- “You know what's up!”
- ―Robaire[src]
4*Town (stylized as 4★Town) is the popular boy band in the 2022 Disney•Pixar animated feature film Turning Red. 4★Town is adored internationally, featured in magazines, television advertisements, and touring around the world. They are adored by many, including a large teenage fanbase, of which Mei and her friends are a part of. The group consists of Aaron Z., Aaron T., Robaire, Jesse, and Tae Young.
Appearances[]
Turning Red[]
4★Town is stated to be the figurative "glue" between Mei and her friends Abby, Priya and Miriam. They are very popular, amassing a large crowd at the SkyDome, and having toured in numerous countries, including Australia. Each member of the band corresponds Mei and each of her friends: Mei's favorite member being Robaire, Abby's being Tae Young, Priya's being Jesse and Miriam's being Aaron T. They are eventually joined by Tyler, whose favorite band member is Aaron Z., completing the group. 4★Town represent Mei's personal interests throughout the film, and her difficulty balancing her family's expectations and her own desires for herself. After the countdown in the SkyDome, 4★Town enters the stage by rising birdcages and their concert starts. It was unexpectedly interrupted when Ming in her gigantic red panda form attacks them damaging the stage. By assisting Mei and her family with the Red Moon Ritual, 4★Town merges Mei's Personal and Cultural Interests, things that were previously at odds with each other. After the ritual, Ming comes to respect Mei and her interests more, including 4★Town.
Physical Appearances[]
Robaire[]
Robaire is a black French-Canadian man with dark skin, short dark brown hair cut in a fade, green eyes and an eyebrow slit. He also has a mole next to his left eye. On the cover of the Tween Beat magazine, he wears an orange, sleeveless, denim vest with the 4★Town logo on the front, baggy blue jeans that drag between his knees, and green high tops. He also has diamond piercings in both ears and a gold ring on his right index finger.
During the concert, Robaire wears the same outfit, but in white and without the logo. He is also seen wearing a green microphone.
He is voiced by Jordan Fisher.
Tae Young[]
Tae Young (or simply Tae) has short, dyed blond hair with dark brown roots. His hair is styled to almost cover his eyes. He also wears light-blue nail polish. On the cover of the Tween Beat magazine, he wears an orange t-shirt with the 4★Town logo on the front with a slight lighter orange dress shirt underneath, silver earrings, jean shorts and pink high tops. He also has silver piercings in both ears and a ring on his right middle finger.
During the concert, Tae Young wears the same outfit as the magazine, but in white and without the logo. He is also seen wearing a pink microphone.
He is voiced by Grayson Villanueva.
Jesse[]
Jesse has short, blond hair parted in the middle, and blue eyes. He has a beauty mark under his nose on the right. On the cover of the Tween Beat magazine, Jesse wears an orange tank top with the 4★Town logo on it with a slightly lighter sleeveless dress shirt on top, baggy oddly blue cargo pants and light blue high tops. He also has a drop earring in his left ear, wears a gold ring on his right pinky and a fluffy, blue wristband.
During the concert, Jesse wears the same outfit as the magazine, but in white and without the logo. He is also seen wearing a blue microphone. This could either be lighting or reality, but Jesse's hair color looks like it was bleached to white.
He is voiced by Finneas O'Connell.
Aaron Z.[]
Aaron Z. has caramel skin, long afro twists hair, hazel eyes, freckles on his face, and a mauve headband. On the cover of the Tween Beat magazine, Aaron Z. wears an orange tank top with the 4★Town logo on it, short ripped blue jeans, and white-pink striped wristbands on his arms, followed by purplish high tops. He also has diamond piercings in both ears and a ring on his right thumb.
During the concert, Aaron Z. wears the same outfit as the magazine, but in white and without the logo. He is also seen wearing a purple microphone.
He is voiced by Josh Levi.
Aaron T.[]
Aaron T. has brown curly hair and a blue backwards baseball cap covering most of it. He has light brown eyes and jean overalls that are on hold with one clasp. Unlike the other 4★Town members, he wears an orange t-shirt with the 4★Town logo on it under his overalls almost all the time. And like Aaron Z., he also has freckles, although his are much less clear. On the cover of the Tween Beat magazine, Aaron T. wears the t-shirt with his overalls over it, yellow high tops, a gold drop earring in his right ear and a gold ring on his right index finger.
During the concert, Aaron T. wears the same outfit as the magazine, but in white and without the logo. He is also seen wearing a yellow microphone.
He is voiced by Topher Ngo.
Logo design[]
The 4★Town logo design is yellow/white/blue. The first visible row liner is yellow, which corners most of the band logo, the second row liner is white, which corners the yellow layer, and the last row liner is blue, which is the final rear to the logo which surrounds most of the corners for the yellow and white layers. The logo has some details such as a center star in the middle of the logo, and a shine in between. Also, the logo is a bit to the side and offset, but that adds the amount of spontaneousness to it.
Official Descriptions[]
- Aaron T. - Acrobatic, fast-talking, and a natural comedian, 'T' is always there to break the tension when life on the road gets tense.
