- “This holiday season, a breakthrough arrives to save the world.”
- ―Tagline
Big Hero 6 is a 2014 American computer-animated comedy-superhero film created and produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios and based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name by Scott Lobdell and Gus Vazquez. The film is directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams. It is the 54th film in the Disney Animated Canon.
Big Hero 6 was the first Disney animated feature film to star characters from Marvel Entertainment, which the Walt Disney Company acquired in 2009 and thus gave special thanks to that subsidiary.
The film was released on November 7, 2014 in the United States.
The film received universal acclaim from audiences and critics, and was a box office and commercial success, grossing $657 million worldwide. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. An animated television series following the events of the film premiered on Disney XD in the fall of 2017. A second series, titled Baymax!, premiered on Disney+ in the summer of 2022.
The film was theatrically accompanied by the short film Feast.
Synopsis[]
From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind The Princess and the Frog, Frozen, and Wreck-It Ralph, comes Big Hero 6, an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax (Scott Adsit), an adorable, plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter). When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago (Jamie Chung), neatnik Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), chemistry whiz Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), and fanboy Fred (TJ Miller). Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a team of high-tech heroes called Big Hero 6.[1]
Plot[]
In 2032, Hiro Hamada is a young genius and robotics expert who spends his time participating in back-alley robot fights. His older brother Tadashi, worried that Hiro is wasting his potential and his intelligence, takes Hiro to the robotics lab at his school—the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. There, Hiro meets Tadashi's closest friends: Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred as well as Baymax, a sweet and hilarious personal healthcare robot that Tadashi created. Hiro also meets Robert Callaghan, the head of the robotics program.
Amazed by the students' projects, Hiro decides to enroll in the school. With help from Tadashi and his friends, Hiro designs his own robotics project in order to gain a personal invitation via an annual exhibition. His invention, Microbots, a type of nanorobotics which he can control telepathically through a neural-cranial transmitter, impresses Callaghan, who offers Hiro an invitation to the school. His project also impresses Alistair Krei, owner of the prestigious robotics company Krei Tech. Krei offers to buy Hiro's microbots, but Callaghan successfully convinces Hiro not to make the deal.
As they leave to celebrate Hiro's success, a fire suddenly breaks out in the exhibition hall. Tadashi rushes in to rescue Callaghan, who is still inside, but the building explodes moments later, apparently killing Tadashi and Callaghan (off-screen). Heartbroken over the loss of his brother and best friend, Hiro shuts himself away in his room and isolates himself from others.
A few weeks later, Hiro accidentally stubs his toe and accidentally activates Baymax, who responds to Hiro's cry of pain. As Hiro attempts to deactivate Baymax, he discovers a single microbot left in his jacket that begins to move. Hiro thinks it is malfunctioning, but Baymax believes it is trying to go somewhere. To Hiro's dismay, Baymax follows the microbot to an abandoned warehouse, and Hiro struggles to keep up. There, they discover that someone has been mass-producing Hiro's microbots. They are attacked by a masked man controlling the microbots telepathically and barely manage to escape.
Deducing that the masked man stole the Microbots at the showcase hall and started the fire to cover his tracks, Hiro decides to catch him and upgrades Baymax with battle armor and various fighting moves. Following their single microbot again, they find the masked man at the harbor and attempt to pull a surprise attack, but are unable to when Go Go, Wasabi, Honey, and Fred arrive in a car (because Baymax had contacted them earlier). The masked man attacks them as they flee in the car. They land in the water and nearly drown, but Baymax floats them up to safety. Wet and freezing cold, Fred suggests that they rest in an enormous mansion that he reveals to be his casa. After realizing that Baymax had scanned the masked man, Hiro decides to upgrade Baymax further so he can scan the entire city to find him. Hiro also "upgrades" his friends with supersuits of their own.
