Hiro Hamada (Potter) is a teenage robotics prodigy. His older brother Tadashi (Henney) is also a genius, and is a student at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Hiro is impressed with the work that Tadashi and his friends are doing, and throws himself into a project that will impress Professor Callaghan (Cromwell), the head of the program. The show goes well, and Hiro is accepted, but a fire breaks out on campus and Tadashi and Callaghan are killed.
Hiro is devastated and withdraws from everything and everyone. One day he accidentally awakens Baymax (Adsit), Tadashi's healthcare robot. Baymax was designed to help people, and will not stop until Hiro feels better. Together they stumble on a mysterious stranger, who is using Hiro's microbots. Hiro wants justice and turns to Baymax and Tadashi's friends: science super fan Fred (Miller), GoGo (Chung) and her speedy experiments, Wasabi (Wayans Jr.) and his laser experiments, and Honey Lemon (Rodriguez) and her chemistry experiments. Can Hiro upgrade them to become the heroes their city needs?
This is Walt Disney Animated Classics' 54th film. The film is the first superhero film in Disney's animated canon, and the first to capitalize on their union with Marvel. The Big Hero 6 debuted in 1998, and was created by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau.
In 2009, after Disney acquired Marvel, they started looking at some of the obscure characters and teams to potentially use in animated films. Don Hall discovered Big Hero 6 and pitched the idea to his superiors. They wanted the idea to feel fresh, so the screenwriters had minimal interactions with the comic. The end result is very different from the comic. The character names and some abilities are the same, but not everything translates. Unlike other Marvel films, this one does not belong to the same cinematic universe, but it does have a Stan Lee cameo.
Reimagining the story works here... it makes the story acceptable for children, while potentially introducing them to the larger Marvel comic world. The story is funny, while still packing an emotional punch. The voice cast is good as well. Scott Adsit does so much with such limited range, and you fall in love with Baymax easily. T.J. Miller is hilarious as Fred, and Damon Wayans Jr. gets laughs as Wasabi. Jamie Chung and Genesis Rodriguez are powerful women, with fascinating characters. Ryan Potter and Daniel Henney are good. And once again Alad Tudyk voices a morally questionable character.
Another solid Disney animated film. This film received numerous award nominations, and ultimately walked away with the 2015 Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Check it out, and here's hoping for a sequel.
Big Hero 6 (2014) 102 minutes
Director: Don Hall & Chris Williams
Starring: Scott Adsit as Baymax
Ryan Potter as Hiro Hamada
Daniel Henney as Tadashi Hamada
T.J. Miller as Fred
Jamie Chung as GoGo
Damon Wayans Jr. as Wasabi
Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon
James Cromwell as Professor Robert Callaghan
Alan Tudyk as Alistair Krei
Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass
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