- Aaron Z. - Stoic and a little shy, 'Z' is the athlete of 4★Town and, as the strongest dancer, coordinates a lot with the band's moves.
- Robaire - Originally from Toronto, Robaire is the leader of 4★Town for a reason. He can sing, he can dance, and he will eventually have a successful solo career, but until then, he's content to jam on the tour bus.
- Tae Young - The youngest member of 4★Town, a lover of animals, Tae Young is dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation and has personally fostered injured doves between tours.
- Jesse - The oldest member of 4★Town, Jesse was in art school pursuing a degree in ceramics before the band took off. When fame starts getting to his head, throwing clay on his potter's wheel and spending time with his two kids brings him back down to earth.
Personalities[]
Robaire[]
Robaire is a natural-born singer and dancer, who has lots of passion for his boy band. He is planning on going solo one day, but for now, he is enjoying himself with his best friends. Robaire is also very helpful, helping Mei's family with the ritual to stop her mom's panda from destroying everything in sight with his band. He is also very protective of his band, as seen when he, along with Aaron Z., catches Aaron T. from the wings he was carried on to get him and the rest of the band to safety.
Aaron T.[]
Aaron T. is the fast-talking prankster of the boy band, so some could see him as an energetic person. He is usually the one in charge of breaking any tension between the group. Aaron T. is seen to be a very extroverted, nice and fun-loving person. Aaron T. also seems to be the closest to Aaron Z. This is implied in Mei's imagination when Robaire proposes to Mei, he is seen getting excited and and holding onto Aaron Z., probably because Aaron Z. is very chill and could calm down Aaron T. just in case he gets too excited.
Aaron Z.[]
Aaron Z. is the sporty and most athletic one of the boy band, and is barely shown to be stressed. Aaron Z. is seen as the strongest dancer in the group and is stoic. Other than his stoic nature, Aaron Z. is also the most bashful of 4★Town, and is labeled the shy one of the group. He is a foil to Aaron T., who is not shy about showing his true feelings, while Aaron Z. is.
Tae Young[]
Tae Young is the youngest of the boy band. Tae is very sweet and kind to animals, as he heals injured doves. In Mei's fantasy, when Robaire proposes to her, a visibly moved Tae Young is shown touching his chest tenderly and in various poses he makes heart signs with his hands, showing that Tae has a taste for romance and love.
Jesse[]
Jesse is the oldest member of the boy band and a pottery expert. In his description, it says that fame can get to his head at times, only to be settled down from his two kids and by throwing clay on his potter's wheel. Though he may be a bit arrogant, he is still caring, as shown when Aaron T. was having a problem with getting off his wings. Like Aaron Z., he had a worried look on his face while looking at him hanging over the stage. This shows he cares about his band, and doesn't want them to end up hurt.
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite the name of the group being 4★Town, there are 5 people, which Ming has questioned in the film. Domee Shi says this is because four is a very unlucky number in Chinese culture. There were four of them, then a fifth member joined (presumably Aaron Z.) but they didn't change the logo because it would be too expensive, so they refused to change the name to 5★Town.
- Domee Shi has stated that she "like[s] to think that in 4★Town canon they were all born on the fourth of a different month…"
- This makes 4★Town a parallel to Mei's friend group, which also started off with four members but eventually gained a fifth. This is further supported with each of them admiring a different member of 4★Town.
- Some people also have theorized that the group's name could probably also be named 4★Town is because that the fact that both Aaron T. and Aaron Z. have the same first name, and the leader's demand on keeping the band's member listing to a limit. This is clearly more implied in the fact that Mei at one point in the scene where she talks about real men to her friends and says "Jesse went to art school, Tae Young fosters injured doves, Robaire speaks French . . . and Aaron T. and Aaron Z. are, like, really talented, too!", suggesting that they could possibly be brothers, cousins or even lovers.
- Their songs include "Nobody Like U", "U Know What's Up", and "1 True Love".
- The songs "Girl I Love Your Jeans (Remix)", "There 4 U Girl", "Girl, It's Got to Be U", and "U and Me" are mentioned in the film, but are not featured anywhere.
- 4★Town was previously teased in Pixar's 2021 animated film Luca, where a record by "4 Villaggi" (4★Town in Italian) appears in Giulia's bedroom under her phonograph as a reference to Pixar's then-upcoming film.
- 4★Town has an official website.
- On 4★Town's Meet the Band section of the site, Robaire, Jesse, Tae Young, Aaron T., and Aaron Z. are given colored backgrounds: green, blue, bronze, olive, and brown/magenta, respectively.
- These are also their respective shoe colors in their classic orange 4★Town costumes as seen on the cover of Tween Beat Magazine, various Turning Red promotional images, and 4★Town Album Covers.
- These colors can been seen on their respective mics during the concert.
- These are also arguably their eye colors; Robaire having olive-green eyes, Jesse having blue eyes, and Tae Young, Aaron T., and Aaron Z. all having various shades of brown eyes.
- According to Domee Shi, the band 4★Town has a style of boy band clothes and accessories from the classic 1990s.
- Shi even said "this decade was the main inspiration for 4*Town's fashion", which in this including classic boy band fits; such as fitness headbands, denim overalls, and sleeveless t-shirts.
- Aaron Z. is Tyler's favorite 4★Town member. Tyler wears a fitness headband in a similar manner to Aaron Z. and plays basketball, which Aaron Z. presumably plays as well.
- Tyler and Aaron Z are both Afro-Asian Canadian, this is confirmed because their described as both being "Blasian".
- Jesse is Priya's favorite 4★Town member. Priya has the same bangs as Jesse, showing her bias towards him amongst his fellow band members.
- Domee Shi says that Harry Potter was an inspiration for 4★Town. She explains that "[her] 4★Town was Harry Potter".
- Tae Young's favorite animal (or bird) is the dove, since he grew up taking care of them when their wings or feet get injured. Rather than being associated with young love as it is in the West, the Chinese association of the dove is with long life and fidelity, as doves pair for life. It is also revered for taking tender care of its young.
- Tae Young's nails are painted light blue.
- Jesse has two unrevealed kids.
- Tae Young is the youngest of the band members, while Jesse is the oldest.
- Finneas O'Connell, the voice of Jesse and composer for the songs, is Billie Eilish's older brother.
- Devon is seen at the 4★Town concert through the crowd with a camera, which means he is a 4★Town fan. This implies that his tired expression was likely due to working overtime to be able to afford a concert ticket.
- Tyler was revealed to be a 4★Town super fan in the scene where Mei apologizes to Miriam, Priya, and Abby about the danger for Tyler's family. He is seen docked in 4★Town merch, but when Mei and her friends catch him, he tries to respond with a gruff voice "Tyler? W-Who's Tyler?"—but Mei and the rest managed to see his identity and instantly went to hug him when they noticed he was a 4★Town fan, with the casual "Welcome to the sisterhood."
- Jin Lee (Mei's father) also seems to be a secret 4★Town fan as shown when he dances to their songs (specifically "U Know What's Up") in the basement during the mid end credits rolls in.
- Stacy Frick also seems to be a secret 4★Town fan given that she was at the band's concert cheering somewhere in the crowd's chanting audience when the ritual works.
- Leo, a character that was scrapped from the final film, and only appears in early versions of Turning Red, was also a secret 4★Town fan (even describing them as the best band ever in a deleted scene called "Roping in Leo") and would have served as Mei's male cousin.
- Domee Shi told the Los Angeles Times that the film was inspired by her own teenage stimulation with boy bands.
- 4★Town fans around the world refer to themselves as "4★Townies".
- Music lovers will notice the use of "U" instead of "you" in 4★Town's songs as a basic reference to 1990s and 2000s music.
- Robaire is known for being multilingual, meaning he can also speak more than one language. He can commonly speak French besides English.
- Domee Shi has explained that Tae Young was inspired by Jimin from the K-pop boy band BTS. Not only does he bear a striking resemblance to him, but his shaggy blonde hair and crooked front tooth makes him even more identical.
- Their concerts feature high-flying theatrics, lights, and pyrotechnics.
- All members of 4★Town have a ring on their right hands. Aaron Z. has one on his thumb, Aaron T. and Robaire both have one on their index finger, Tae Young has one on his middle finger, and Jesse has one on his pinky. Interestingly, none of them have a ring on the ring finger.
- The lyrics in one of 4★Town's songs, "Nobody Like U", are pretty secretive. Which means some of the lines in the song, such as "I'm never not by your side, I'll never not be your ride or die"—This interprets the strong bond that Mei has with her group of friends Miriam, Abby, and Priya.
- When 4★Town wears all white in the concert, this is a reference to the Backstreet Boys' white outfits in their 1999 music video for "I Want It That Way", and for their album cover Millennium.
- The angel outfits they also wear during the concert are inspired by the angel outfits wore by the Backstreet Boys' members in the 2013 film This Is the End.
- Their moves during the concert and when helping Mei and the gang sealing red panda Ming's red panda, are inspired by the dance moves shown by the Backstreet Boys' in their 1997 music video for "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and also inspired by the dance moves for NSYNC's 2000 music video "Bye Bye Bye" and for Magic!'s 2013 music video "Rude".
- Although not confirmed, several users on Twitter discussed that some of 4★Town's poses could be inspired by the girl band TLC, as their poses consider of kneeling down, pointing at the camera, or standing straight up, like 4★Town.
- Mei refers to her Tamagotchi pet as "Robaire Jr." Which in this case, she should be referring to her imagination of a child version of Robaire.
- Their official logo could be inspired by the logo from the band A-Teens, it also bears resemblance to the logo for NSYNC as both bands incorporate a star within their logos.
- According to an interview statement, Tae Young grew up taking care of several Release doves (Streptopelia risoria) with his grandmother in a farm at his homeland South Korea.
- In one of Topher Ngo's TikToks, he indicated that Aaron. T is a bass singer.
- A poster of 4*Town can be seen in Riley's bedroom in Inside Out 2.[1]
External links[]
- Official website
- 4★Town on the Turning Red Wiki
- Interview with Domee Shi
- Interview on ScreenRant
4*Town on Pixar Wiki
- Interview with ETimes
- Disney Music Instagram Post
References[]
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