Big Hero 6 (film)

Big Hero 6 is a 2014 American computer animated superhero film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Inspired by the Marvel's comics of the same name created by Man of Action, the film is the 54th Disney animated feature film. Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, the film tells the story of Hiro Hamada, a young robotics prodigy, and Baymax, his late brother Tadashi's healthcare provider robot, who forms a superhero team to combat a masked villain who is responsible for Tadashi’s death. The film features the voices of Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, Alan Tudyk, James Cromwell, and Maya Rudolph.
"Big Hero 6" is the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics characters, whose parent company was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2009. Walt Disney Animation Studios created new software technology to produce the film's animated visuals.
"Big Hero 6" premiered at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 23, 2014, and at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival on October 31; it was theatrically released in the Disney Digital 3D and RealD 3D formats in the United States on November 7, 2014. The film was met with both critical and commercial success, grossing over $657.8 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing animated film of 2014. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie. It also received nominations for the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature and the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. It was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film, but lost to "The Lego Movie". "Big Hero 6" was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 24, 2015.
A , which continues the story of the film, debuted on November 20, 2017 on Disney Channel and Disney XD.
Plot.
Hiro Hamada is a 14-year-old high school graduate, and robotics genius living in the futuristic city of San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo, rendered in "kanji" as ) who spends much of his free time gambling in robot fights. To redirect Hiro, his older brother Tadashi takes him to the research lab at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, where Hiro meets Tadashi's friends - Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred, Baymax, the inflatable healthcare robot that Tadashi created, and Professor Robert Callaghan, the head of the university's robotics program. Amazed, Hiro decides to apply to the university. To enroll, he signs up for the school's showcase and presents his project: microbots, swarms of tiny robots that can link together in any arrangement imaginable using a neurocranial transmitter. At the fair, Hiro declines an offer from Alistair Krei, CEO of Krei Tech, to market the microbots, and Callaghan accepts him into the school. As the Hamada family leaves to celebrate Hiro's success, a massive fire suddenly breaks out in the showcase hall and Tadashi rushes in to save Callaghan, the only person left inside. The building explodes moments later.
Two weeks later, Hiro, mourning Tadashi's death, inadvertently reactivates Baymax. The two find Hiro's only remaining microbot and follow it to an abandoned warehouse. There they discover that someone has been mass-producing the microbots. A man wearing a Kabuki mask attacks them with the microbot swarms. After they escape, Hiro suspects that the fire that claimed his brother may not have been accidental and in fact started by the man in the kabuki mask to cover the theft of the microbots. Seeking vengeance, Hiro equips Baymax with armor and a battle chip containing various karate moves and they track the masked man to the docks. Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred arrive, responding to a call from Baymax, and the masked man chases the group. The six escape to Fred's mansion, where they decide to form a high-tech superhero team to combat the villain.
The group tracks the masked man, whom they suspect to be Krei, to an abandoned Krei Tech laboratory that was used for teleportation research until a test pilot was lost in an accident. The masked man attacks, but the group subdues him and knocks off his mask, revealing him to be Callaghan, who shielded himself from the explosion that killed Tadashi. Enraged at the discovery that Tadashi had died in vain, Hiro removes Baymax's healthcare chip and orders him to kill Callaghan. Honey re-installs the healthcare chip at the last second, preventing Baymax from carrying out the kill order. Callaghan barely escapes, recovering the mask as he does so, and Hiro leaves with Baymax, intent on avenging Tadashi.
Back home, Hiro repairs the robot's damaged scanners and tries to remove the healthcare chip again, but Baymax blocks his access port, convincing Hiro with video of Tadashi running numerous tests during Baymax's development as a demonstration of Tadashi's benevolence and legacy. Hiro remorsefully apologizes to his friends, who reassure him they will catch Callaghan the right way.
