Adolescence really isn’t easy, but have you thought about facing the changes of this new phase while dealing with a family curse that makes you turn into a red panda every time you get anxious or nervous? This is the case of Mei Lee, the great protagonist of ‘Red: Growing is a Beast’.
The Chinese-Canadian girl who lives in Toronto started to face a big challenge after blowing out the candles on her 13th birthday, where in addition to an overprotective mother, new passions and changes in her body, she had to figure out how to deal with an inevitable transformation : she could become a huge beast (literally).
But even though the transformation caused great drama, Mei’s mother, Ming, promised that her daughter could reverse the situation by breaking the curse with the help of her ancestors in a ceremony that was supposed to be held the next night of the red moon – and so made.
On the appointed day, all of Mei’s family members gathered to perform the ritual led by Mr. Gao, having as a form of initiation a chant pronounced in Cantonese. But what is the meaning of Mei Lee’s ritual chant?
The answer
The question is partially asked by Mei Lee herself in the film, where Mr. Gao reveals that what they are saying in the chant does not matter, since what really matters is their intention, since he states that the rite is only complete if those involved sing from the heart, for this reason, Mei manages to mix the ancestry with your current self, synchronizing your singing to 4*Town music.
Even so, in the year the animation was released on the Disney+ streaming platform, that is, in 2022, the director of the plot, Domee Shi, told Polygon more details about the chant in an interview, stating that it is actually a “protection chant” inspired by Taoist chants. The filmmaker also revealed that he was entirely designed from scratch for the plot.
We were very inspired by the Taoist chants that monks did in Taoist temples,” she said. “First, we wanted to see if there was an existing Taoist chant that 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 create our own corner for it.”
However, for the whole letter to be developed, Domee Shi reveals that he had the help of a native speaker, in this case, Herman Wongthe Hong Kong-based director of operations for the Asia-Pacific region of Disney Character Voices International, the division of Disney that handles translation and dubbing.
We knew it had to be in Cantonese because the family is Cantonese,” he said. “He helped us translate a poem, a protective song, with lyrics about taking care of a girl and guiding her on her journey. He helped us create this rhyming chant.”
The truth is that there is no official translation of the song in the animation, or that was later released by those responsible for the development of the film, but skinst0rmed, a user on Reddit who claims to speak Chinese and English, translated the song as follows : “Cleanse your heart and body / Hold on to your heart / (let your) Spirit return / Swiftly to where it belongs”.
The translation from one language to another means that the precise meanings are usually lost in the process, but even so, RECREIO brought a free translation into Portuguese so that you can check it out: “Clean your heart and body / Hold on to your heart / (Let your) spirit return / Quickly to where it belongs.”
Source: Recreio
