If you’re like me and grew up in a time when there was a Thundercats series on TV, you might have perked up during the new Pixar movie. turn red to the point where a character picks up a sword with a very familiar design, centered on a large red circular stone on the crossguard. Later in the film, when the same character raises the sword above his head and that gem emits a beam of bright red light, the moment feels even more familiar. The sword bears a strong resemblance to the Thundercats’ signature weapon, the Sword of Omens, and the action in this sequence bears a strong resemblance to the sequence that ended virtually every episode of the series’ original incarnation from years 1980, with the series’ protagonist Lion-O activating the sword and emitting a giant burst of red light to summon his allies or free them from magical influences and physical restraints.
Corn turn red director Domee Shi says any similarity comes from how the two Thundercats and turn red draw on the same influences and iconographies. “It’s just a tribute to anime in general, not specifically to Thundercatsshe told Polygon in an interview ahead of the film’s release. very reminding Thundercats.”
Shi and his team drew inspiration from many of his favorite anime series to create the film’s look, and to inspire details like the big pink puff of smoke whenever protagonist Mei transforms into a giant red panda, or the ” giant shaky anime eyes”. the characters have in moments of intense emotion.
Image: Pixar Animation Studios
“Throughout the movie, you’ll see this combination of Western and Eastern animation styles,” Shi told Polygon. “At that point, in act three of the movie, we upped the anime to 11, because it’s that action-packed, emotional, exciting, and dramatic moment, and it was just a perfect opportunity to have that epic beam of light. I like the way it activates on the beat. It’s very satisfying.
The light beam also doesn’t look like anything else in turn red, as it incorporates flat 2D overlays to enhance the 3D CGI of the rest of the film. Credit to Shi and producer Lindsey Collins Pixar host Rob Thompson with the development of the appearance of this particular effect. “They were drawing on it all in all the hardships [of this scene], on the beams, trying to really put that 2D element on it,” says Collins. “It was really fun.”
Shi says part of what gave her the confidence to style the film the way she wanted and draw inspiration from her anime favorites was her work on the 2019 Pixar Project. Baowhich won the Oscar for best animated short. Bao garnered some weird reactions in theaters from viewers who didn’t understand its symbolism or meaning, but it also garnered a strong and vocal positive response. Shi relied on these two reactions when she decided to do turn red culturally and personally specific, knowing that people would see different things in it and interpret it in different ways, but have a powerful response both ways.
“Bao gave me the confidence to push it turn redand I really take a lot of creative risks that I don’t think I took without Bao,” Shi said. “It gave me this urge to want reactions – big, big, shocking reactions from the audience. I was still hunting that dragon, and we were able to get it with turn red.”