Jin Lee

“	Red is a lucky color.	„
	~ Jin to Mei.

“	People have all kinds of side to them, Mei, and some sides are messy. The point isn't to push the bad stuff away, it's to make room for it, live with it.	„
	~ Jin encouraging Mei to keep her panda spirit and be herself.

Jin Lee is a supporting character of Pixar's 25th full-length animated feature film Turning Red. He is Ming's husband and Mei's father.

He is voiced by and shares his surname with Orion Lee.

Personality[]

In general, Jin is shown to be very calm and stoic, at odds with Ming's more loud and active personality. Moreover, he is much less strict than her and is more open to trusting Mei desires as potentially agreeing to let her see the 4*Town concert. However, he is still caring and loves his family very much and it is he who advises Mei to keep her red panda side rather than reject it.

Biography[]

Jin is first seen in portraits at the very beginning of the film. He is then seen cooking for his family whilst Mei and Ming are watching TV. The next day, he is seen having lunch with Ming who forbids him to eat pastries. When Mei, who has turned into a giant red panda, panics in the bathroom, Jin silently walks away, thinking she is on her period.

However, after running away from school due to the transformation, Jin quickly understands and accompanies Ming and Mei to the temple to have Ming explain her and Mei's ancestor Sun Yee's past curse (which involves female members of their family turning into red pandas if they're emotions are high). In order to get her to control her panda, Jin shows emotional images to Mei and she manages to keep her calm, which surprises her parents. Right after, Mei asks them if she can go to the 4*Town concert but her mother refuses. Jin offers to trust Mei to go but Ming stands by her decision, which annoys Mei.

Later in the film, Jin is seen descending from equipment to the basement and discovers recordings of Mei and her friends on a camcorder. So he decides to have a chat with Mei and tells her that in the past, Ming argued with Wu because she didn't approve of Jin and that caused Ming to trip her panda and hurt Wu. Before the ritual begins, Jin tells Mei that people will always have different sides to them and some sides are messy, but the point is that one shouldn't push away the bad stuff, but to make room for it and live with it. He tells her that she can erase the footage if she wants, but seeing that side of her makes him laugh and see how happy she is. However, the ritual doesn't go as planned when Mei chooses to keep the panda and go to the concert, bumping into her mother in the process. This infuriates Ming who unleashes her gigantic panda before heading to the Sky Dome. Jin and the rest of the family follow her and help Mei control before starting a ritual again. With the help of 4*Town, the circle activates and the female members of the family part ways with their panda and Mei keeps hers.

At the end, Jin is seen replacing Mei as the mascot for the temple tour as Mei leaves with her friends, he also seen as a 4*Town fan.