Animation About a Baozi Wins Oscar, Proves Love for Steamed Buns is Universal

An animated short about a baozi that comes to life has won Best Short Film at the Oscars 2019. The film, simply titled Bao, was released alongside Incredibles 2 and was written and directed by Chinese-Canadian Domee Shi for Pixar, making her the first female to direct a film for the animation giant.

The film details the sorrows of a Chinese mother suffering from empty nest syndrome. One day, after having cooked her and her husband a breakfast of baozi, she discovers that one of them is actually alive, and decides to keep it, giving her the chance to once again bestow her care and maternal instincts. That is, until, the stuffed bun grows up, finds a girlfriend, and threatens to leave home.

The film, aside from its hunger and "aww"-inducing depictions of anthropomorphic Chinese food staples, is entirely dialogue-free, adding to its universal appeal. It also draws on the cultural experiences of the Chinese family unit, especially Shi's frustrations of growing up as a single child in an environment coddled by her parents.

In her words, Shi wanted Bao to tell the story of love, "the type of love you would destroy so it would not disappear and go away." The story, then, while not alien to the West, documents a shared feeling among many young adults in China today. That is, the legacy of the government's now-defunct one-child policy, which imbued China's older generation with an overprotective, sometimes overbearing, approach towards raising their children.

Luckily, as Bao beautifully demonstrates, despite the anxiety that can sometimes arise during family reunions, the simple power of food can also help bring the same families closer together.

You can watch Bao in its entirety via Youku here.

READ: 'The Wandering Earth' Becomes Second Highest-Grossing Film of All Time in China

Image: Thrillist, Press Herald