When a kind of stuffed dumpling begins to act human, a lonely mother raises it as a child. What is fun is that the thing begins to act in very human terms, showing defiance and sexuality. What transpires is Pixar's gift for 2018. The animation is so creative and so unique. See this Academy Award winner whenever possible.

"Bao" is a thoroughly strange short film....and describing its plot isn't exactly easy. It also is very touching and has a strong symbolic aspect to it...one that adults would probably appreciate much more than the kids who see it.

The story is set in Canada with Chinese-Canadians. The housewife is making yet another batch of pork buns when suddenly one of them comes to life!! It's like a tiny boy and she loves it and showers affection on the boy...and ultimately you learn that it's all a metaphor for change, acceptance and love.

The animation, not surprisingly, is top-notch. It's from Pixar...and we've come to expect this sort of excellence from the company. The story is strong and characters wonderful and unique. Well worth seeing....and available as an extra on the DVD for "Incredibles 2"...the film with which it was shown in theaters.

Am a huge fan of Pixar, really liking to loving a vast majority of their feature films (the three 'Toy Story' films, 'Coco' and 'Inside Out' being my favourites, and the two 'Cars' sequels and 'The Good Dinosaur' being my least favourites). Also really like to love pretty much all their short films.

'Bao', which proceeded 'Incredibles 2', is not one of their best short films for me. It is not on the same level as 'Presto', 'One Man Band', 'Geri's Game', 'Piper', 'Knick Knack', 'For the Birds' and 'Luxo Jr', which had more imagination and resonated more with me. 'Bao' is still very good and much better than its controversial critical reception here says from humble personal opinion. Can definitely understand the criticisms directed against it, while finding that some of the negavity has gotten over-the-top mainly at a part that was over quite quickly. Very like how a few of the criticisms directed at 'Incredibles 2' has been blown out of proportion by some parents.

Will admit to being shocked by the aforementioned part, as was everybody in the auditorium, one woman crying out "that's awful" amidst dead silence. Didn't find it anywhere near as disturbing as has been described though, likening it to cannibalism is a bit strong.

Similarly, it wasn't obvious to me straightaway what the ending meant. Thinking about it and discussing it after 'Incredibles 2' ended, it became much clearer and it no longer became perplexing but instead strange but touching. Definitely one of the top 5 endings of a Pixar short film that stayed with me.

However, the animation is wonderful. Very bright and colourful with lot of striking background detail and character designs that definitely stand out comparing it with other Pixar short films. The music is whimsical and understated.

There is a lot of charm and sweetness, the little dumpling is adorable, and the emotional element is very poignant, the sentimentality didn't get too much and very true to Pixar. Managing to do that without saying anything at all, something that Pixar excels at frequently better than most. The relationship between the mother and the dumpling is very cute, touching and investable, a very strong reminder of what motherhood and bonds between mother and child are like. Many are likely to find themselves relating to a lot of the scenes depicting what the dumpling goes through, the stages of life and the mother's over-protection, being very true to real life and mother and child relationships and hobbies, struggles and life stages of real people.

As said, the ending lingers long in the memory, the story is slight but engaging and the mother is depicted very honestly. The setting is beautifully realised too.

Overall, not one of my favourites but there is a lot to like about this (to me) impressed and over-criticised charmer. 8/10 Bethany Cox