Video footage from the laboratory accident reveals that the lost test pilot was Callaghan's daughter, Abigail, meaning that Callaghan is seeking revenge on Krei. Callaghan interrupts Krei at a public event and attempts to destroy his headquarters using Krei's teleportation portal. After a lengthy battle, the team deprives Callaghan of his microbots and the mask, saving Krei, but the portal remains active. Baymax detects Abigail alive inside and leaps into the portal with Hiro to rescue her. They find Abigail in hyper-sleep, but Baymax is struck by debris on the way back out, disabling his thrusters. With no other option but to sacrifice himself, Baymax activates his armor's rocket fist and asks Hiro if he is satisfied with his care in order to deactivate him. Hiro tearfully agrees and Baymax fires his rocket fist before deactivating, propelling Hiro and Abigail back through the portal before it closes. Abigail is taken to the hospital while the remorseful Callaghan is forcibly arrested.
Some time later, Hiro discovers Baymax's health care chip clenched in the rocket fist. He rebuilds Baymax's body, who keeps his memories and emotions due to his health care chip, and he and Hiro share a hug. The university awards Hiro a grant and dedicates a building in Tadashi's honor, and Hiro, Baymax, and their friends continue protecting the city.
The post-credits scene shows Fred talking to the portrait of his father, expressing sadness that he is unable to share his accomplishments as a superhero due to his father always being away. Upon touching the picture frame, Fred inadvertently opens a secret door leading to a room filled with superhero clothing (underpants mainly) and equipment. Fred's father returns and reunites with his son, telling him that they have a lot to talk about.
Production.
After Disney's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009, CEO Bob Iger encouraged the company's divisions to explore Marvel's properties for adaptation concepts. By deliberately picking an obscure title, it would give them the freedom to come up with their own version. While directing "Winnie the Pooh", director Don Hall was scrolling through a Marvel database when he stumbled upon "Big Hero 6", a comic he had never heard of before. "I just liked the title," he said. He pitched the concept to John Lasseter in 2011, as one of five ideas for possible productions for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and this particular idea "struck a chord" with Lasseter, Hall, and Chris Williams (Director of "Bolt").
In June 2012, Disney confirmed that Walt Disney Animation Studios was adapting Marvel Comics' series and that the film had been commissioned into early stages of development. Because they wanted the concept to feel new and fresh, head of story Paul Briggs (who also voices Yama in the film) only read a few issues of the comic, while screenwriter Robert Baird admitted he had not read the comic at all.
"Big Hero 6" was produced solely by Walt Disney Animation Studios, although several members of Marvel's creative team were involved in the film's production including Joe Quesada, Marvel's chief creative officer, and Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel Television. According to an interview with Axel Alonso by CBR, Marvel did not have any plans to publish a tie-in comic. Disney planned to reprint the Marvel version of "Big Hero 6" themselves, but reportedly Marvel disagreed. They eventually came to agreement that Yen Press would publish the Japanese manga version of "Big Hero 6" for Disney.
Conversely, Lasseter dismissed the idea of a rift between the two companies, and producer Roy Conli stated that Marvel allowed Disney "complete freedom in structuring the story". Disney Animation Studio President Andrew Millstein stated: ""Hero" is one example of what we've learned over the years and our embracing some of the Pixar DNA." 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." The production team decided early on not to connect the film to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and instead set the film in a stand-alone universe.
With respect to the design of Baymax, Hall mentioned in an interview, "I wanted a robot that we had never seen before and something to be wholly original. That's a tough thing to do, we've got a lot of robots in pop culture, everything from The Terminator to WALL-E to C-3PO on down the line and not to mention Japanese robots, I won't go into that. So I wanted to do something original." Even if they did not yet know what the robot should look like, artist Lisa Keene came up with the idea that it should be a huggable robot. Other sources of inspiration cited by the team include Japanese anime, such as Hayao Miyazaki films (including "Spirited Away" and "The Wind Rises") and "Pokémon", as well as Shogun Warriors toys. Mecha designer Shigeto Koyama, who previously did design work for mecha anime such as "Gunbuster 2", "Eureka Seven", "Gurren Lagann", and "Rebuild of Evangelion", worked on the concept design for Baymax.
