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Bao

Play trailer Poster for Bao G 2018 8m Kids & Family Fantasy Animation Short Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A woman who is suffering from empty nest syndrome gets a second shot at motherhood when one of her handmade dumplings springs to life.
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Bao

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Peter Debruge Variety As a metaphor for (s)motherhood, it's a brilliant example of what Pixar does best, grounding well-timed cartoon gags - including a twist that literally caused audiences to gasp in surprise - with well-earned emotional truths. Feb 24, 2019 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins An incredibly creative take on empty nest syndrome. Rated: 8/10 Dec 5, 2020 Full Review Roberto Friedman Bay Area Reporter This will probably win the prize, as it's from the Disney-Pixar powerhouse studio, but we found it cloying and sentimental. May 29, 2020 Full Review Rachel Wagner rachelsreviews.net Bao was sweet and lovely. Rated: 7/10 Feb 28, 2019 Full Review Laura Hiros Diario La Estrella (Fort Worth, TX) A strong possibility of taking the [Oscar]. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 5/5 Feb 19, 2019 Full Review Glenn Heath Jr. San Diego CityBeat Despite its Pixar polish, the film remains a moving testament to how quickly life can pass us by. Feb 19, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (58) audience reviews
Sycamore F Bao is short movie an animated short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Disney Studios in the United States, and it have first show up in 2018. Also, the film won the Best Animated Short Film award at the 91st Academy Awards, which is a very good file to watch. In this short film, the plot was trying to entertain us a story about an Empty nest mother that was facing the problem of kids always grow up. In this story, the plot was gripping and characters that was made in the film was very well-portrayed. At the beginning of the movie, an empty nest mother just finishes the breakfast, but her husband has immediately hurried out of home after breakfast, and this is the time that the mother has found out the “Bao”. And she this Bao as her own chilled. But when the Bao have grown up physically and mentally, Bao started to have more and more conflict between he and his mom. Bao thinks that her mom overprotection him and the mother think that he has stay on his phone and hanging out with his friends too much. When Bao have brought a girlfriend back home and wanted to “outside” of this house to explore the world, the mother, which have always cared and love her child, feel worried and don’t want Bao to leave. All the emotions have gushed out at this moment and the plot have meet a really big plots twist. Because of anger, the mother has “eaten” Bao for preventing Bao from leaving. What will happen after that? And what will the mother face in this melodramatic story? It is your choice to find out or not. Furthermore, in this film, there was a point that was really surperb. In this film, whiout a word, the audience can feel what is the charaters feel and what they want to say. This film, as it were, a film that was masterful at facial expressions. In my opinion, that was a very big reason on why this film have won the awards. Despite the fact that this film was a very short film, but it also have a realy avant-grade perspective. In all the movies, audience only see what that the main charecters make a mess of things, but we do not see what will happen after they have leave their home. In this film, the point of view has changed, and the main character became the empty nest mother who was facing all those problems like the leaving of her son and the busy of her husband by herself, that is why it was very touching to some people. And the whole style of this film is very healing and relax, the music was very gentle, and the art looks very pleasing. I would very recommend you all to take a look at this film, it was warm heated and can make people to understand what really the empty nest mothers is was facing and in this short film, all the tiny details have been unlimited zoom in that make this film attracting to all of us. I will give 12 out of 10 for this, it is fantastic! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/17/24 Full Review Ellina D “Bao” is a short animation film created by Domee Shi and produced from Pixar, this film uses a unique story, and creative animation charms the audience of heartwarming and bittersweet about familyhood, love, and letting go. The story is about an aging Chinese mother who lived in Canada. From the beginning the mother was making steamed stuffed bun, what amazing is that it transforms and comes to life, and she name it “Bao”. she loves it like her child, feeding, dressing and protecting the Bao. Time passes as Bao grows up his own personality and desires wants to explore the world, which upsets her mother. Therefore, through the mothers over protection and Bao’s needed independence has become a conflict and core of the plot. This is a theme telling us about struggle between protectiveness and independence. It indicates that how parents are struggled to let go and how children are curious and seeking freedom. For example, Bao’s mother didn’t allowed Bao to play football with others to prevent him to get injured however Bao showed a rebel attitude. Furthermore, it also touches a loneliness and empty nest syndnme of a mother. On the other hand, the mother reflects a lonely woman who finds and explore in Bao to a conflicted one with separation anxiety. For example, at first, she's overjoyed having Bao, spending all her time with him. But when he shows interest in the outside, she becomes worried. Moreover, Bao grows from being naive and dependent to independent person. At the beginning he relies on his mother as time passes, he likes to spend his time alone with his friends. Don't you sometimes feel that parents can be over - protective, just like the mother in the film? haven't you been like Bao, desire for independence? “Bao” is a touching and culture anecdotes short film. I will give this movie a rate of 4.5/5 because this movie that can make you laugh, cry, and reflect on your own family relationships. I strongly recommend all age of audience to watch. This is not only a great entertainment, but also a thought-provoking to you. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/16/24 Full Review Audience Member The camera of this short, animated film starts at a sunlit kitchen which a woman was kneading the dough skillfully. A warm light filters on the vibrant colours of the fillings, captivating a nostalgic and cozy sensation to the audience. She gently opens the window and took a deep breath greeted by the morning glory when she is waiting for the breakfast to be ready. Mists rise from the steamer and drifts toward the world beyond. Out of the blue, bao opens its eyes frighteningly and wailed in the air like a newborn baby as the women tries to eat it. Followed by several coughs, moaning, and laughs - she holds him like her own child near her cheek and start to feed him, care him and measure bao’s increasing height on the wall painstakingly. But this endured relationship broke when he becomes a teenager - Spending most the time with friends on the phone, seeks for private area and even brings a light skinned women in adulthood. The time Bao and his mother spend with each other decreased, and this determination of getting independence becomes a catalyst for igniting a conflict with his mother. As an innate reaction to protect her son from leaving, she ate him. Loneliness washed over her heart; Hot tears streamed down her face; tears flowed that she could no longer hold in at the sight of the hallway. In the end, the son in human form came back to his mother. They sat along and share a piece of dessert together, revealing the deeper connection and emotion bond in spite conflicts. Domee Shi, a Chinese - Canadian director and script writer of Bao is excellent in demonstrating the empty nest syndrome women’s life by connecting reality to the dream where the Bao is anthropomorphized as her son. This film is like a breath of fresh air, and brilliant example of Pixar does best, using melodious traditional Chinese music as the language to portray the character’s development rather than dialogues. Another short film Piper has the same technique. But it used more complex camera angles such as rack focus which Bao lacked. This technique involves changing the focus point within the same shot blurring the background, which enriches the viewing experience, and attracts the viewer's attention to specific elements in the scene. Once again, Bao and the mother’s personality is well portrayed through the visual scenes and uplifting sound effects, telling a heartwarming and gripping story inside a family. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/18/24 Full Review Michael J An absolute masterful take on the relationship of a mother and her child, as they both grow older. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/22/24 Full Review Lucas V leuke film voor jongere kinderen en handig dat er niet in word gesproken zodat iedereen het kan begrijpen Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 05/15/24 Full Review Platty the Perrypus W A very heartfelt story that doesn't need dialogue to be understood. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Bao

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A woman who is suffering from empty nest syndrome gets a second shot at motherhood when one of her handmade dumplings springs to life.
Director
Domee Shi
Producer
Becky Neiman-Cobb
Production Co
Pixar Animation Studios
Rating
G
Genre
Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation, Short
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 11, 2018
Runtime
8m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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