What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedBao
Domee Shi · Film · 2018
If you loved Bao, start with Dream Productions (Mike Jones, 2024) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Bao across media.
What hooked you in Bao was the way it uses surreal, intimate metaphors to explore the complex, bittersweet evolution of family bonds.
Books on the same thread
The Bean Trees
Barbara Kingsolver · Book · 1988
Explores: found family, motherhood, cultural displacement.
Much like the mother in Bao navigating her empty nest, Taylor finds her own path to motherhood through an unexpected connection, highlighting the resilience found in unconventional family structures.
Love You Forever
Robert Munsch, Sheila McGraw · Book · 1995
Explores: Unconditional Love, Parent-Child Relationship, Aging.
If the emotional weight of watching a child grow up in Bao moved you, this classic story captures that same bittersweet cycle of unconditional love and inevitable separation.
Wild Fruit
Keyi Sheng · Book · 2018
Explores: Family Dynamics, Modern China, Survival.
This family saga mirrors the cultural specificity of Bao, offering a similarly grounded yet poignant look at how modern societal shifts impact the core of familial identity.
The Joy Luck Club
Amy Tan · Book · 1990
Explores: Mother-Daughter Relationships, Cultural Identity, Intergenerational Trauma.
If you valued the exploration of the Chinese-Canadian experience in Bao, this story provides a deeper dive into the intergenerational complexities and cultural gaps between mothers and daughters.
Series on the same thread
Bluey
Joe Brumm · Series · 2018
Shares a thread with Bao: Family Relationships.
While Bao focuses on the melancholy of a child leaving, this series beautifully captures the daily, imaginative magic of the parent-child relationship that defines early family life.
Primal
Genndy Tartakovsky · Series · 2019
Explores: Survival, Unlikely friendship, Human-animal bond.
The wordless, visceral bond between the characters in this series echoes the anthropomorphic emotional storytelling found in Bao, proving that profound connections transcend the need for human dialogue.
Dream Productions
Mike Jones · Series · 2024
Explores: Inner Child, Memory Processing, Emotional Growth.
This production captures the same sense of personified internal growth found in Bao, using creative animation to externalize the emotional milestones we face during the process of maturing.
The Bear
Christopher Storer · Series · 2022
Explores: Grief, Family Business, Working Class.
The kitchen serves as a space for healing in both stories, as this drama explores how professional life and chosen family can mend the grief left by parental expectations.
Podcasts on the same thread
Burdie Stories
Podcast
Explores: life experiences, anecdotes, self-reflection.
These animated personal anecdotes share the intimate, slice-of-life quality of Bao, distilling complex life experiences into short, digestible stories that reflect on our most formative human connections.
boomer and zoomer
Podcast
Explores: father-daughter relationship, intergenerational relationships, age gap.
This podcast mirrors the generational friction explored in Bao, offering a candid look at how parents and children reconcile their different perspectives as they navigate changing life stages.
Common questions
Is Bao a feature-length film?
Bao is a short film released in 2018 by director Domee Shi. The story focuses on an aging Chinese mother experiencing empty nest syndrome who finds a second chance at motherhood when a dumpling comes to life.
What is the central premise of Bao?
The plot of Bao follows an aging Chinese mother struggling with empty nest syndrome. Her life changes unexpectedly when one of the dumplings she prepares comes to life as a lively, giggly boy, allowing her to experience motherhood once again.
Who directed the short film Bao?
Bao was directed by Domee Shi. The film explores themes of parental attachment and empty nest syndrome through the story of a mother who gains a second chance at raising a child when a dumpling magically springs to life.
Does Bao feature any dialogue?
Bao is a short film centered on the visual storytelling of an aging mother and her lively dumpling boy. The narrative focuses on the emotional journey of empty nest syndrome without relying on traditional dialogue to convey the mother's experience.