When scanning the entire city, Baymax locates the masked man on an island (off-shore) from the city, called Akuma Island. When they are there, the group watches a surveillance video and discovers that former Krei was experimenting with teleportation technology. The test went wrong and awry when one of the portals became unstable and the test pilot was lost. Because of this, they wonder if it is Krei that is the masked man. The masked man unexpectedly re-appears and begins to attack them. They attempt to get his mask, where they deduce the transmitter is located. Despite some difficulties, Hiro succeeds in knocking off the mask, and when he does, the man is revealed to actually be Professor Callaghan, who explains that he survived the fire from the exhibition hall by using Hiro's microbots to shield himself from the blaze. Hiro then realizes that when Tadashi went into the exhibition hall earlier to rescue Callaghan, Callaghan actually killed Tadashi during the fiery building explosion which was Tadashi's actual mistake. Enraged that his brother died for nothing, he angrily removes Baymax's health chip, and orders him to kill/get Callaghan for revenge. With only the battle chip left, Baymax becomes a killing machine and goes on a massive rampage in attempt to kill Callaghan, who is powerless without the microbots. Go-Go, Wasabi, Fred, and Honey Lemon, knowing that murdering Callaghan was not the answer to avenge Tadashi, stops Baymax by re-installing his healthcare chip, but Callaghan gets the mask back and escapes. Angry at the four for preventing him from exacting revenge on Callaghan, Hiro leaves with Baymax. Once he returns home, Hiro attempts to remove Baymax's healthcare chip again. Baymax objects to this, and asks him if killing Callaghan will make Hiro feel better and asked if Tadashi would have wanted this, only for Hiro to shout, "Tadashi's gone!". To relax him, Baymax then shows three video recordings of Tadashi during Baymax's development and he makes amends with the four as he began to forgive them.
After examining more footage of the teleporter test, they discover that the test pilot was actually Callaghan's daughter, Abigail, and realize that Callaghan was seeking revenge on Krei, whom he blames for her apparent demise. Using the microbots, Callaghan captures Krei and repairs the portal device so that it will become unstable and destroy Krei Tech (Krei's dream building). The heroes arrive, and Hiro attempts to reason with Callaghan. Callaghan briefly falters but ultimately gives in to his hatred and proceeds with his plan. The heroes battle him and eventually manage to neutralize the microbots by getting them sucked into the portal and take the mask/transmitter from him. However, the portal remains active and is becoming increasingly unstable.
As everyone prepares to leave, Baymax detects a female life form within the portal. Realizing that Abigail is still alive and in hyper-sleep, Hiro and Baymax rush in to save her. However, on their way out, Baymax's armor is damaged by a giant piece of debris, and the only way to save Hiro and Abigail is to sacrifice himself. Hiro refuses to leave Baymax behind, but Baymax tells him that it is the only option. Baymax asks Hiro if he is satisfied with his care, to which Hiro sadly (and reluctantly) says "Yes," and Baymax deactivates. Hiro and Abigail make it back through the portal using Baymax's rocket fist. Callaghan is then arrested while Abigail is taken to the hospital.
Later, as Hiro settles into Tadashi's old lab, he discovers Baymax's healthcare chip within the rocket hand. He successfully rebuilds Baymax, inserts the chip, and they happily reunite. The six friends then continue their heroic exploits through the city, helping those in need.
In a post-credits scene after the credits, Fred is back at his mansion, talking to a photo of his father, telling him he'd be proud of him. Fred accidentally opens a secret door and, upon entering, he finds weapons, armor, and superhero gear. His father arrives and states that they have a lot to talk about, and the two embrace.
Cast[]
- Ryan Potter as Hiro Hamada
- Scott Adsit as Baymax
- Jamie Chung as Go Go Tomago
- Damon Wayans Jr. as Wasabi
- Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon
- T.J. Miller as Fred
- Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass
- James Cromwell as Professor Robert Callaghan
- Alan Tudyk as Alistair Krei
- Daniel Henney as Tadashi Hamada
- Daniel Gerson as Sergeant Gerson
- Paul Briggs as Yama
- Katie Lowes as Abigail Callaghan
- Charlotte Gulezian as The Ringleader
- David Shaughnessy as Heathcliff
- Stan Lee as Fred's Father (after credits scene)
Development[]
After Disney's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009, President/CEO Bob Iger encouraged the company's divisions to explore Marvel's properties for adaptation concepts. In 2011, while Don Hall was co-directing Winnie the Pooh with Stephen Anderson, he chose Big Hero 6 from Marvel's library and later pitched the concept to executive producer John Lasseter, as a possible production for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In June 2012, Disney confirmed that Walt Disney Animation Studios was adapting Marvel Comics' series and that the film was commissioned into early stages of development.
