Perhaps surprisingly for a Pixar movie, “Turning Red” was faced with a lot of controversy. According to Variety, staff members at Pixar were opposed to the film’s release on the streaming service for no cost as opposed to a theatrical run. Elsewhere, some critics panned the movie’s lack of relatability, which itself caused backlash, as other critics argued that a film centered on teenage adolescence, girlhood, and cultural traditions made it such a breath of fresh air (via Vox). Where no one disagreed, however, is with the quality of the music in “Turning Red.”
The film centers on Mei, a Chinese-American teenager in early 2000s Toronto, whose obsession with the boy band 4*Town conflicts with her family’s traditional customs. This gets even more complicated when Mei transforms into a giant red panda, a curse from her ancestors. “Turning Red” climaxes when Mei, determined to see 4*Town in concert, abandons a ritual to free her from this curse, resulting in her mother transforming into a giant red panda and interrupting the stadium show.
In order to free Mei’s mom from her red panda form, 4*Town provides the necessary musical accompaniment to the ritual with their song “Nobody Like U.” The song, as well as other select hits from the fictional band, were written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, with Finneas providing the voice for one of 4*Town’s members. The pop superstars clearly flex their writing skills on “Nobody Like U,” bringing a catchy, late ’90s feel to this ritual.
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