4*Town was inspired by SEVERAL boy bands…
If you’re like me, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about Pixar’s Turning Red — or playing 4*Town songs on repeat! — ever since it came out.
The film, which is set in Toronto in 2002, tells the story of 13-year-old Mei — a Chinese Canadian girl who not only has to deal with all the usual growing pains of being a teenager, but she also literally poofs into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited.
Turning Red is a beautiful love letter to Mei’s culture as well as a perfect encapsulation of adolescent angst, and since it’s set in 2002, it’s also chock-full of nostalgic references to a time period that I simply can’t believe is now considered “retro.”
To celebrate, I rounded up all of the amazing 2002-era details that I spotted in the movie. Here are some of the best:
1.
To start us off, of course Mei takes care of her beloved Tamagotchi — aka Robaire Jr. — throughout the movie, and he’s as important as any IRL pet to her.
Later in the film, Mei’s mom Ming’s panda iconically ends up getting sealed in a Tamagotchi as well.
In real life, Tamagotchis were a wildly popular trend in the late ’90s and early ’00s.
Charla Jones / Toronto Star via Getty Images
A girl on the playground stole my Tamagotchi and never admitted it, and I haven’t quite recovered since. For those who might not know, Tamagotchis were created by the Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai. They’re digital pets that you raise from birth, and — no pressure — you’re responsible for keeping them alive and happy. (It’s the most parenting education we ever received growing up, TBH.) If you want to try one out for yourself, they’re still available. In fact, as of 2021, 83 million Tamagotchis have been sold worldwide since they first launched in 1996.
Fun fact: This photo above that I found was actually taken in 2004 in Toronto. So canonically this real Tamagotchi exists just two years after the events of the movie.
And one thing that was extremely accurate is how sweet it was that Miriam continued to keep Robaire Jr. alive even though she was fighting with Mei — we took our Tamagotchis so seriously.
Just for fun to show what an amazing craze it was, let’s look at some extremely 2002-era celebrities showing off their Tamagotchi merch. Here’s Ryan Cabrera with seemingly an entire briefcase of Tamagotchis:
Debra L Rothenberg / FilmMagic
And here’s The O.C. icon Rachel Bilson posing with a brand-new Tamagotchi:
2.
In the movie, Mei reads all about 4*Town in Tween Beat magazine.
In real life in the ’90s and ’00s, tween/teen celebrity magazines were massively popular — especially for their huge posters (like the one of 4*Town advertised in Tween Beat above). Tween Beat is likely a play on both Teen Beat and Tiger Beat, and all of the other magazines (J-14, M, Pop Sugar) in that genre.
Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images
3.
In the movie, Mei has a crush (a whopping, *draws lusty mermaid drawings* kind of crush) on Devon — and who could blame her? This bucket hat and necklace combo exudes extreme 2002 hot guy energy.
I, unlike Devon, was not at all a heartthrob. But I do remember thinking this was the coolest I ever looked…
Bucket hats are certainly having a resurgence again, and I just wanted to take a moment to admire this amazing Rihanna matching look. Devon, who???
Brendon Thorne / Getty Images
4.
If you look closely at Mei’s stickers, you’ll see a reference to Y2K. Since the film is set in 2002, it means Mei was two years past civilization ~surviving~ Y2K.
In real life, looking back on Y2K is pretty funny, now but as an 11-year-old on the precipice of the year 2000, it was genuinely…very…scary????
Photodisc / Getty Images
The Y2K bug referred to the panic and widespread fear that computers would completely malfunction at the strike of midnight on 1/1/2000. My basic understanding of it is that years had previously been programmed to be recognized by their last two digits (so, 90 for 1990, etc.) — but many believed that in “00” the entire system would malfunction because that wouldn’t be recognized by computers, causing, like, basically every part of life reliant on technology (aka everything) to shut down. Cool cool cool.
Honestly, as an 11-year-old at the time, I remember it feeling like the world was absolutely ENDING. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Hence Mei’s sticker. Everything was A-OK.
And, don’t worry, we had enough Millenios to go around!
5.
In the movie, Priya briefly reads the vampire novel Nightfall by author “Roberta Moyer.”
This is, of course, a reference to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, even though the first book wouldn’t be released until 2005.
Roger Kisby / Getty Images
Here are some fans at a midnight release party for Breaking Dawn in 2008.
6.
At one point in the movie, Miriam gives Mei this burned CD of 4*Town’s Australian tour, and just seeing this CD with the bubble letter Sharpie writing gave me an instant flash of nostalgia.
The fact that I have at least 15 of these in storage right now because I could not bear to part with them… What a simpler time!
OK, of course we need a whole section to talk about 4*Town. Director Domee Shi flawlessly incorporated bits and pieces from so many different bands to create one absolutely ~swoon~worthy band.
PIXAR
By the way, I’ve just discovered that 4*Town has a website, and I absolutely refuse to accept the reality that they’re not a real band.