It has been confirmed that Big Hero 6 will be a stand-alone film and have no relationship with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is based on an obscure 1998 series written by Scott Lobdell and Gus Vazquez.[2] Although Big Hero 6 was produced solely by Walt Disney Animation Studios, several members of Marvel's creative team were involved in the film's production including Marvel's Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada. Regarding the film's story, Quesada stated, "The relationship between Hiro and his robot has a very Disney flavor to it...but it's combined with these Marvel heroic arcs".[3] In terms of the film's animation style and settings, the film will combine Eastern Asian culture (predominantly Japanese) with Western culture.
On December 31, 2013, it was reported that Chris Williams (Co-director of Bolt) had joined Hall as the new director, while Roy Conli, p.g.a. had replaced Kristina Reed as producer.
On January 27, 2014, Disney had announced that Warner Loughlin, an acting coach for Amy Adams, Ryan Reynolds, Zooey Deschanel and others, had joined the project. It was reported that she will help the project by providing breathtaking emotions and quality acting for the characters of Big Hero 6.[4]
Production on the film was completed on August 11, 2014.[5]
Reception[]
Big Hero 6 received mostly positive reviews. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 225 reviews, with an average score of 7.3/10. The site's consensus states: "Agreeably entertaining and brilliantly animated, Big Hero 6 is briskly-paced, action-packed, and often touching." Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 74 based on 35 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film 3.5/4 stars, writing that "The real appeal of Big Hero 6 isn't its action. It's the central character's heart." Maricar Estrella of Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave the film 5 stars, saying it "offers something for everyone: action, camaraderie, superheroes, and villains. But mostly, Baymax offers a compassionate and healing voice for those suffering and a hug that can be felt through the screen." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, stating, "The breakthrough star of the season is here. His name is Baymax, and he's impossible not to love. The 3-D animated Big Hero 6 would be a ton less fun without this irresistible blob of roly-poly, robot charisma." Kofi Outlaw of Screen Rant gave the film 4 out of 5 stars or "excellent", explaining that "Big Hero 6 combines Disney wonder and charm with Marvel awe and action to deliver a film that exhibits the best of both studios." Alonso Duralde of The Wrap gave the film a positive review, calling it "sweet and sharp and exciting and hilarious" and says that the film "comes to the rescue of what's become a dreaded movie trope—the origin story—and launches the superhero tale to pleasurable new heights." Calvin Wilson of St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the film 3.5 of 4 stars, writing that "the storytelling is solid, propelled by characters that you come to care about. And that should make Big Hero 6 a big hit."
Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film a positive review, writing, "Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams have made a terrific movie about a boy (Ryan Potter) and his robot friend, who seek answers to a deadly tragedy," calling it an "unexpectedly good treat". Soren Anderson of The Seattle Times gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying that "Clever, colorful, fast on its feet, frequently very funny and sweet (but not excessively so), Big Hero 6 mixes its myriad influences into a final product that, while in no way original, is immensely entertaining." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying that "the funny and heartwarming story about the bond between a teen tech geek and a gentle robot represents another can't-miss proposition by Walt Disney Animation Studios." Jon Niccum of The Kansas City Star gave the film 3.5 out of four stars, writing that while it "may hit a few familiar beats inherent to any superhero 'origin story,'" it is still "the best animated film of the year, supplying The Incredibles-size adventure with a level of emotional bonding not seen since The Iron Giant", and that it "never runs low on battery power". Elizabeth Weitzman of the Daily News gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "charming animated adventure", saying that with "appealing 3D animation" and a smart and "sharp story and script", it is "one of the rare family films that can fairly boast of having it all: humor, heart, and huggability". Rafer Guzmán from Newsday gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying that "Marvel plus Disney plus John Lasseter equals an enjoyable jumble of kid-approved action", with "rich, vivid colors and filled with clever details".
In 2015, Big Hero 6 won its nomination for Best Animated Feature Film of 2014 at the Academy Awards.
Release[]
Big Hero 6 was released theatrically on November 7, 2014, in the US, Canada, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia, December 26, 2014 in Australia and New Zealand, and January 30, 2015 in the UK and Ireland. The film was accompanied by the Walt Disney Animation Studios short Feast. It premiered on October 23, 2014, as the opening film at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the world premiere of the film in 3D took place at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival on October 31, 2014. The film's premiere in US was at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on November 5, 2014. The teaser trailer was released on May 22, 2014, while the first full trailer arrived on July 15, 2014.
