona Liu, for helping her synthesize influences ranging from "Sailor Moon" and "Ranma ½" to Edgar Wright films to forge "Turning Red's" distinctive aesthetic and vibe. Quickly her role at the studio may have changed, Shi is still an animator first and foremost, and she's already back in development on her directorial follow-up.