Over the last three decades, Pixar has produced dozens of short films that rival the studio’s features in terms of creativity and sheer entertainment value. And now one of the studio’s best shorts, Bao, is available to home audiences as part of the new digital release of Incredibles 2 , and it will be part of the Blu-Ray and DVD versions of the film, which land on November 6.
Bao tells the story of a Chinese empty-nester mom in Toronto who makes a dumpling that springs to life as a real boy. Mama and dumpling have a few fun adventures together, but, as is often the case with parents and their children, their dynamic changes when the kid grows up and starts developing interests outside of the house. Like many of the best Pixar works, this one is sure to make you laugh, and it might also make you cry.
Writer/director Domee Shi — the first female Pixar staffer to helm a short film — drew inspiration from her own upbringing, including her mom’s kitchen. During production, Shi brought her mother to the Pixar offices in Emeryville, California to make dumplings for the animation team. A clip of that dough-folding session is included as part of a featurette about the making of Bao on the Incredibles 2 Blu-Ray (out November 6) and the digital version of the film (out now). “Growing up I spent a lot of time with my mom making dumplings,” Shi says in the clip. “We’d be watching soap operas on TV while we were doing it.”
Watch scenes from that dumpling-making class at Pixar above, and for more intel on how to create your own bao baby at home, check out Domee’s annotated family recipe here.
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