7.
Let’s start with the name 4*Town (yes, even though there are five members!).
The name definitely draws inspiration from O-Town.
Universal Music Group
THE O-Town of Making the Band, “Liquid Dreams,” and Ashley Parker Angel fame.
But…it also takes a very small — yet very important — piece of inspiration from NSYNC as well. Namely, THE STAR.
8.
Domee Shi also explained that she drew inspiration from the K-pop bands that she was into when she was in college, like Big Bang and 2PM.
Scott Gries / Getty Images
“4*Town is definitely an homage to all the boy bands I loved growing up in the late ’90s, early 2000s: Backstreet Boys, N’SYNC, O-Town, 98 Degrees,” Domee said in an interview with Ashley and Company. “We really wanted them to also feel multicultural and even though they are an homage to the boy bands of that era, we wanted to bring a little bit of a modern touch to them too. One of the boy band members, Tae Young, is an homage to the K-pop boy bands that I got into in college.”
And Domee has said in another recent interview that Tae Young is also a shoutout to BTS — and many fans have pointed out, specifically Jimin.
9.
And, of course, 4*Town’s outfits at the end of the film are reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys’ all-white fashion era for their album Millennium and their “I Want It That Way” music video.
Jive/Pixar
Fun fact: I once listened to this album on a CASSETTE WALKMAN for an entire 12-hour flight.
10.
Mei, Priya, Abby, and Miriam (and eventually Tyler!) all rock matching friendship bracelets and Jelly bracelets.
Honestly, if you grew up in the 2000s and didn’t have a friendship bracelet work in progress taped down to your desk, what were you even doing??
Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images
Now, back to the jelly bracelets for a sec. I was obsessed with them in a very wholesome way, much like Mei and her friends. Unfortunately, they were ultimately ruined forever after that one Degrassi episode.
11.
In the movie, Mei’s classmate Stacy rocks an iconic hair trend from the ’00s — butterfly clips.
Clearly, Stacy drew inspiration from the butterfly clip matriarchs of our time, like Elizabeth McGuire.
They were everything to me.
And yes, here’s the proof:
Jen Abidor
Butterfly clips are also having a resurgence — I just saw a teeny toddler rocking them in her stroller, but maybe that’s just the influence of millennials becoming parents now.
12.
And did you notice Stacy’s Ugg boots too? So on trend!
Here’s Lalaine showing off a pair of her own at the Peter Pan premiere in 2002:
13.
Speaking of shoes, Miriam rocked some very cool Vans slip-ons…
Here’s Kristen Stewart in a similar style:
Steve Granitz / WireImage
14.
Also, in the movie, Abby rocks a Casio Baby-G watch:
Here’s Rory Gilmore wearing one of these ~very important~ watches…
Warner Brothers
I positively BEGGED for one of these watches — specifically the kind that had an address book included where you could store all of your friends’ phone numbers AND also had little animations of dolphins and such swim across the screen.
I just checked, and Baby-G watches are also still available. Here’s a great pic of Zendaya rocking one in 2012:
Amanda Edwards / WireImage
15.
And I am absolutely obsessed with Mei rocking a calculator watch:
Pixar
The ULTIMATE trendy way to do math and tell time.
16.
Just a few more little details from Mei, but I did love her tattoo necklace choker and stick-on earrings.
Here’s what they looked like IRL, and did I almost buy some from Amazon just now? Yes, yes I did.
17.
In the movie, Mei briefly had a crush on Carter — an emo kid with luscious hair.
Of course, this was a whole vibe in the 2000s — here’s Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance performing in 2005.
18.
In an iconic scene, Stacy texts out a message about Panda Mei on a JOKIA phone…
…clearly a reference to the Nokia phone that so many ’00s kids used to send T9 text messages and play Snake.
Ullstein Bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images
Here’s young Dakota Fanning at some kind of Nokia station at an event. An it girl with an it phone!
Maury Phillips Archive / WireImage for Nokia
19.
If you were eagle-eyed, you might have caught that Mei’s backpack is “BagSport” brand…
…an obvious and hilarious reference to the ubiquitous JanSport backpacks of our childhood:
Tory Zimmerman / Toronto Star via Getty Images
20.
In the movie, Mei’s nemesis-turned-friend, Tyler, wears a Band-Aid on his face and a sweatband:
Here’s a pic of Nelly in 2002, in case you’re wondering where he drew that inspiration from:
Djamilla Rosa Cochran / WireImage
21.
Finally, the attention to detail with the music at Tyler’s party was spot-on — from “Cha Cha Slide” to “Bootylicious” all on a very accurate CD player.
Pixar
Hearing that music IMMEDIATELY sent me back in time.
Of course, I can’t catch everything — did you spot any ’00s references or details that I missed? Please let me know in the comments!
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/jenniferabidor/turning-red-2000s-references
