Turning Red - which has a Fresh 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes - tells the story of Mei Lee, a confident, dorky thirteen-year-old torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. And as if changes to her interests, relationships, and body weren't enough, whenever she gets too excited (which for a teenager is practically always), she "poofs" into a giant red panda!
There's a lot to love about this movie, and like many Pixar releases, it's crammed full of fun Easter Eggs for fans. While many of those in Turning Red reference what it was like to live in Toronto in the early 2000s, there are plenty of nods to the studio's other projects to be found. However, there's a very popular theory doing the rounds that Mei's friend Abby is, in fact, a teenage Boo from Monsters Inc.
Let's take a look at the evidence; the flowers on her clothes are nearly identical to the ones on Boo's door, she has a love of all things fluffy, and there's definitely a slight resemblance between the two. When we spoke to Turning Red director Domee Shi, we asked if there's any truth to the theory.
"[Laughs] Oh yeah, I saw that. I saw that TikTok. I don't want to spoil people's conspiracy theory, rabbit hole investigations, because that's always super fun, but Abby is not an older Boo, unfortunately. You know, they could be related. I can see the similarity with the hair. I also like the idea that people are embracing that Boo is is Korean. That's cool. I support that! [Laughs]"
Well, it was fun while it lasted, eh?
Some fans had already pointed out flaws in this theory (including the respective settings of each movie), but it did look like there could be a connection between the two characters. Fans have spent years trying to pinpoint Boo's location - there's even a time-travel theory that connects to Brave - but it won't be found in Turning Red. Hopefully, she'll return if and when we get a Monsters Inc. sequel.
Turning Red is available on Digital April 26 and Blu-ray May 3.