Turning Red

[Drunk Monk]

The official PR...

SAN FRANCISCO ZOO TO NAME FEMALE RED PANDA AFTER MAIN CHARACTER MEI LEE IN DISNEY AND PIXAR’S “TURNNG RED” – STREAMING ONLY ON DISNEY+ STARTING THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 11 

ROSALIE CHIANG, THE VOICE OF MEI LEE, JOINS “TURNING RED” DIRECTOR DOMEE SHI AND PRODUCER LINDSEY COLLINS AT THE SPECIAL EVENT

 
 

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 8, 2022) – The San Francisco Zoo has announced that in celebration of this Friday’s release of Disney and Pixar’s “TURNING RED” on Disney+, they will be naming their female red panda Mei Lee after the star of the new film. Rosalie Chiang, San Francisco Bay Area native and the voice of Mei Lee, will join “TURNING RED” Director Domee Shi and Producer Lindsey Collins at the special event.

Since research is always important to Pixar, Turning Red director Domee Shi and members of the production team traveled to the San Francisco Zoo to study red pandas. Artists took photos, drew sketches, and observed their actions and behavior. The collected research helped the filmmaking team design and animate Red Panda Mei in the film.

The naming of the red panda will give visitors to the zoo a memorable opportunity to learn more about the beautiful animal that served as the inspiration for Red Panda Mei. Visitors to the exhibit will be able to learn about red pandas while also seeing images of Pixar artists on their research trips to the zoo. 

About the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens Red Panda Treehouse:

San Francisco Zoo & Gardens Red Panda Treehouse opened in 2014. Here, guests can view red pandas through a large viewing window, as they navigate a series of climbing structures and from high perspectives from their treehouse. The 16-foot-tall custom tree house was designed and built as part of a project by the reality series, Treehouse Masters. There are other treehouses as well, to give each of the red pandas an opportunity to rest away from the other red pandas, as they are solitary by nature. There is grass growing in the habitat for the red pandas to snack on as well as bamboo plants that can be refreshed. In addition to the climbing structures, animal care staff frequently rotate their toys to keep them interested in exploring and scent-marking. Both red pandas enjoy coming down to their pool to drink water and large outdoor pods are available for overnight use that they can access through overhead chutes.

About “Turning Red”: 

Disney and Pixar’s “Turning Red” introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda! Directed by Academy Award® winner Domee Shi (Pixar short “Bao”) and produced by Lindsey Collins (“Finding Dory”), “Turning Red launches exclusively on Disney+ on March 11, 2022.

I bailed. The rep understood.