Red Alert: 5 Boy Bands and K-pop groups that inspired 4*Town in the Pixar movie
In “Red Alert,” heroine Mei and her band of girlfriends only have ears and eyes for 4*Town, a band inspired by the Boy Band craze of the 90s and 2000s. inspired director Domee Shi?
Their names are Jesse, Tae Young, Robaire, Aaron T. and Aaron Z. The first studied Fine Arts, the second collects wounded doves, the third loves poetry, the last two… “kind of full of talent too”. The five of them form 4*Town, THE group that makes Meilin dream and dance and her friends Miriam, Priya and Abby in Red Alert, the new feature film from Pixar studios.
Inspired by director Domee Shi’s own youth in Toronto, the film, available exclusively on Disney+, confronts its young heroine with the throes of adolescence and puberty, with all that entails of changes, eternal friendships, unconditional passions, intense joys, excesses and crises… and in his case transformations into a giant red panda at the slightest change of emotion.
Pixar Animation Studios
And the announcement of a 4*Town concert at the city’s SkyDome is certainly one of those events that can upset a “4*Town Fans for life”. The (perfect) incarnation of the Boys Band madness of the 90s and 2000s, since replaced by K-pop madness, 4*Town finds its inspiration in real musical formations.
25 hidden winks in Red Alert
Here are the five bands that inspired Domee Shi and the Pixar team to bring this dream quintet to life.
Big Bang
In an interview with Billboard Japan, Domee Shi revealed that the main inspiration for 4*Town was the group BigBang, considered “Kings of K-pop”. Launched in 2006 and acclaimed for its hip-hop style, BigBang initially consisted of five members (G-Dragon, Taeyang, TOP, Daesung and Seungri), before the latter was dismissed after being sentenced to prison for pimping and embezzlement.
*NSYNC
Like 4*Town, the American group, active between 1995 and 2002, features a star in its name and logo. Like BigBang, the quintet formed by Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass was a major inspiration for Alerte Rouge, thanks to their 55 million albums sold and hits like Bye Bye Bye or I Want You back.
BACKSTREET BOYS
Which 90s teenager didn’t rock out on Everybody or I Want It That Way? The Americans of the Backstreet Boys remain to this day the most profitable Boys Band in history, with more than 130 million albums sold. Still active since the group’s creation in 1993, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell have greatly inspired the personalities of 4*Town.
O-TOWN
One of the biggest regrets of the group from Orlando? Not having accepted Ben Stiller’s proposal to make an appearance in his cult Zoolander. With four albums to their credit, and two periods of activity separated by a long break (two albums between 2000 and 2003, two albums since 2013), Erik-Michael Estrada, Dan Miller, Jacob Underwood and Trevor Penick also nurtured the creation of Jesse, Tae Young, Robaire, Aaaron T. and Aaron Z.
2PM
Since 2008, the South Korean group has been impressing its fans (the “Hottest”) with its choreography. Born from a documentary series (Hot Blood Men, launched by the JYP label) like their alter-ego of 2AM, the formation is now composed of six active members: Jun. K, Nichkhun, Taecyeon, Wooyoung, Junho, and Chansung. In addition to their eleven albums (seven Korean, four Japanese) and their parallel activities in cinema and television, the 2PM have therefore inspired the 4*Town of Red alert.
Did you know ?
Pixar Animation Studios
As is the tradition at Pixar, Red alert was announced in the studio’s previous feature, Luca. And it was through a 4*Town album that this wink had been elaborated: indeed, in Giulia’s room, you could see a 4*Villaggio record, an Italian transposition of Giulia’s favorite group Mei!