Home media[]
- Main article: Big Hero 6 (video)
Big Hero 6 was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Digital HD on February 3, 2015, and was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on February 24, 2015.
International releases[]
- October 25, 2014 (Russia, Ukraine)
- November 6, 2014 (Greece, UAE, the Philippines)
- November 12, 2014 (Trinidad and Tobago)
- November 13, 2014 (Singapore)
- November 14, 2014 (Mexico)
- November 28, 2014 (Poland)
- December 12, 2014 (Venezuela)
- December 18, 2014 (Italy, Portugal)
- December 19, 2014 (Spain)
- December 20, 2014 (Japan, released locally as Baymax)
- December 25, 2014 (Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, South Africa)
- December 26, 2014 (Australia, New Zealand)
- January 1, 2015 (Argentina, Uruguay)
- January 2, 2015 (Paraguay)
- January 21, 2015 (South Korea, retitled as Big Hero)[6]
- January 22, 2015 (Germany, released locally as Baymax - Riesiges Robowabohu)
- January 23, 2015 (Romanian)
- January 30, 2015 (Ireland, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden)
- February 28, 2015 (China, by China Film Co. Ltd)
- March 28, 2015 (Iran, by Glory Entertainment)
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the Marvel Multiverse, Big Hero 6 is set in the universe of Earth-14123.
- Big Hero 6 is Disney's 7th CGI animated feature, and the first superhero movie to be released by WDAS.
- Big Hero 6 is only the seventh non-musical animated film in the Disney animated canon, following The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers Down Under, Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and Wreck-It Ralph.
- Big Hero 6 has become the thirteenth highest grossing Disney movie, and the fourth highest that is not a Pixar movie, only following Zootopia, The Lion King, and Frozen.
- In one scene in Zootopia, the Big Hero 6 easter egg is spoofed as "Pig Hero 6".
- Big Hero 6 won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2015. It is the second Disney animated film, that wasn't made by Pixar, to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature after the previous year's winner, Frozen.
- Pepper, an emotion-reading robot created by French company Aldebaran Robotics and Japanese company SoftBank Group, recently recorded dialogue for the Japanese dub of the movie.[7]
- Big Hero 6 is the first Walt Disney Animation feature film to be inspired by a comic book series (of the same name) as opposed to a traditional fairy-tale, a fictional book, a famous legend, or an entirely original concept.
- The film mainly draws from Big Hero 6's mini-series, where Wasabi and Fred first appeared, replacing Silver Samurai and others.[8]
- Although it is based on a Marvel comic of the same name, there are many changes, including character names, the setting, the ethnicities of characters, the backstories, and several plot points:
- Several characters do not appear in the film due to copyright issues, like Silver Samurai[2] and Sunfire[3] who were members of Big Hero 6 in the comics, but didn't appear in the film due to 20th Century Fox owning the film rights to the X-Men and other related characters at the time.
- The character originally known as Wasabi No-Ginger has his last name officially dropped from the film, and is simply referred to as Wasabi. Many official Disney merchandise and sites, however, still refer to him as "Wasabi No-Ginger".
- Although based on a Marvel property, Big Hero 6 is not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even though Marvel helped with the film.
- This is the first Disney animated film to have the title card appear at the end of the film.
- This is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios feature to have the "Created and Produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Burbank, California" credit at the end.
- Pixar Animation Studios does the same thing in movies (beginning with Monsters, Inc.), except it says "Created and Produced at Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, California."
- This is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios feature to have Disney's Hyperion Rendering.
- The last animated feature to use old rendering was the previous feature Frozen.
- According to Big Hero 6's character design supervisor, Jin Kim, one of the main goals of this movie was to introduce multiracial characters to allow everyone to feel some familiarities about their own culture and introduce the world's racial diversity.
- Hiro Hamada and Tadashi Hamada are Japanese-American.
- Go Go Tomago is Korean.
- Honey Lemon is Latina.
- Wasabi is African.
- Fred is Caucasian.
- Kim revealed that the lead [Asian] characters, although they were later given Japanese names, were originally envisioned as Koreans during development with the chief character designer, Shiyoon Kim.[9]
- Even though Hiro Hamada is the main protagonist, he isn't listed on top of the credits. Instead, it's the dueteragonist, Baymax.
