Grandma Wu is a major character in Disney•Pixar's 2022 animated feature film, Turning Red. She is Mei's strict grandmother who tries to cure her granddaughter's abilities.
Background[]
Personality[]
Grandma Wu is a very strict disciplinarian. While she clearly cares for her family, she has certain expectations that must be met in order for her family to thrive, at least in her own view. Being that she had a bad experience in the past with the red panda curse, she understandably feels that there needs to be a tight leash on their family secret. She gave the impression that her controlling nature affected her daughter, Ming, and, to a certain extent, her granddaughter, Mei. Upon seeing Ming in her monster panda form, she finally lets go to save her daughter, becoming more welcoming to Mei's decision to keep the panda after realizing that she can control it better.
Grandma Wu realized that pushing Ming to be her perfect daughter actually pushed her away, especially when Wu didn't originally approve of Jin, and this led to a heated argument that resulted in Ming losing control of her panda and injuring Wu by giving her the scar on her forehead. She originally blamed the Panda for driving a wedge between her and Ming, but after seeing the consequences her harsh words and strict expectations had on Ming and by extension Mei, Wu finally understood that she was at fault, that she'd held on too tight, causing a rift in her bond with Ming, and so made peace with her daughter in the celestial plane, assuring Ming that she didn't have to apologize (because it was never truly her fault), and that she is her mother, meaning Wu loves her daughter unconditionally and that would never change. In addition, Wu respected Mei's choice to keep her panda and wished her granddaughter well with a blessing that she be watched over and guided by their honored ancestress, Sun Yee.
Physical appearance[]
Grandma Wu is an Asian woman of average height with light skin, brown eyes, light blue eyeshadow, a faded mole under her left eye, pink blush, deep pink lipstick, short black hair that is done up, quinacridone magenta painted nails, and noticeably has a scar over her right eyebrow. She wears a dark green coat with embroidered gems and turquoise linings, a light green scarf with purple flowers, pearl earrings set in gold, a jade bracelet with gold details (which is later replaced by a 4★Town necklace due to the bracelet being destroyed after taking it off), black slacks, lavender socks, and black slip on shoes.
As a red panda, Grandma Wu has a large round head and a short dark brown nose that is in front of a white muzzle that begins from her nose and ends with her mouth her face also includes additional white tear tracks starting from where her zygomatic bone is to the corner of her chin, Her eyebrows have a more thin lining, with a darker color of her scar. She also has a small tuft of red hair on her head. She has white straight whiskers. She has large, white, pointed ears (a little more pointed than Mei's) that are red from behind. Her coat is reddish-brown fading to a dark brown when moving further to her arms and legs, while having a brown swirl on her upper arms, and having more fluff on the upper chest area. Her hands have dark brown paws with small black claws in them. She has a long, bushy tail with alternating dark red and light red rings. Grandma Wu's form is taller than Mei's.
Appearances[]
Turning Red[]
During a conversation between Mei Lee and her mother Ming while discussing, Grandmother Wu and the rest of Chen, Ping, Helen, and Lily approach the Lee Family Temple to which as they enter, they feel excited for the ritual which Wu approaches her daughter Ming telling her that her family is here just as Mei's grandmother prepares her granddaughter to prepare for the ritual. At home, Mei's grandmother and aunts help prepare her for the ritual while Mei's mother tells them to know why they all came to her family's house so early as Mei's grandmother tells her granddaughter about her problems in handling the panda just as one of her aunts, Lily, comments about the difficulty of controlling the red panda spirit as Ming tells Mei's aunts that she passed the trigger test, even the kitten box. Mei thanks her aunts for the gifts and decides to go to bed early. Later, Wu enters her granddaughter's bedroom where she finds a piece of red fur from her red panda and informs that Mei can't keep transforming too often or the ritual will fail. Wu and the rest of Mei's aunties leave the temple grounds to which just before Wu leaves, she tells her daughter Ming that she must avoid keeping Mei out of sight.
The next night where 4*Town is performing at the SkyDome, Wu and the rest of her family are having dinner on the day the red moon eclipse occurs. Wu then tells her granddaughter Mei that the time has come to get ready for the ritual so she can banish the red panda spirit. After dinner, Wu tells Jin to clear away the table to help the family prepare for the ritual and during the ritual, Wu sings with the rest of Mei's family while Mr. Gao speaks to Sun Yee to hear their voices and to send Mei to the astral realm so that she can banish the red panda spirit. As Mei is sent to the astral realm, she refuses to banish the panda and decides to attend the concert where 4*Town is performing at the SkyDome. After Mei leaves, Wu and the aunts blames Ming for Mei's decision, which pushes her too far and causes her to transform into a giant red panda, much to Wu's shock. Wu, the aunties, and Jin arrive on stage and decide to perform the ritual again just as they sing the ritual song again while Jin uses a line marker to draw a circle to send Ming to the astral realm just as Mei's grandmother and aunties sing the ritual song again.
After Ming gets knocked down unconsciously after Mei rebels against her mother, Wu and the aunties transform into red pandas and continue singing the ritual song while Mr. Gao and Jin tell them to sing louder to send Ming to the spirit world, followed by Miriam, Priya, Abby, and the rest of the members of 4*Town singing along, successfully sending Ming to the spirit world. Later, Mei enters the astral realm and comforts a young Ming, who had a terrible fight with her mother because of her disapproval of Jin. Wu reconciles with Ming by embracing her (which surprises her) as she apologizes to her, only for her to say there's no need to because she's her mother. Afterwards, Mei's grandmother and aunties then banish their red panda spirits, followed by Ming banishing her panda spirit as well. However, Mei instead decides to keep hers instead as she reconciles with her mother. The next day, Wu is seen playing a game of cards wearing a red pendant with a number 4 on it at a beach which she loses, dissatisfied of it for being an unlucky number. Later at the end of the film, Mei's grandmother and the rest of her family members are seen in autographed group photo with Priya, Abby, Miriam, and the 4*Town members.
Trivia[]
- It is unknown if Grandma Wu's last name is Lee. Either Ming adopted Jin's last name, or Jin adopted the Lee name after marrying Ming.
- Grandma Wu has a strong dislike towards the number 4. In Chinese culture, including a few other Asian cultures, the number 4 means "death", in that it is an unlucky number, equivalent to the superstition surrounding the number 13 in Western culture.
- It is believed that the scar on Wu’s right eyebrow was caused by one of Ming’s direct-out-of-screen outbursts, although it’s unknown whether she got this when Ming was little or when she was an adult (probably when they were arguing over Ming's choice to marry Jin). However, others believe that she either got it from an animal attack, or when a red panda spirit attacked her inside.
- Grandma Wu's panda is contained in a green bracelet at the beginning of the movie.
- In Chinese culture, jade jewelry has a close association with women and is believed to protect the wearer’s soul and body. Also, it should be noted that when a jade bracelet breaks, it is said to have protected its wearer from an unlucky event.
- She lives in Florida, as evidenced by her phone call with Ming.
- As is described on the Pixar website, Grandma Wu enjoys playing mahjong.
- She is one of the very few Disney characters to have a scar on her face and the first female to do so.
- During the end of the movie, Grandma Wu now wears a 4 town necklace she keeps her panda in. She is also seen gambling and says it's "so unlucky" when she loses a game of cards.
Gallery[]
External links[]
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