Early on in the development process, Hall and the design team took a research trip to Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, where they met a team of DARPA-funded researchers who were pioneering the new field of 'soft robotics' using inflatable vinyl, which ultimately inspired Baymax's inflatable, vinyl, truly huggable design. Hall stated that "I met a researcher who was working on soft robots. ... It was an inflatable vinyl arm and the practical app would be in the healthcare industry as a nurse or doctor's assistant. He had me at vinyl. This particular researcher went into this long pitch but the minute he showed me that inflatable arm, I knew we had our huggable robot." Hall stated that the technology "will have potential probably in the medical industry in the future, making robots that are very pliable and gentle and not going to hurt people when they pick them up."
Hall mentioned that achieving a unique look for the mechanical armor took some time and "just trying to get something that felt like the personality of the character". Co-director Williams stated, "A big part of the design challenge is when he puts on the armor you want to feel that he's a very powerful intimidating presence ... at the same time, design-wise he has to relate to the really adorable simple vinyl robot underneath." Baymax's face design was inspired by a copper "suzu" bell that Hall noticed while at a Shinto shrine.
According to Conli, Lasseter initially disliked Baymax's description (while low on battery power) of Hiro's cat as a "hairy baby", but Williams kept the line in anyway, and at the film's first test screening, Lasseter admitted that Williams was correct.
According to Williams, Baymax was originally going to be introduced rather late in the film, but then story artist John Ripa conceived of a way for Baymax to meet Hiro much earlier. The entire film became much stronger by establishing the relationship between Hiro and Baymax early on, but the filmmakers ended up having to reconstruct "a fair amount of the first act" in order to make that idea work.
About ninety animators worked on the film at one point or another; some worked on the project for as long as two years. In terms of the film's animation style and settings, the film combines Eastern world culture (predominantly Japanese) with Western world culture (predominantly California). In May 2013, Disney released concept art and rendered footage of San Fransokyo from the film. San Fransokyo, the futuristic mashup of San Francisco and Tokyo, was described by Hall as "an alternate version of San Francisco. Most of the technology is advanced, but much of it feels retro … Where Hiro lives, it feels like the Haight. I love the Painted ladies. We gave them a Japanese makeover; we put a cafe on the bottom of one. They live above a coffee shop." The house that Hiro's family lives in is based on a Victorian house at the corner of Haight Street and Masonic Avenue in the Haight-Ashbury. According to production designer Paul Felix, "The topography is exaggerated because what we do is caricature, I think the hills are 1 times exaggerated. I don't think you could really walk up them ... When you get to the downtown area, that's when you get the most Tokyo-fied, that pure, layered, dense kind of feeling of the commercial district there. When you get out of there, it becomes more San Francisco with the Japanese aesthetic. … (It's a bit like) "Blade Runner", but contained to a few square blocks. You see the skyscrapers contrasted with the hills."
The reason why Disney wanted to merge Tokyo (which is where the comic book version takes place) with San Francisco was partly because San Francisco had not been used by Marvel before, partly because of all the city's iconic aspects, and partly because they felt its aesthetics would blend well with Tokyo. The filmmakers' idea was that San Fransokyo is based on an alternative history in which San Francisco was largely rebuilt by Japanese immigrants in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake, although this premise is never stated in the film.
To create San Fransokyo as a detailed digital simulation of an entire city, Disney purchased the actual assessor data for the entire city and county of San Francisco. The final city contains over 83,000 buildings and 100,000 vehicles.
A software program called Denizen was used to create over 700 distinctive characters that populate the city. Another one named Bonzai was responsible for the creation of the city's 250,000 trees, while a new rendering system called Hyperion offered new illumination possibilities, like light shining through a translucent object (e.g. Baymax's vinyl covering). Pixar's RenderMan was considered as a "Plan B" for the film's rendering, if Hyperion was not able to meet production deadlines.
Development on Hyperion started in 2011 and was based upon research into multi-bounce complex global illumination originally conducted at Disney Research in Zürich. Disney, in turn, had to assemble a new super-computing cluster just to handle Hyperion's immense processing demands, which consists of over 2,300 Linux workstations distributed across four data centers (three in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco). Each workstation, , included a pair of 2.4 GHz Intel Xeon processors, 256 GB of memory, and a pair of 300 GB solid-state drives configured as a RAID Level 0 array (i.e., to operate as a single 600 GB drive). This was all backed by a central storage system with a capacity of five petabytes, which holds all digital assets as well as archival copies of all 54 Disney Animation films. Cinematographer Robert Richardson was brought on as a visual consultant to assist in the creation of realistic lighting.
