Centered around the experience of a Chinese immigrant family, the short film Bao is an important glimpse into the life of a mother learning to let go. Like many shorts that air before Pixar feature-length films, Bao tells an important, familiar story through clever, unconventional ways. In this case, director Domee Shi felt it was important to use food as the driving metaphor behind the film’s message.
“In Chinese culture — and I think in a lot of cultures around the world — food and family just go hand in hand,” Shi told IGN during a recent junket for The Incredibles 2’s home video release. “My parents don’t say ‘I love you,’ they say ‘Oh, have you eaten yet?’, ‘Eat more,’ ‘You’re too thin,’ or ‘Oh no, you ate too much!’
Source: IGN.com Pixar Director Explains How Food Inspired the Bao Animated Short