Spoiler alert for Turning Red: Thirteen-year-olds have to deal with a lot. It is a time of puberty, discovering one's own preferences, and becoming independent of one's family. And sometimes, when the mother annoys the girl so badly that the family curse is triggered and the girl becomes a red panda.

Now, that last part may not happen in real life, but it does happen to Mae Lee in Pixar's latest film, Turning Red. Directed by Dormy See, the film follows May as she confronts her hyper, emotional panda self and discovers that she may react differently than her mother and the other women in her family. If you've seen (and loved) the film and have questions about Mei's transformation, such as "Why a red panda?" and "How are red pandas connected to emotions?", here's the magic behind this beloved film.

What Mei learns about her family heritage comes as a surprise. After her mother, Min, finds a drawing of May's lover and publicly confronts the boy, who has no idea May exists, 13-year-old May goes to bed discouraged. When she awoke, she had been transformed into a six-foot-tall red panda.

Once everything calmed down, Min explained that her transformation was a blessing, or curse, that the women in her family had dealt with for centuries. During wartime, when her clan was threatened, the gods gave her the ability to transform into a red panda to protect her clan. All of Sun Yee's female descendants inherit the ability to transform into a red panda when they experience intense emotions.

It was not a mistake to mistake Mei's transformation for the onset of her menstruation. The giant red panda is an allegory for puberty, and has been since the beginning of this film." I made the film as a little girl going through a magical puberty," Shea told the Los Angeles Times (opens in new tab).

Like Mei's classmates in the film, fans fell in love with Mei, the adorable red panda. Director Shih told the New York Times (opens in new tab) that the animal's cuteness is part of its charm. I wanted Mei to have a magical adolescent transformation, and I couldn't get the image of the red panda out of my head," he said. There's also something about the color. Red represents menstruation. It represents being angry, embarrassed, or very lustful for someone."

For those wondering how the red panda relates to Chinese mythology, the animal actually has little mythological background. Writer/director Dommy Shih told Insider (opens in new tab) that Pixar chose the red panda because it has no deep mythological background. 'I think we wanted the space and the room to come up with the whole legend and mythology,' he said. The relatively untouched status of the red panda means that the film's theme can stand on its own without other popular myths being added to or conflated with the story.

For those who want to know a fun fact: the red panda is native to China, Nepal, and the Eastern Himalayas and is respected by the local people. It is also believed that red pandas are territorial and take good care of their young.

Over the years, the women of Mei's family came up with a ritual to contain the red panda's ego and allow it to lead a normal life. This ritual takes place only during the red moon or a total lunar eclipse. To begin the ritual, participants must draw a circle around the subject and sing a sutra. (When Mei asked why they chose to chant in Cantonese, Gao, an elder in the town, explained that any song is acceptable as long as it is sung from the heart, but her grandmother tends to go for old-fashioned songs. The subject then enters the "supernatural panda forest dimension," where he or she has a chance to separate from the panda. After the ritual is complete, the red panda is trapped in a totem.

When Mei first transformed, she was afraid of her emotional panda self. Unlike the rest of her family, however, Mei receives support from her friends during her transformation and learns how to control the change. Her transformation into a panda earns her the admiration of her classmates and money to go to a 4*Town concert.

During the ritual, where May is supposed to leave the panda behind, she remembers the good times she had during the transformation and realizes she doesn't want to leave the magic. Instead, she leaves the ritual and refuses to let go of the magic, fleeing to the concert to the dismay of her family and the fury of her mother.

May's choice to embrace a part of herself that her family and perhaps society would consider embarrassing or taboo is a theme that resonates with many fans of the film (opens in new tab). watching a 13-year-old girl stay true to her complete self is It's wonderful.

May's decision to adopt a panda also breaks a generational cycle that deeply affected her mother, Min. We learn from her father, Jin, that when he and Min were dating, Mei's grandmother objected and Min angrily released the panda. After the necklace was broken, it was taken over by a skyscraper-sized panda. Furious, Min follows Mei to the concert and destroys the stadium while yelling at her daughter.

Instead of changing her mind to appease her mother, Mei confronts her, and their argument serves as a catharsis for Mei and a distraction to begin the ritual again. May's grandmother and aunts also release Panda and help bring Min into the circle. May's friends and members of 4*Town also participate in the ritual, singing the band's hit song "Nobody Like You" to enhance the ceremony.

When May finds her mother in the ritual dimension, Min has changed into her 13-year-old self. In a touching heart-to-heart exchange, Ming respects her mother's choice to hide the panda, but explains that it is not the right choice for Ming, who loves her red panda self. Ming accepts that she is her daughter and apologizes. In the final scene of the film, Mei shows the red panda at the family temple and Ming gives her daughter more freedom.