Pixar Releases Their Animated Short Film BAO on YouTube
This summer when audiences went to see The Incredibles 2, they were treated to a new short film called Bao. I lot of people I know thought this was a weird film, and it kinda was, but it did have a heartfelt message behind the story. This film has now been released on YouTube to watch for free.
Bao’s story is of “an aging Chinese mom suffering from empty nest syndrome gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy. Mom excitedly welcomes this new bundle of joy into her life, but Dumpling starts growing up fast, and Mom must come to the bittersweet revelation that nothing stays cute and small forever.”
The short film was directed by Domee Shi and it is said to explore “the ups and downs of the parent-child relationship through the colorful, rich, and tasty lens of the Chinese immigrant community in Canada.” When talking about the inspiration behind the film, the director said:
"Animation is especially critical in Bao because it's really where these characters come to life. And before starting animation, I would start gathering examples of styles I wanted to go for, and I'd show them to my animation supervisor, Juan Carlos Navarro. I was heavily influenced by Japanese animation, like the visual styles of My Neighbors the Yamadas and One Piece, this really popular cartoon in Japan. And I love how squishy their characters looked and how pushed their expressions are. We drew our inspiration mostly from 2D animation, which was going to be a challenge in 3D because of how big the character's heads are and how exaggerated their limbs are. So we knew early on that we had to do a lot of planning and preparation and exploration to really nail down the animation style that would suit the short."
There’s a good chance that this movie will be nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the Oscars next year.
What did you think of Bao?