Here are the lyrics to Turning Red’s Cantonese chant

**Warning – Spoilers ahead for Turning Red**

Disney Plus and Pixar’s Turning Red shows two scenes where a chant takes place in Cantonese, and naturally, fans are searching to know what is said.

We provide a fan’s translation of the Cantonese chant, discuss sequel possibilities, and provide an overview of the music involved in the film.

Directed by Domee Shi as her directorial debut and written by Shi and Julia Cho, Turning Red stars Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, and many more talented actors in a story about 13-year-old Mei who transforms into a red panda every time she experiences strong emotions.

• MORE: Who are the 4 Town members in Turning Red? Meet Pixar film’s cast

Turning Red | Official Trailer

Turning Red | Official Trailer

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Turning Red’s Cantonese chant

With the help of Turning Red fans on Reddit, skinst0rmed provided a rough translation of the Cantonese chant:

“Rough translation: cleanse your heart and body / hold on to your heart / (let your) spirit return / swiftly to where it belongs. Source: I speak both languages.”

The chant comes from a Cantonese poem sourced by Hong Kong-based Asian-Pacific operations director for Disney Character Voices International, Herman Wong, which also acts as a protection chant.

Director Domee Shi and producer Lindsey Collins spoke to Polygon about their inspiration for the chant:

“We were really inspired by Taoist chants that monks would do in Taoist temples,” Shi says. “At first, we wanted to see if there was an existing Taoist chant we could use. But then we thought, because this family is so specific, the situation is so unique — this family has this magical panda curse running through them! — we should come up with our own chant for it.”

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Just watched #turningred with my niece and I was AMAZED at every scene! It related to me so much as an Asian (and the cantonese chants) and a teenager who was growing up (the nostalgic Tamogotchi, phones). Its just so nicely made together! pic.twitter.com/piIIvZIGqT

— KentaWong94 (@kentawong94) March 11, 2022

Domee Shi talks Turning Red 2 

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Shi and Collins gave fans a beacon of hope regarding a Turning Red sequel:

“We are open, but we haven’t talked about it. But yeah, it’s an invitation at the end for more stories.”

Collins added:

“Hopefully, at the end of a movie, you’ve fallen so in love with the characters that you have a hard time letting them go. I mean, as the filmmakers, not even as the audience, I feel that way. I love these characters. I never got tired of them. I was always like, ‘I’d go hang out with those characters again.’ I want to see what they’re up to. So, yeah. Who knows?”

• OBI-WAN KENOBI: When is the upcoming series set in the SW universe?

Turning Red soundtrack

Turning Red’s 2002 setting features the fictional boy band 4*Town – a parody group of that era.

The band members, Robaire, Jesse, Aaron Z, Tae Young, and Aaron T, are voiced by Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Grayson Villanueva, and Topher Ngo.

All of 4*Town’s music was written by musician Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell, who voices Jesse.

• NOBODY LIKE U by 4*Town (Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva)
• U KNOW WHAT’S UP by 4*Town (Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva)
• 1 TRUE LOVE BY 4*Town (Jordan Fisher, Finneas O’Connell, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, Grayson Villanueva)

Ludwig Göransson also composed Turning Red’s score to match the family’s culture, from the composer who brought you The Mandalorian score.

By Jo Craig – jo.craig@grv.media

Turning Red is now streaming on Disney Plus.

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