Introducing Heartthrob Boy Band 4*Town From Disney and Pixar’s “Turning Red”

According to Turning Red” director Domee Shi, if you set a 13-year-old girls coming-of-age story in the early 2000s, its pretty much mandatory to include a boy band. We needed our character Mei to be obsessed with something that her mom would not approve of, said Shi. Boy bands were the first step into the world of boys for a lot of girls that age. The guys were all super pretty, polished, soft and loving, and they had of way of bringing girls and their besties together. Plus, I thought itd be really cool to create an animated boy band.

Enter Pixars first-ever boy band, 4*Town. Filmmakers called on GRAMMY®-winning singer-songwriters Billie Eilish and FINNEAS to write the fictional bands songsthree in total, including the song Nobody Like U featured in the new trailer. When we first started talking about Billie Eilish and FINNEASback before theyd won a billion GRAMMYSwe could see then how they had their finger on the pulse, said producer Lindsey Collins. We were big fans. We met with them and pitched this crazy idea of a boy band, asking if theyd be interested in writing and producing the songs. They were! 

Eilish, whose sophomore album, Happier Than Ever, debuted at No. 1 in the Billboard 200 in the U.S. and in 19 countries worldwide, made history as the youngest artist to win in all the major categories at the 62nd GRAMMY® Awards, receiving an award for best new artist, album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, and best pop vocal album.

FINNEAS, the youngest ever to win the GRAMMY® for producer of the year (non-classical), built a sterling discography penning and producing smashes for a cadre of superstarsnot only for his sister, Billie Eilish, but also Justin Bieber,  Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, Tove Lo, Kid Cudi and Ben Platt, among others. His debut solo album Optimist is out now.

GRAMMY®-, Oscar®- and Emmy®-winning Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther,” “The Mandalorian) is composing the score for Turning Red.” “Ive been a fan of his for a while, said Shi. We were drawn to his versatilityhes a composer, but he also produces pop music. We knew he would help us create a very unique sound.

Joining previously announced Rosalie Chiang and Sandra Oh, who lend their voices to Mei and her mother Ming, are Orion Lee as the voice of Meis dad, Jin, and Wai Ching Ho as the voice of Grandma. Meis tightknit group of friends are voiced by Ava Morse as Miriam, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Priya, and Hyein Park as Abby. Tristan Allerick Chen voices classmate Tyler, and Addie Chandler lends his voice to Meis secret crush Devon. Providing the harmonious voices of the members of 4*Town are Jordan Fisher, Grayson Villanueva, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo and Finneas OConnell. Rounding out the voice cast are James Hong, Lori Tan Chinn, Lillian Lim, Mia Tagano, Sherry Cola, Sasha Roiz and Lily Sanfelippo. 

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Disney and PixarTurning Red” introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mothers dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughteran unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body werent enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she poofs into a giant red panda! Directed by Academy Award® winner Domee Shi (Pixar short Bao) and produced by Lindsey Collins Turning Red releases March 31, 2022.

You can view the new trailer below: