The upcoming Pixar short, Bao is all about a Chinese mom’s love towards her newly created dumpling baby. Written and directed by Chinese-Canadian-American artist Domee Shi, this is the first short from Pixar by a female director.
The film is seven and half minute long and will tell the story of an empty-nesting Chinese mother who gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings comes to life. Entertainment Weekly (EW) gave out the first still of the film’s main characters along with another image of character design of the dumpling character.
The word bao actually means two things in Chinese, a steamed bun and another, a treasure. In an exclusive interview with EW, Shi describes her mother as a dumpling master, revealing that the film is inspired from her life and mother. She created the magical tale keeping in mind how preciously and safely her mother treated her.
“We did a lot of research and ate so many buns and as soon as I felt like I couldn’t eat another dumpling, I would go to a Bao review, watch a shot of the dumplings being made, and be like, ‘Oh my God… I’m hungry again’,” Shi told EW.
Shi started as an intern at Pixar in 2011 and has since worked as a story artist on Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, and Toy Story 4.
The film is produced by Becky Neiman-Cobb with Pete Docter and John Lasseter as executive producers, Katherine Ringgold as editor and Toby Chu as the music composer.
Bao is set to tease your taste-buds at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on 15 June and will play in front of Incredibles 2 in theatres. Are you hungry?