All The Mid-2000s Easter Eggs You Need To See in Disney and Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’
Stream the original movie, Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red, only on Disney+ now.
Remember that wonderful time when Justin Timberlake ruled your iPod Nano and your mobile phone got smaller every year? When you’d spend hours coding outrageous GIFS onto your MySpace page and rearranging your top friends? When Lionel Richie’s Daughter was one of the most famous people alive?
Well, Disney and Pixar’s new animated film Turning Red is bringing back all that Mid-2000s nostalgia to Disney+ on March 11, and if you’re a child of that era, there are a bunch of easter eggs you’re going to absolutely love.
The film tells the story of Mei, a 13-Year-old Chinese Canadian girl living in Toronto circa early 00’s who turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited or stressed.
Yes, you read that right, she turns into a giant red panda. Whenever she gets too excited or stressed. Can totally relate.
But in addition to being an interesting and quite touching metaphor for all those weird changes and emotions you experience when you transition from childhood to adulthood (I mean, I’ve heard people make this transition, but TBH I reckon I might still be a child, see my Sims addiction for reference), the film is a real treat for anyone who looks back on the Mid-2000s with rose-coloured aviators.
So, to help celebrate the release of Turning Red, we decided to make a definitive list of all those mid-2000s easter eggs the film throws our way.
Tamagotchi.
The year was 2003. I walked into school wondering how I was going to fake my way through a book report due that morning on Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, when suddenly Sally Crane ran up to me holding a small plastic device that would soon take up wayyyyy too much of our time. For what seemed like forever, taking care of your Tamagotchi was the main concern of the majority of my fellow year eight students. We obsessed over them. Some saw their little creatures grow and thrive. Others… well let’s just say they were not so lucky.
And in case you’re wondering, I just copied the blurb on David Copperfield and received a tasty little A for my efforts. Check mate, Mrs Adler.
Mix CDs.
Was there any greater joy than downloading all your favourite tracks on Limewire, finding out that a bunch of them were actually viruses, having to wait while your brother needed the computer to do some actual homework, then using some incredibly wonky software to burn the tracks to a CD that you’d share with your besties or play on your portable discman that would run out of batteries in about thirty minutes? The answer is no.
Boy Bands.
The kids from Turning Red are obsessed with a boy band named 4Town, and as somebody who has developed a very recent, nostalgia-fuelled love of the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, this is very close to my heart.
You wanna know what I think? These modern pop stars are way too cool and edgy. I’m looking at you, Billie Eilish (who’s brother Finneas plays a member of 4Town in the film!). Back in my day, our teen idols wore all denim.
The Phrase “That’s The Bom Dot Com”
Whoever coined this phrase deserves their place in the Mount Rushmore of mid-2000s icons alongside Paris Hilton and Avril Lavigne.
Mobile Phones.
Perhaps my favourite shot of the entire film occurs when every student suddenly raises their early-2000s mobile phones to the sky. Ahhh, I miss you, Nokia 3310. You too, Motorola RAZR. You’ll always hold a special place in my heart, Sony Ericsson W300i. As for you, Blackberry 6710… well, I guess it was never to be. My parents weren’t bougie enough 🙁
Your Nosy Parents Discovering What You Wrote About Your First Crush In Your Notebook.
Early in the film, Mei’s mum discovers a notebook filled with drawings and notes to a boy that Mei has suddenly fallen for. LITERALLY THIS EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME AND I DO NOT WANT TO DISCUSS IT ANY FURTHER
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Stream the original movie, Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red, only on Disney+ now.