| “ | I wanna host a sick birthday party. An epic one. It’s this Friday. If you’re there, everyone will come. Simple as that. | „ |
| ~ Tyler blackmailing Mei into attending his birthday party. |
| “ | Fine, get out of here. Go back to your psycho mom and your sick temple, you freak. | „ |
| ~ Tyler insulting Mei due to the latter backing out of their deal. |
Tyler Nguyen-Baker is the secondary antagonist of Disney and Pixar's 25th feature length film Turning Red. He is a schoolboy who antagonises and mocks Mei Lee and her friends throughout the film, before redeeming himself and becoming their friend at the end of the film.
He is voiced by Tristan Allerick in his first major film role.
Biography[]
Tyler is first introduced playing basketball with Mei, where he calls the latter an "overachieving dork nark". When Mei misses a shot and accidentally throws the basketball onto the road, where it gets flattened by a passing truck, Tyler starts chasing Mei and threatening to kill her.
As Ming and Mei arrive at the Daisy Mart when the former goes to confront Devon for thinking he was manipulating Mei, Tyler intentionally draw attention to Mei by pointing at her, and then (along with several other children from Mei's school) laughs mockingly when Ming shows Devon the pictures Mei drew.
After Mei's first transformation into the giant red panda, Tyler continues bullying Mei by putting up posters of her and Devon, and also immitates her by calling Devon "Mei's manly man". Mei, enraged by this, almost transforms back into a panda, but quickly runs into her classroom before she can do so.
During the panda hustle, Tyler tries to see Mei in her panda form, but is stopped by Abby due to the fact he's been bullying them constantly. After the hustle, he listens in on Mei and her friends' conversation, calling them "weird" as they watch the boys play basketball. He blackmails Mei into going to his party by claiming she'll tell her mom that she (Mei) has been using her red panda form to make money. When Mei agrees (under the conditions that Tyler will give them $200, and that he will only get the panda for one hour), Tyler also agrees as the two shake hands.
At his party, Tyler impatiently waits for Mei to show up, as Mei's friends play some games to try and cheer everyone up. After Mei does arrive, Tyler is intially relieved, but becomes dissapointed as Mei is in her cardboard red panda constume. Mei tries to cheer everyone up by dancing, but her friends drag her away as they know something's wrong with her. After enough convincing by her friends saying they won't go to the 4*Town concert if they can't raise enough money, Mei agrees to transform into her red panda form, which gets everyone at the party excited. Tyler joins in dancing with everyone, and even gets a ride on Mei's back (in her panda form).
As Mei is with her friends on top of Tyler's house's roof, they overhear Tyler impatiently asking where Mei is. After Mei and her friends realise to their horror that the 4*Town concert is actually on the 25th of May (the same date as Mei's ritual), rather than the 18th like Abby initially assumed, Tyler goes back to bullying Mei. He asks Mei for more rides, and then reminds her of their deal after she tells her to back off and give her time alone. As Mei is about to leave, Tyler insults her family and temple, which enrages Mei enough to make her viciously attack him, although she becomes remorseful after her mom arrives, and Mei sees him crying and telling her to get off him. He is then taken inside by her parents, who call out Ming for not taking better care of her daughter.
As Mei reconciles with her friends after inadvertantly betraying them, they notice Tyler in the crowd. Tyler tries to pretend he's someone else, but it doesn't work as Mei and her friends are excited to learn he's a fan of 4*Town, much like they are. They then run up to Tyler and accept him into their sisterhood. As 4*Town enter the stage, Tyler is excited when he sees them (especially Aaron Z, who is his favourite member of the band). However, the concert comes to an abrupt end when Ming, in her own red panda form, shows up and starts wrecking the stadium in search for Mei. Panicking, Tyler promptly runs away with the rest of the crowd (including Mei and her friends) to get away from Ming.
As Mei is fighting her mom, Tyler, along with Mei's friends, cheer Mei on as she starts gyrating to get a rise from her mother and keep her in the circle. He then helps out the ritual by tapping a pair of drumsticks together, prompting 4*Town to sing Nobody Like U to make the circle powerful enough to take Ming and her female relatives to the astral realm.
At the end of the film, he and the rest of Mei's friends meet her at the temple. After Mei agrees to go karaoking with them, he and the rest (now including Mei) leave the temple.
Personality[]
Tyler initally starts off antagonistic towards Mei, constantly bullying her throughout the film. However, he is shown to have a nicer side, and isn't against making deals with Mei if it benefits him. He is shown to be rather friendly to his guests (including Mei and her friends) at his party, and only goes back to bullying her out of boredom and impatience. As Mei and her friends learn during the climax, Tyler is also a massive 4*Townie, and becomes much nicer to them after they accept him into their sisterhood, implying that he was only bullying them as he didn't feel like he fit in with anyone and simply wanted to have friends.
Skills[]
- Drawing: Tyler is shown to have some artistic talent as he puts up posters of Mei and Devon in order to bully her.
- Blackmail: Tyler is able to easily blackmail Mei by telling her that he'll tell her mom she has been hustling her panda form.
- Musical skills: During the second ritual, Tyler is seen tapping a pair of drumsticks together to get 4*Town to sing Nobody Like U.
Trivia[]
- Tyler is the second bully from a Disney production to reform himself, following Gideon Grey from Zootopia, and the first one from a Pixar work.
External Links[]
- Tyler Nguyen-Baker on the Disney Wiki
- Tyler Nguyen-Baker on the Pixar Wiki
- Tyler Nguyen-Baker on the Turning Red Wiki
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 Heroes
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Lee Family Lester B. Pearson Middle School Other | ||