Disney slightly changed some of Turning Red's dialogue for the movie's Disney Channel debut. Directed by Domee Shi, Pixar's Turning Red follows the story of a 13-year-old girl named Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) who transforms into a giant red panda when she experiences strong emotions due to a hereditary curse. Turning Red's coming-of-age story offered a unique look at puberty and how teenagers handle the awkwardness of growing up.
Disney censored some lines on Turning Red after it debuted on Disney Channel on May 25, 2025, at 7 p.m. ET.
The first change is during the scene when Meilin's mother, Ming Lee (Sandra Oh), confronts Devon (Addie Chandler) inside a convenience store after accusing him of messing with her daughter.
The original dialogue included Meilin obnoxiously accusing Devon that he does "drugs all day."
Ming Lee: "How old are you? Thirty?"
Devon: "I’m seventeen."
Ming Lee: "See? See? This is what happens when you don’t wear sunblock and do drugs all day."
The slightly edited dialogue removed the "drugs" part of Ming Lee's rant. Instead, Disney replaced it with the word "things."
Ming Lee: "See? See? This is what happens when you don’t wear sunblock and do things all day."
The second change came during the dodgeball scene when Mei and her best friends (Miriam, Priya, and Abby) are talking about her failed presentation to her parents about trying to buy tickets to 4 Town's concert:
Mei: "That presentation was bomb dot com. I cited all my sources. I had sparklers, and she still said no!"
Priya: "My parents said I could go when I'm 30."
Abby: "Mine called it stripper music. What's wrong with that?"
Miriam: "Mine said yes, but I have to buy the ticket. Who the heck's got that kind of cash?"
In the altered version, Disney removed "dot com" from Mei's lines while Abby's "stripper music" line was changed to "strong music."
The last change included removing Meilin's line saying "Oh, crap!" after she accidentally tripped while daydreaming in the street.
As pointed out by X user @DisneyBeat101, Disney altered the dialogue for some of these scenes from Turning Red because the movie is likely to air on Disney Jr. eventually.
Disney could've made the changes with the audience in mind, mainly because Disney Jr. primarily targets children aged two to seven. In contrast, Disney Channel's primary target audience is children aged six to fourteen.
Watch the edited scenes of Turning Red below:
Disney is no stranger to censoring dialogue from its movies. The House of Mouse has already done it for some Marvel projects, such as Disney+ editing a racial slur on the MCU one-shot, All Hail the King.
Turning Red premiered in the United States on March 11, 2022. It features a star-studded voice cast led by Rosalie Chang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, and James Hong. It also made history as the first Pixar feature film solely directed by a woman (Domee Shi).
Why Disney's Move To Censor Turning Red Is a Good Thing
Turning Red delivered a unique exploration of growing up and taught lessons about peer pressure and friendship. That said, it is a worthwhile film that is a must-watch for children, and this censorship approach is the right move for Disney to reach as many young viewers as possible.
While some claimed that the censorship made zero sense because it somewhat dialed down the humor of some scenes, there are still those who believe that it is appropriate because children wouldn't have understood terms like "drugs" and "stripper" unless there was parental supervision. The move also falls under Disney's efforts to bring family-friendly content to the forefront.
All in all, these changes made by Disney still don't subdue Turning Red's overall impact and messaging about embracing oneself amid the changes brought about by puberty.
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