Domee Shi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Domee Shi
Shi in 2018
Born	Shi Zhiyu (石之予) (1989-09-08) 8 September 1989 (age 35) Chongqing, China
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	Sheridan College
Occupation	Animator Film director screenwriter storyboard artist
Years active	2010−present
Employer	Pixar Animation Studios (2011–present)

Domee Shi (born September 8, 1989) is a talented Canadian animator, film director, and screenwriter. She is known for her work at Pixar Animation Studios. Domee Shi made history at Pixar. She was the first woman to direct a short film for them. Later, she became the first woman to be the only director on a full-length feature film.

Her famous works include the short film Bao (2018). She also directed the popular movie Turning Red (2022). Her next film, Elio, is set to be released in 2025.

Domee Shi started working at Pixar in 2011. She began as a storyboard artist. This means she helped draw the visual plans for movies. She worked on many films, like Inside Out (2015) and Toy Story 4 (2019).

For her short film Bao, Domee Shi won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. This is a very big award in the film world. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Turning Red.

Early Life and Inspiration

Domee Shi was born in Chongqing, China, on September 8, 1989. She was an only child. When she was two years old, her family moved to Canada. They lived in Newfoundland for a short time. Then they moved to Toronto, where Domee grew up.

Her father was a fine arts professor and painter in China. He taught her a lot about art. Domee also found inspiration from her mother. Her mother's personality helped shape her films Bao and Turning Red. Domee remembers her mom always wanting to keep her safe. One funny moment from her teen years even made it into Turning Red. Her mom was once seen hiding behind a tree at school. She was just checking on Domee!

As a child, Domee loved watching films from Studio Ghibli and Disney. These movies introduced her to amazing animation.

High School and Art Communities

In high school, Domee enjoyed watching anime and reading manga. She was even the Vice President of her school's anime club. She joined online art groups. There, she shared her fan artwork. This helped her connect with other artists. She could follow them and even email them. This was a new way to learn and grow as an artist.

Domee decided to study animation at Sheridan College. Many of her favorite artists had gone there. She graduated in 2011. During college, a class taught by Nancy Beiman inspired her to focus on storyboarding. She also did an internship at Chuck Gammage Animation. She worked on different parts of animation there.

Career at Pixar

After college, Domee Shi taught cartooning for a short time. In 2011, she got a three-month internship at Pixar. This was her second try to get into Pixar. She had been turned down before by Pixar and other big studios. But her father encouraged her to apply again.

Domee felt her ideas were valued at Pixar from the start. This is not always common for new artists. In 2014, she created an online comic series called My Food Fantasies. In it, she drew funny situations involving food. This helped her develop her interest in telling stories about food.

Her first big film project at Pixar was Inside Out (2015). She worked as a storyboard artist on it. She also worked on The Good Dinosaur and Toy Story 4. For Toy Story 4, she joined Pixar's Senior Creative Team. She also drew storyboards for Incredibles 2 (2018).

Domee Shi wants the film industry to see people as artists first. She believes gender and background should come second. She says, "My first identity is that I'm a nerd!" She just wants to create cool things to share with other "nerdy people."

Directing Animated Films

Domee Shi developed her short film Bao (2018) while working on Inside Out. She pitched her idea to her mentor, Pete Docter, and Pixar. Bao was approved in 2015. This made Domee the first woman to direct a short film for Pixar. The eight-minute film first showed at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. It played before Incredibles 2 in theaters. Domee won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Bao. She was the first woman of color to win this award.

In 2018, news came out that Domee Shi was directing a feature film at Pixar. She confirmed this later that year. She was excited to work on a longer film. She wanted it to be "entertaining and emotional." On December 9, 2020, her film was announced as Turning Red. It was released on Disney+ on March 11, 2022. Turning Red became the top streaming title on Disney+.

Because of Turning Red's success, Domee Shi was promoted at Pixar. She became a vice president of creative in April 2022. With Turning Red, she officially became the first woman to be the only director on a Pixar film in the studio's history.

In October 2022, it was confirmed that Domee Shi was working on another original Pixar film. This new film would not focus on mother-daughter relationships in immigrant families. In June 2024, Pete Docter shared that Domee was working on Elio. It is set to be released on June 13, 2025. In August 2024, Domee Shi was officially confirmed as a director for Elio, working alongside Madeline Sharafian.

Creative Influences

Domee Shi's father greatly influenced her art. He was her art teacher when she was young. She still values his opinions on her work.

For Bao, Domee was inspired by the animated films My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) and Spirited Away (2001). But her parents were her biggest influences. Her mother's protectiveness inspired the story of Bao. Domee wanted to show the "bittersweetness of letting something go."

For Turning Red, Domee was inspired by her own teenage years. She wanted to show the "weirdness" of growing up. She included parts of her hometown, Toronto, in the film. She also wanted to show a diverse group of characters. This included Mei's Chinese Canadian family and her multicultural friends. Domee also made sure the giant red panda in Turning Red had a special meaning. It is a symbol for all the messy feelings inside the main character, Mei.

Domee believes it is important to use different cultures and backgrounds in films. She thinks audiences enjoy unique stories.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Television

Disney+ Original Specials

Awards and Nominations

Domee Shi has won and been nominated for many awards for her amazing work.

See also

In Spanish: Domee Shi para niños