Image : Pixar

Dumplings make me happy. Pixar films make me cry. So right now I’m trapped in a glass case of emotion hearing Disney Pixar’s latest short is about dumplings, and it’s called Bao. Oh god, where’s the Kleenex.


The Takeout reached out to Pixar, and they were nice to share a few details: The 8-minute short will premiere June 15, to be shown before The Incredibles 2.

And here’s the logline from Pixar (the elevator pitch, if you will), and just reading this is making my black Chinese heart swell:

An aging Chinese mom suffering from empty nest syndrome gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy. But Dumpling starts growing up fast, and Mom must come to the bittersweet revelation that nothing stays cute and small forever.


Why must Pixar keep toying with my emotions?!

For me, the most relatable part is the story of the film director, Domee Shi. She was a story intern for Pixar in 2011 and was soon hired as a story artist to work on Inside Out. She—like your humble Takeout editor—grew up in a Chinese community in Toronto, loves animation, and in Bao “explores the ups and downs of the parent-child relationship.”

This will likely be the first time I’ve cried over dumplings since waiting 90 minutes for a table at Din Tai Fung.