The emotional climax takes place in the middle of a wormhole portal, which is represented by the stylized interior of a mandelbulb.
The post-credits scene was only added to the film in August 2014, late in production, after co-director Don Hall and his crew went to see Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy". He stated that "[i]t horrified us, that people were sat waiting for an end credits thing, because of the Marvel DNA. We didn't want people to leave the movie disappointed."
Soundtrack.
Henry Jackman composed the score for the film. The soundtrack features an original song titled "Immortals" written and recorded by American rock band Fall Out Boy, which was released by Walt Disney Records on October 14, 2014. The soundtrack album was digitally released by Walt Disney Records on November 4, 2014, and had a CD release on November 24. While not part of the soundtrack, a brief instrumental section of "Eye of the Tiger" plays in the film.
Release.
"Big Hero 6" premiered on October 23, 2014 as the opening film at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The world premiere of "Big Hero 6" in 3D took place at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival on October 31, 2014. It was theatrically released in the United States and Canada on November 7, 2014 with limited IMAX international showings. Theatrically, the film was accompanied by the Walt Disney Animation Studios short, "Feast".
For the South Korean release of the film, it was retitled "Big Hero", to avoid the impression of being a sequel, and edited to remove indications of the characters' Japanese origin. This is owing to the tense relations between Korea and Japan. For instance, the protagonist's name, Hiro Hamada, was changed to "Hero Armada", and Japanese-language signage onscreen was changed to English. Nonetheless, the film caused some online controversy in South Korea, because of small images resembling the Rising Sun Flag in the protagonist's room.
The film was released in China on February 28, 2015.
Home media.
"Big Hero 6" was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray and DVD on February 24, 2015. Writer Steven T. Seagle, who co-created the comic book "Big Hero 6", criticized the Blu-ray featurette documenting the origins of the group, for not mentioning him or co-creator Duncan Rouleau. Seagle also criticized the book "Art of Big Hero 6" for the same omission. Big Hero 6 was released in 4K Blu-Ray on November 5, 2019.
Reception.
Box office.
"Big Hero 6" earned $222.5 million in North America and $435.3 million in other territories for a worldwide estimated total of $657.8 million. Calculating in all expenses, "Deadline" estimated that the film made a profit of $187.34 million. Worldwide, it is the highest-grossing animated film of 2014, the third-highest-grossing non-Pixar animated film from Disney, and the 16th-highest-grossing animated film of all time. By grossing over $500 million worldwide, it became the fourth Disney release of 2014 to do so; the other titles being "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Maleficent", and "".
North America.
In the U.S. and Canada, the film is the second-highest-grossing science-fiction animated film (behind 2008's "WALL-E"), the second-highest-grossing animated superhero comedy film (behind 2004's "The Incredibles"), and the third-highest-grossing Disney animated film (behind 2013's "Frozen and 2019's Frozen 2"). The film earned $1.4 million from late Thursday night showings, which is higher than the previews earned by "Frozen" ($1.2 million) and "The Lego Movie" ($400,000). In its opening day on November 7, the film earned $15.8 million, debuting at number two behind "Interstellar" ($16.9 million). "Big Hero 6" topped the box office in its opening weekend, earning $56.2 million from 3,761 theaters ahead of "Interstellar" ($47.5 million); at the time it was Walt Disney Animation Studios' second-best opening behind "Frozen" ($67.4 million), both adjusted and unadjusted.
On February 15, 2015, "Big Hero 6" became the third-highest-grossing Disney animated film in both the U.S. and Canada, behind "The Lion King" and "Frozen".
Outside North America.
