Disney's Pixar Fest Introduces Turning Red's 4*Town

Disney's Pixar Fest is rolling at both Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure. Fans visiting either location have been surprised to see Turning Red's 4*Town bringing down the house during Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration. The fan-favorite recent release features some catchy songs by the fictional boyband and they are being performed live during these parades at the park. On a float with multiple characters from Turning Red, all the boys are getting the crowd hype to "Nobody Like U" and "U Know What's Up!" It's a fun nod to a recent Disney release despite all the love for longstanding fan-favorites.

4*Town is composed of Robaire, Tae Young, Jesse, Aaron z and Aaron T. The fictional band is brought to life by the voices of Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Finneas, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villanueva in Turning Red. Billie Eilish and Finneas helped pen the songs that power the Pixar favorite. During the virtual press conference for the movie, director Domee Chi dished on why she chose to focus on the boyband aesthetic.

4town for life <3 #BetterTogether #PixarFest pic.twitter.com/QZuqLN28Sn

— Meigs | LIGHT OF THE JEDI FIRST TIME✨ (@meigalorian) April 25, 2024

"I feel like boy bands are often ridiculed by media, as most things that teen girls are obsessed with are," Domee Shi told the assembled press. "And with this movie, we really wanted to pay tribute to this cultural phenomenon and not just make fun of it. We make fun of it a little bit, but we also honor it as well. So many girls' and boys' lives were shaped by their very first musical obsessions, and boy bands represent, for many girls, their first foray into adolescence, into music, fashion, pop culture. They offer a safe, soft, and non-threatening introduction to subjects like love and relationships."

How Did 4*Town Come To Be?

Turning Red's boyband might have worked their way into the hearts of a lot of Pixar fans around the world. But, it seemed like an interesting choice and a bit of a risk when the movie released. Domee She knew that she wanted to stay true to the late 90s/early 2000s vibes of Mei's story. Talking to Thrillest about her inspirations, the director explained that Toronto's pop music scene at the turn of the millennium had to make it into Turning Red somehow. Y2K nostalgia now rules the roost, so it wasn't hard for fans to take the plunge into 4*Town mania just like the girls. 

"But I think the name 4*TOWN was probably a combination of O-Town, and then I don't even know if most people know that there was this Toronto boy band called b4-4 I think only Toronto tweens knew about. I think it's like O-Town and b4-4 merged together with *NSYNC to create 4*TOWN," she explained durign the interview. "I looked up b4-4 recently because I haven't heard their songs in forever. The lyrics are so raunchy, but it's very teeny bopper-y and cute. One of their songs is called 'Get Down' and literally the chorus is, 'If you get down on me, I'll get down on you.' I just remember belting that out and my mom being, 'What are you saying?'"

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