Meilin Lee/Trivia

Trivia related to Meilin Lee.

General trivia

 * Mei Lee's name translates to "beautiful" in Chinese.
 * Mei Lee is not only the third Pixar protagonist who wears glasses, but the first female Pixar protagonist to wear glasses.
 * She is the third Pixar protagonist who wears glasses after Carl Fredricksen from Up, and Joe Gardner from Soul.
 * She is also the second female Disney protagonist to wear glasses, after Mirabel Madrigal from Encanto, and the fifth Disney protagonist to do so.
 * Mei Lee is the third female Disney protagonist with her red hair appearance after Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Merida from Brave.
 * Mei is the fifth female protagonist in a Pixar feature film after Merida from Brave, Joy from Inside Out, Dory from Finding Dory, and Elastigirl from Incredibles 2.
 * This also makes Mei the third female protagonist in an original Pixar feature film, as both Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory are the second installments of their predecessors.
 * Mei is the first Asian protagonist in a Pixar movie.
 * Mei can turn into her red panda form not only when excited, but also in situations that heighten her adrenaline (she can also switch to her red panda form just as easily as she can change to her human form).
 * With the film being set in 2002 as confirmed by producer Lindsey Collins and since Mei is established as being 13-years-old, this would mean that she was born sometime around 1989.
 * As seen in the trailer, Mei has worn her red toque to hide the change of color in her hair, as it went from black to red when her red panda form became true because if she didn't wear the beanie, people would call her "redhead" as redheads are often bullied for being different in schools and as it occurs in only about 2 percent of the world's population, according to the National Institutes Of Health.
 * As explained by Mei's mother, the reason she has this power is through an ancestor's mystical connection with red pandas.
 * This is what makes the movie an "anti-fantasy", though not entirely due to Chinese culture predicting they can shapeshift into various mythical creatures of folklore, such as Huli Jings or Wyverns.
 * Mei takes on some real-world red panda traits while transformed:
 * Mei being disgusted by her panda form's scent references how red pandas can release a strong, pungent smell to ward off vicious predators.
 * When Mei gets scared, she instinctively raises her arms; this is used by red pandas when scared to make themselves look larger to predators.
 * Mei can flatten and upward her ears, just like other animals and red pandas. Red pandas do this when they are scared, frightened, or aggressive.
 * As seen, Mei clings onto rooftops, city post lights, and chimneys. This indicates that red pandas are great climbers, even though she is shown to be afraid of heights.
 * Mei tucks up into a ball with her tail hiding her face when she is upset or worried about something. Red pandas, in real life, do this when they're cold and naturally sleep in that position.
 * Mei is represented by the color red, for very obvious reasons. The color signifies the passion, anger, and love that she feels throughout the film. It is also a sign of the womanhood she experiences via her panda transformations. It is also the color that separates her from her friends and appears the most dominantly when she is with them.
 * Mei's digital pet has a resemblance to the Tamagotchi toy.
 * Mei has been compared by many (including Domee Shi and Pete Docter) to Marvel's Hulk because of her power and its nature.
 * The fact that Mei's hair is black at the beginning of the film, but turns red after her Red Panda curse is similar to Susan Murphy the protagonist of DreamWorks Animation's 2009 film Monsters vs Aliens to when Susan Murphy's hair was brown at the beginning of the film, but turned white when she became Ginormica.
 * Another similarity is Zenitsu Agatsuma from the 2016 anime and manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba when Zeneitsu's hair was black before getting struck by lightning and it turned yellow, later eventually becoming a Demon Slayer.
 * A third similarity is Freddy Lupin from the 2020 comedy film 100% Wolf where his hair was brown in his human form until he came out of a wardrobe transform function to turn into a wolf, but instead turned into a poodle, and his hair turned white/pink.
 * Mei is also the third female Disney character to wear glasses that is from a different country/city, the second being Mirabel Madrigal from Encanto and the first being Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6.
 * Mirabel and Mei both have their families on the maternal side as supporting characters, but unlike Juileta and Pepa, and like Agustín and Felix. Ming doesn’t keep her maiden name.
 * Both Families have connections with stuff, their backstories are both related to war, and they discover the magic.
 * Mirabel is 2 years older than Mei, Mei has a power while Mirabel doesn’t.
 * Mei Lee's barrette looks like Marcy Wu's barrette from Amphibia.
 * Her grandmother shares a surname with her.
 * According to an article dedicated to Domee Shi, Mei is going through puberty throughout this film, despite the red panda transforming.
 * Mei does not know Cantonese as she had to ask Mr. Gao what her parents, grandmother and aunties were saying when performing the ritual.
 * Mei's nickname "Mei-Mei" is likely inspired by Mei Mei, the female Giant panda who is a resident of Panda Village and a passionate ribbon dancer, from DreamWorks' Animation 2016 film Kung Fu Panda 3.
 * Mei Lee is the 6th Pixar protagonist to have powers.
 * Some scenes in the movie featuring Mei have become popular memes on social media, such as:
 * Where Mei starts drawing under her bed.
 * Where Mei yells "AWOOGA!" to Devon outside the Daisy Mart in her red panda form.
 * Where Mei throws a red dodgeball angrily to Tyler.
 * When Mei twerks in red panda Ming’s face during the battle sequence (TikTok only).
 * When Mei pours Coca-Cola from a can in her mouth at a dream in her presentation of 4★Town.
 * Mei is the 2nd Asian lead-character in a Pixar film, after Russell from Up.
 * Mei's tail is ring-and-striped colored similarly to those seen on a raccoon's or a ring-tailed lemur's.
 * Mei compares 4*Town to various musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven when she wears her mom Ming's signature green blazer.
 * In an earlier version of the film, Mei was going to be the only person in her family that could transform into a red panda after being chosen by the gods. Not only that, but she was also supposed to have a freckled cousin named Leo who could also transform into one. Both their ways of staying human involved doing something that always calmed them. For Mei, it was drinking tea and for Leo, it was having something tight around his wrist to keep him accompanied.
 * According to the official Pixar website, red panda Mei Lee is eight feet tall.

To Non-Disney characters

 * Meilin Lee has a lot of similarities to Sid Chang from The Casagrandes.
 * Both are Chinese, but Mei is Canadian while Sid is American.
 * They are both interested in music. Mei's favorite is 4*TOWN while Sid's favorite is Twelve is Midnight.
 * Mei's outfit has the same colors as Adelaide Chang's.