Two weeks ahead of its North American release, "Big Hero 6" was released in Russia (earned $4.8 million) and Ukraine (earned $0.2 million) in two days (October 25–26). The main reason behind the early release was in order to take advantage of the two weeks of school holidays in Russia. Jeff Bock, box office analyst for "Exhibitor Relations", said "For a two-day gross, that's huge. It's a giant number in Russia." In its second weekend, the film added $4.8 million (up 1%) bringing its total nine-day cumulative audience to $10.3 million in Russia and $10.9 including its revenue from Ukraine.
In its opening weekend, the film earned $7.6 million from seventeen markets for a first weekend worldwide total of $79.2 million, behind "Interstellar" ($132.2 million). It went to number one in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. It opened with $4.8 million in Mexico. In Japan, where the film is locally known as "Baymax", it opened at second place behind "", with $5.3 million, marking it the second-biggest Disney opening in Japan behind "Frozen". and topped the box office for six consecutive weekends. The film opened in second place with $6 million ($6.8 million including previews) in the U.K., which is 15% lower than "Frozen". It opened at No. 1 with $14.8 million in China, which is the biggest opening for a Disney and Pixar animated film (breaking "Frozen" record) and topped the box office for three consecutive weekends.
The film became the highest-grossing Disney animated film in Vietnam and in China (surpassed by "Zootopia")), the second-highest-grossing Disney animated film of all time in Russia, in the Philippines (behind "Toy Story 3"), and in Japan (behind "Frozen"). In addition to being the second-highest-grossing Disney animated film, it is also the fifth-highest-grossing animated film of all time in China. In total earnings, its biggest markets outside of the United States and Canada are China ($83.5 million) and Japan ($76 million).
Critical response.
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 90% based on 226 reviews and an average rating of 7.30/10. 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, has calculated a score of 74 based on 38 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".
Future.
Disney Channel/Disney XD follow-up.
In March 2016, Disney announced that a "Big Hero 6" television series was in development and premiered on Disney Channel and Disney XD in 2017. The series takes place immediately after the events of the film, and is created and executive produced by "Kim Possible"s Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, and co-executive produced by Nick Filippi. The majority of the cast from the film returned to voice the characters, except for Wayans Jr. and Miller.
Disney+ spin-off.
On December 10, 2020, Disney announced during an Investor's Day livestream that a new show entitled "Baymax!" would be released on Disney+ and follow Baymax working as a nurse around San Fransokyo. It is the first television series to ever be produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios; and is also the first spin-off series to actually be produced by the studio itself, as most television series based on films in the Disney animated features canon - including "Big Hero 6: The Series" - are mainly done by Disney Television Animation.
Possible sequel.
On February 18, 2015, the film's directors, Don Hall and Chris Williams, said a sequel was possible. Hall added, "Having said that, of course, we love these characters, and the thought of working with them again some day definitely has its appeal." In March 2015, Genesis Rodriguez told MTV that a sequel was being considered, saying, "…There's nothing definitive. There's talks of something happening. We just don't know what yet." In April 2015, Stan Lee mentioned a projected sequel as one of several that he understood were in Marvel's plans for upcoming films. In March 2021, head animator Zach Parrish expressed a desire for a sequel, "There have definitely been stories told beyond... I think there’s still a lot of potential. There's still plenty of time. The beauty of animation is that can pick up the story at the very end of Big Hero, or we could jump in time. We could go wherever we want, since it's animation."
Other media.
Toys.
Vinyl toy company Funko released the first images of the toy figures via their "Big Hero 6" Funko. The POP Vinyl series collection features Hiro Hamada, Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred, and a 6-inch Baymax.
Bandai released a number of action figures related to the film; these toys including a number of different Baymax figures. One is a soft plastic 10-inch version that includes a series of projected stills from the film on his stomach, which can be changed when the figure's arm is moved, and which emits accompanying sounds. Deluxe Flying Baymax, which retails for $39.99, depicts the armored version of the character and features lights and sounds that activate at the push of a button. Placing the Hiro figurine on his back changes the sounds into speech and when the figure is tilted, the sounds are those of flying. The Armor-Up Baymax (original retail cost $19.99) comes with 20 pieces of armor that can be assembled onto the robot by the owner. The other characters from the film, including the other members of team and Professor Callaghan (who is called Yokai) are issued in 4-inch action figures, each of which have eight points of articulation.