Chen, Ping, Helen, and Lily, or The Aunties, are supporting characters in Disney•Pixar's 2022 animated feature film Turning Red. They are Mei Lee's relatives who all at one point had the red panda curse, before sealing them away.
Background[]
Chen (voiced by Lori Tan Chinn) is the sister of Grandma Wu and Ping, aunt to Ming and Lily, mother to Helen, and grandaunt to Mei. She is recognized by her long face, short black hair, pearl earrings, jade green shirt with violet trim and flowers on it, black pants and sandals. She also has a wart on her forehead, is the shortest Auntie and comes off as the gruffest, and possibly most cynical one of the groups. Her panda was encased in a small panda brooch that she wore on her shirt.
As a red panda, Chen 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. She has lots of tufts of messy red hair on the top of her head. She has large, white, pointed ears 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. 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. She is the second shortest out of the red pandas.
Ping (voiced by Lillian Lim) is the sister of Grandma Wu and Chen, aunt to Ming and Helen, mother of Lily, and grandaunt to Mei. She is recognized for being the largest, and possibly oldest, of the Aunties, has neatly done up black hair, pearl earrings, large black glasses and dresses in a jade green track suit, scarf and tennis shoes. She is the most nurturing and dominant of the group and had her panda encased in a notable jade ring on her finger.
As a red panda, Ping has a large round head (the largest out of all of them.) 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. She has a tuft of red hair on the top of her head, and she has white slightly bent whiskers. She has large, white, pointed ears 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 that is slightly faded Her hands have dark brown paws with small black claws in them. She is the second tallest out of the red pandas.
Helen (voiced by Sherry Cola) is the daughter of Chen, niece to Grandma Wu and Ping, first cousin to Ming and Lily, and first cousin once removed to Mei. She is the only one of the Aunties who does not have a child on her own. Like Lily, she's also technically not an aunt to Mei Mei, but rather a cousin. She is recognized for being the second shortest Auntie, as well as the most giving, and has black hair done up in a bun, black jeans and Ugg boots, a bluish-jade shirt and black leather vest. Her panda was encased in a jade comb that she uses to tie her bun up.
As a red panda, Helen 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, she has the smallest tuft of hair out of all of them, and she has white, short and messy whiskers. She has large, white, pointed ears 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 the most prominent showing brown swirl on her upper arms. Her hands have dark brown paws with small black claws in them. She is the third tallest out of the red pandas.
Lily (voiced by Mia Tagano) is the daughter of Ping, niece to Grandma Wu and Chen, first cousin to Ming and Helen, and first cousin once removed to Mei. She is one of two Aunties who is actually a cousin to Mei and is also the youngest and therefore most fun-loving of the group. She is recognized for being the second tallest Auntie, has dark brown hair in a bob cut, wears a white shirt with greenish-grey hoodie and sweatpants with a flower pattern, and cork sandals. Her panda was encased in her earrings. Additionally, she gave birth to a daughter named Vivian on a 5th of a month to avoid being born on the 4th (the number 4 is considered a bad luck omen in China).
As a red panda, Lily 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, and she has white straight whiskers. She has large, white, pointed ears that are red from behind. Her coat is reddish-brown fading to a dark brown when moving further to her arms and legs, her hands have dark brown paws with small black claws in them.Powers and abilities[]
All four aunts have the ability to transform into red pandas, but only when their respective jewelry pieces are destroyed. Unlike Ming, they and Grandma are more emotionally stable in their panda forms and channel positive energy when they're seen this way.
Appearances[]
Turning Red[]
During a conversation between Mei Lee and her mother Ming while discussing, Chen, Ping, Helen, and Lily, along with Grandma Wu approach the Lee Family's Temple grounds 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 aunts and grandmother 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.
The next night where 4*Town is performing at the SkyDome, Mei's aunties and the rest of Mei's family are having dinner on the day the red moon eclipse occurs while 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, Ming tells her husband Jin to clear away the table to help the family prepare for the ritual to help Mei's aunties send Mei to the spirit world; later during the ritual, Mei's aunties use instruments and sing 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 spirit and decides to attend the concert where 4*Town is performing at the SkyDome just as Mei's family members are worried about this just as Ming becomes furious to bring Mei back to her family to which she suddenly transforms into a giant red panda. Mei's aunties, her grandmother Wu, and her father 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, Mei's aunties and grandmother 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 when Mei enters the astral realm and comforts Ming who had a terrible situation with her mother when she was young, she decides to show Ming who she really and upon approaching her grandmother and aunties, Ming happily reunites with her mother apologizing to her the way she acted. Afterwards, Mei's aunties and grandmother then banish the red panda spirits, followed by Ming banishing her panda spirit as well. However, Mei decides to keep her own panda spirit instead of banishing it just as she reconciles with her mother. Later at the end of the film, Mei's aunties and the rest of her family members are seen in a group photo with Priya, Abby, Miriam, and the 4*Town members.
Trivia[]
- Lily is Mia Tagano's first feature film role.
- This is the second character in the film to have an actress' first film role, following Mei's voice actress, Rosalie Chiang.
- There was some initial confusion over Helen's place in the family line.
- All of the aunts are adorned in varying green jade colors. Ping's is the most prominent as she is, most likely, the oldest of the group while Lily's has a more faded color scheme as she is the youngest.
- While Lily is the youngest, the voice of Helen, Sherry Cola, is actually the youngest one in real life.
- Due to Chen and Ping being Wu's younger sisters, it is possible one of them is younger than the other, but it is unknown if Chen or Ping is older.
- Ping bears a striking resemblance to the late Hong Kong actress, Lydia Shum.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Chen on Turning Red Wiki
- Ping on Turning Red Wiki
- Helen on Turning Red Wiki
- Lily on Turning Red Wiki
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}