I really want some dumplings, preferably some non-sentient ones, but I'm not picky. In case you missed BAO while INCREDIBLES 2 played in theaters (you can also watch it on the home-media release of the film), Disney-Pixar have released the entirety of the heartwarming short on YouTube for just one week. If you haven't given it a watch yet, I highly recommend doing so. BAO, which was recently included on the Oscar shortlist for Best Animated Short, centers around a Chinese mother suffering from empty nest syndrome who gets another shot at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy.
Director Domee Shi, who is in the early stages of developing her first Pixar feature-film, has previously said that she was inspired to tell a story flavoured by her upbringing as the only child to Chinese immigrants. "Often times it felt like my mom would treat me like a precious little dumpling, wanting to make sure I was safe, that I didn’t go out late, all that stuff," Shi said. "I just wanted to create this magical, modern-day fairy tale, kind of like a Chinese Gingerbread Man story. The word ‘bao’ actually means two things in Chinese: Said one way, it means steamed bun. Said another, it means something precious. A treasure." Shi's mother took part in the film as well, serving as a cultural consultant who gave the crew hands-on demonstrations in making dumplings.
Our technical directors and special effects team put the camera super close to her hands and recorded every single little detail of how she folded the dough, how she cut each piece, how she rolled each wrapper into that perfect little bun shape. We [basically] recreated those shots with her hands and used them as the reference for animation.
For just one week, you can check out BAO on YouTube!