Why Turning Red & Encanto Don’t Have Villains
Pixar’s Turning Red and Disney’s Encanto both lack one storyline staple: a villain, but there's a reason for that. Their similarities don’t end there, however. Both movies have endearingly funny and awkward teenage girls as their protagonists, and both explore their journeys of self-discovery. Because of this, the usual hero/villain dynamic was changed.
Turning Red’s Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) is a glasses-wearing goofball and academic champion living in Toronto’s Chinatown in 2002. Mei has to navigate commitments to her friends and family, which are complicated when she finds herself burdened with the inconvenience of turning into a red panda when the strong emotions of puberty descend upon her. While Mei initially attempts to evade her magical ability, Encanto’s Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) is a young Colombian woman desperate to find a magical gift, or at least a sense of purpose to help her fit in with her superhuman family.
Related: Turning Red: How Mei Lee's Costume Reveals The Ending
Rather than facing villains, both teenage protagonists confront generational trauma. Turning Red’s main antagonist is Mei’s overprotective and controlling mother Ming Lee (Sandra Oh). Ming acts villainously when she sneaks into her daughter’s school to spy on her, chastises Mei’s friends, and (most dramatically) crashes a concert full of teenagers in the form of an angry red panda that is much bigger than Mei's. Yet Ming can hardly be called a villain. Though she often acts drastically, her actions throughout the movie clearly demonstrate that she is motivated by a deep concern for her daughter. The viewer learns that when Ming was a teenager, she fought with her own mother Wu (Wai Ching Ho), who disagreed with Ming’s choice to have a
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