- BBC Radio 1 presenters and Youtubers Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) were given the roles of Male Technician 1 and 2 in the UK Cinema version of the movie. However, that version did not end up in the UK home release, as it is based off of the original US version, not the PAL release. However, it is available worldwide on Disney+ as an audio track.
- At the beginning of this film, robot-fighting may have been inspired by cockfights, a traditional medieval blood sport that is illegal in the United States.
- This is the second Disney film to contain a blood sport, the first being White Fang.
- There are only two Marvel animated theatrical films, with Big Hero 6 being the first and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse being the second. Coincidentally, both have also won the Best Animated Feature award.
- Big Hero 6 is noticeably absent from the Marvel Animation collection on Disney+, despite it being a Marvel animated movie.
- Freddie Highmore, Samuel L Jackson, and Josh Hutcherson were originally supposed to be a part of the voice cast.
Cameos[]
- When Hiro is talking with his aunt, there is a painting of Mochi wearing a Stitch costume behind him.
- In Fred's mansion, there is a Stitch pillow as well as one with Splodyhead on his bed in the background.
- There is a Wreck-It Ralph toy on Hiro's bedroom desk.
- Hans is seen on a wanted poster at the police department and as a statue in Fred's mansion.
- There is a picture of Bolt as well as one of Esther in the desk at the police department.
- The statue Baymax destroys with his rocket fist closely resembles Hans.
- An Arendelle ship can be seen at the bay of San Fransokyo during Baymax and Hiro's flight sequence.
- During his presentation, Hiro says "If you can dream it, the microbots can do it", a nod to Walt Disney's famous line "If you can dream it, you can do it".
- A statue of Olaf is also spotted in the middle of the city.
- In the UK version of Big Hero 6 (but not in the UK home release), two British YouTube stars, Dan Howell and Phil Lester have two voice cameos as Technician 1 and 2.
- Stan Lee makes another cameo in a Marvel film, this time as Fred's father.
- Honey Lemon's phone case has Nick Wilde on it. This is another Disney trope: revealing the next movie.
- In the Korean version of the film, there is a picture of Elsa's head silhouette on the wall of Hiro's house.
- Baby Cy-Bugs from Wreck-It-Ralph can be seen on the shelves of both Hiro and Fred's room, as well as Hero's Duty soldiers.
- If one looks closely, on Hiro's desk, one can see an NES controller under his computer when he is talking with the others.
- EVE's head from WALL-E can be seen beside Hiro's computer as a non-active robot.
- In the film, Fred has a collection of obscure and lesser-known Marvel characters in his room including:
- Sleepwalker: a hero who is seen as a costume in Fred's room.
- Orka: a villain and an enemy of the Marvel hero Namor, who is seen as a costume and a mug.
- Black Talon: a villain who is seen as a costume.
- Torpedo: a hero who is seen as a costume and a comic book with the same name.
- The Whizzer: a fast speeding hero who is seen as a costume.
- Manphibian: a Marvel monster hero who is seen as a costume.
- Monark Starstalker: a space bounty hunter who is seen as a comic with the same name.
References[]
- ↑ http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-big-hero-six-synopsis-72280/
- ↑ "Big Hero 6". www.bcdb.com, August 23, 2014
- ↑ http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/big-hero-6-disney-animations-first-marvel-movie-gets-new-poster/
- ↑ http://www.rotoscopers.com/2014/01/28/news-big-hero-6-scene-breakdowns-underway/
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/DisneyAnimation/photos/a.105171841854.90778.23245476854/10152556923496855/
- ↑ http://kotaku.com/why-big-hero-6-is-upsetting-some-people-in-south-korea-1680370861
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/2iuxn3/we_are_chris_williams_don_hall_roy_conli_and_paul/
- ↑ http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150115000929
External links[]
- Big Hero 6 (film) on Wikipedia
- Big Hero 6 on Disney.com
- Big Hero 6 in Spanish at Disney ¡Ajá!
- Big Hero 6 at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Big Hero 6 on Marvel Movies Wiki
- Big Hero 6 (film) on Big Hero 6 Wiki
- Big Hero 6 on the Big Hero 6 Spanish Wiki
- Big Hero 6 on the Marvel Database
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