{"id":5980,"date":"2018-04-23T14:58:34","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T18:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/?p=5980"},"modified":"2018-04-23T14:58:34","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T18:58:34","slug":"making-bao-story-design-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/making-bao-story-design-inspiration\/","title":{"rendered":"The Making of Bao: Story, design inspiration, and more!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bao<\/em> is Pixar’s new theatrical short that will be playing this summer in front of the Incredibles 2<\/em>. It’s one of my favorite shorts from Pixar and it goes without saying \u2013\u00a0the film is full of scrumptious designs and a heartwarming story that will have you begging for more. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out our review of the film<\/a>.<\/strong>
\nDuring my most recent trip to Pixar I learned some fantastic things about the making of Bao<\/em> from director Domee Shi<\/strong>, production designer\u00a0Rona Liu<\/strong>, and producer\u00a0Becky Neiman-Cobb<\/strong>.
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(Photo by Deborah Coleman \/ Pixar)<\/p><\/div>
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(Photo by Deborah Coleman \/ Pixar)<\/p><\/div>
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(Photo by Deborah Coleman \/ Pixar)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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  1. Bao<\/em> has two meanings in Chinese: steamed bun and to treasure something precious. Domee thought it would be the perfect title for a story about “a precious little steam bun.”<\/li>\n
  2. Domee’s #1 obsession in life, outside of animation,\u00a0is obviously food (and I don’t blame her \u2013 I think about food 24\/7). \u201cI love food, not just eating it, but drawing it as well.\u201d Before the days of Bao<\/em>, Domee was making art about food and posting it online. You might remember some of the food related gags and little food-centric comics from her\u00a0My Food Fantasies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Domee was also inspired by food folk tales because \u201cthey\u2019re so cute and strange\u00a0\u2013 like the little gingerbread man and that one song, there was an old lady who swallowed a fly.” With Bao<\/em>, she was inspired to do a Chinese version of all those folk takes she loved.<\/li>\n
  4. According to Domee, the first ingredient <\/strong>to Bao<\/em> was obviously food and the second ingredient <\/strong>was what she knew best: growing up as an only child. Domee\u2019s family was a small immigrant family that moved from China and lived in Toronto. Domee\u2019s father worked a lot and because of that she spent a lot of time with her mom growing up. Her mom would hold her close whenever she could and treated her\u00a0like a \u201cdelicate little dumpling.\u201d When Domee started growing up and doing things on her own, it was hard for her mom to let go and\u00a0she’d tell Domee,\u201cI wish I could put you back in my stomach so I\u2019d know exactly where you were at all times.\u201d Domee even said, \u201cIt\u2019s that creepy sweet love of a mom who doesn\u2019t want to let go of her little dumpling that was the spark that became the heart of the story.\u201d
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  5. Domee wasn\u2019t only inspired by her relationship with her mom, but she was inspired by her<\/strong>. She is a \u201cdumpling Queen.\u201d Food was how Domee\u2019s mom showed her love for her and they formed a special bond making dumplings together over the years for numerous holidays and events. \u201cIn Chinese culture, food and family go hand in hand. When you want to show that you care about someone and that you love someone, you don\u2019t say \u2018I love you\u2019 you say \u2018have you eaten yet?'”<\/li>\n
  6. Her mom was involved in the research for Bao<\/em>. She\u2019d come\u00a0in to do \u201cdumpling making demos\u201d for the animators and effects and simulation artists.
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  7. The third ingredient for this short<\/strong> was Chinatown, specifically Chinatown in Toronto where Domee grew up. She wanted to honor that setting and the equally vibrant Chinatown grannies. “I wanted to celebrate their bold colors, their keen eye when it comes to picking out the freshest produce, and their determination to get the best deals in town.”<\/li>\n
  8. The style of\u00a0Bao\u00a0<\/em>was inspired by 2D Japanese animation, especially the visual styles of My Neighbors the Yamatas<\/em>\u00a0and One Piece.<\/em>\u00a0Domee “loved how squishy the characters looked and how pushed their expressions were.\u201d
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  9. Though translating 2D designs to 3D was the biggest obstacle Domee and her team had to get past. Some poses and expressions didn\u2019t translate as well when it was created with 3D software, since 3D itself is its own medium. Some of the design aspects Domee wanted to pull from My Neighbors the Yamatas<\/em>\u00a0or One Piece\u00a0<\/em>were going to be an challenge, like the mother’s massive head and exaggerated limbs, but there\u2019s nothing that a little planning can’t solve, especially in animation production. In the end, after trial and error, they were able to combine 2D graphic design and 3D modeling, which gave Domee range to achieve what she wanted.<\/li>\n
  10. Production designer\u00a0Rona Liu<\/strong> \u201coversaw all the visuals in the film.” Her job was to work with the different departments to make sure the look was cohesive and adhered to Domee\u2019s vision.<\/li>\n
  11. According to Rona, Domee wanted the short to look and feel very, very cute. It was also heavily influenced by Japanese folk art. She loved the \u201csimple and graphic designs and the fact that a slice of life was the main subject… she wanted to\u00a0borrow some of that philosophy with\u00a0Bao<\/em>, while keeping focus\u00a0on the characters\u00a0as much as possible.\u201d<\/li>\n
  12. The patterns on the mother’s clothes supported her emotional journey throughout the film. When\u00a0the mother is unhappy and lonely, Rona used muted colors. When\u00a0the mother is happy, the colors were “bold and red and auspicious.”<\/li>\n
  13. The environment also played a supporting role to\u00a0the characters. The background designs used throughout the short are not perfectly straight; if you look closely at some of the sets in the trailer and even when you see the film this summer, you’ll find that none of edges actually meet perfectly together, lines are wibbly wobbly. The mother’s house in particular had to reflect that she was an immigrant, a “blend of East meets West.\u201d Rona had decided all the built-ins in the mother’s kitchen would be Western, while all the things the mother buys would be Chinese.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/li>\n
  14. According to producer\u00a0Becky Neiman-Cobb<\/strong>, the pork filling was the hardest thing for the effects\u00a0artists to figure out. “It took two months for them to master the look and feel of the pork filling for the short.” What made the food effects so challenging was that, \u201cwe\u2019re all experts as to what food looks like.\u201d And\u00a0food is the star<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0Bao, <\/em>so\u00a0<\/em>“if it didn\u2019t look perfect or believable it would pull the audience out of the story.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Make sure you save lots of room for dessert because Bao<\/em> is coming to\u00a0theaters June 15th!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Bao is Pixar’s new theatrical short that will be playing this summer in front of the Incredibles 2. It’s one of my favorite shorts from Pixar and it goes without saying \u2013\u00a0the film is full of scrumptious designs and a heartwarming story that will have you begging for more. If you haven’t yet, be sure …<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[322,135,323,13,2,50,271],"tags":[327,328,320,198,321,242,272],"yoast_head":"\nThe Making of Bao: Story, design inspiration, and more! - Upcoming Pixar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pixarplanet.com\/blog\/making-bao-story-design-inspiration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Making of Bao: Story, design inspiration, and more! - Upcoming Pixar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bao is Pixar’s new theatrical short that will be playing this summer in front of the Incredibles 2. 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