Big Hero 6 is the fulfillment of the potential of Marvel Comics and superhero comic books into Disney animation! One of the most obscure comic book teams, they were set to make their debut in Alpha Flight #17 (1998) by Steven T. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau, the talented chaps that are part of Man of Action with Joe Casey and Joe Kelly. Still, there was a mini-series, Sunfire and the Big Hero 6 from the duo of Scott Lobdell and Gus Vazquez, that is technically their first appearance.
The name Big Hero 6 sounds like a nod to super sentai, Japanese super teams. The limited series was little known and was in the bargain bin for some time, but now they go for top dollar, lesson: get comics for fun not as investments! The superhero team was sanctioned by the Japanese government and brought on 13-year old Hiro Takachiho who builds the robot Baymax that can transform into a “Battle-Dragon.” There was a 2008 limited series by Chris Claremont and David Nakahyama that introduced Wasabi-No Ginger and Fred who can shift into Kaiju form.
Big Hero 6 has the directing team of Don Hall, who also co-directed the Winnie the Pooh (2011) film, and Chris Williams, the co-director of Bolt (2008). The screenplay was by Jordan Roberts, who wrote and directed the drama, You’re Not You (2012), Robert L. Baird, he co-wrote the screenplay of Monsters University (2013) along with Daniel Gerson. The talented group took the comic book, made the superhero team multicultural and changed their designs, and set it in an amalgam setting, San Fransokyo.
It opens with the night falling on the bridge of San Fransokyo to the Port of San Fransokyo, both landmarks of San Francisco, but I like the Tokyo touches. There are floating koi lights and several trains. The interesting part of the setting was that it was previewed at D23 Expo. There was a video of a cable car going down a San Fransokyo street. Then, there were multi-colored outlines of the characters, since they were different than the comic book, I struggled to identify all of them. The music by Henry Jackman perfectly captures the action and drama of the story.
The other part is that Marvel doesn’t have many fictional American cities. It “feels” like a real city, but a place I would like to live. We get to a seedy part of town with a dark alleyway. A light flares on and then we get robots bashing each other. The magenta-haired girl controller is facing off with a large man whose robots demolishes her bot.
The Ringleader (Charlotte Gulezian) with an eyepatch announces the winner, Yama (Paul Briggs). He voiced Marshmallow in Frozen (2013), but also works as a story artist. Yama is a massive bully in a track suit. He boasts about his robot, Little Yama, when he hears a timid voice volunteering to bot fight. This is Hiro Hamada voiced by Ryan Potter who is currently in the Titans streaming series. Hiro has the floppy hair of anime heroes and carries his bot, made of hexagonal pieces like Tinkertoys.
The crowd laughs at him, but Hiro pulls out a handful of bills. Hiro’s bot clunks over to fight Little Yama with the round body, samurai helmet, and clawed hands. His bot is sliced into pieces. Hiro asks for a rematch taking out a roll of bills. He has Megabot switch from his happy face to angry face, love it!, and assembles the pieces to tear Little Yama apart. Hiro is now smug and confident collecting the money.
This is exactly the matches that Peter Parker was competing in before he became Spider-Man. Yama feels hustled and takes Megabot away while his men close in on Hiro. His brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney), uses his moped to make their escape down the alley. Henney was Agent Zero in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). Tadashi is tireless in his dedication to his project and his brother. He wears a ballcap with the San Fransokyo Ninjas team logo. Yama holds up Megabot who switches to angry face, strikes him, and slides away.
Tadashi mentions Hiro graduated from high school at 13 and that he shouldn’t compete in illegal bot fighting. Hiro loves the thrill and holds out a handful of his winnings until Tadashi stops in front of several police cars! Hiro is alone in his cell while Tadashi is crushed against another cell of prisoners! They walk out of the station while Aunt Cass (Maya Rudolph) waits outside. Rudolph is of course known from Saturday Night Live, but she was also in Idiocracy (2006).
Aunt Cass runs her own business, Lucky Cat Café, and is supportive and honest with her nephews, very funny. She drives them back to her cafe. Hiro is still intent on bot fighting and Tadashi decides to take him. He is instead taken to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology which Hiro calls “Nerd School.” Tadashi heads to the robotics lab and Hiro is almost run over by the electro-magnetic bike of Go Go (Jamie Chung). The action series, Samurai Girl, starred Chung as the lead Heaven Kogo. She is the jock of the group, short hair with a purple streak, wearing black leather.
Then, Hiro is cautioned by Wasabi (Damon Wayan, Jr.) who wears a green sweater. Wayans, Jr. was brilliant in the comedy series, Happy Endings, as Brad Williams. Wasabi is very precise and almost OCD which makes for some funny lines. Wasabi throws an apple that is cut by plasma into paper thin slices! Then, Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez) rolls in a black ball of tungsten carbide, compound of tungsten and carbon, twice the density of steel. Rodriguez is in the drama Hours (2013).
Honey Lemon is upbeat, single focused, and the most supportive of the group with blond hair and glasses. Hiro identifes all of the experiments. She has a chemistry set of tubes and uses the solution to spray the ball pink before popping it like a balloon with a touch. Tadashi notes that they all have nicknames from Fred (T.J. Miller) who shows up in his lizard man mascot uniform. Miller starred as Erlich Bachman in Silicon Valley. Fred is obsessed about comic books, giving the group nicknames, and loves science though he is not a student. He has a lanky body with skater wear and a green beanie. This is an interesting, multicultural group.
Tadashi brings Hiro to his lab, he applies duct tape to his brother’s arm, and then rips it off! He shouts in pain and this activates the best robot; a bulky robot with an inflatable, Pillsbury Doughboy-ish, “huggable” shape. Baymax is voiced by Scott Adsit who was Greg Hart on Veep. The “personal healthcare assistant” hobbles over with his stubby, little feet. His voice is sincere, innocent, and perfect. Tadashi has programmed Baymax, it is interesting that he doesn’t have any medical consultation, but Baymax can scan and analyze patients. Baymax is also super strong. His programming is in a chip with a smiling doctor’s face that can be accessed through the port in his heart area.
Hiro is impressed. Baymax deactivates when the patients say they are satisfied with their care. He has a charging port that folds him up into a red, chibi box. They are interrupted by Robert Callahan voiced by James Cromwell. He has some incredible genre work including I, Robot (2004). Tadashi notes that Callahan is the inventor of laws of robotics. He looks Hiro’s robot and finds that his school is more challenging. Hiro is now obsessed with entering the school. This is the strongest message for young people learning science, not depicting them as strange like in Big Bang Theory, but improving the world through science.
At their room, Tadashi explains the school’s SFIT Showcase, the annual event features inventions and the one that impresses Callahan admits that person to the school. Hiro tries, but hits a wall, very funny, but his brother backs him. Inspired, Hiro starts to fill refuse bins in his garage with the help of everyone. The showcase is full of impressive tech, all of the friends back him, it is so inspiring. Tadashi finds that Hiro is worried about his presentation. He puts on his neuro-transmitter headband and shows the tiny micro-bot that looks like a limb of Megabot.
The bins drop and swarms of the microbots form into architectural and various shapes. The entire hall is impressed by Hiro’s invention. The group’s celebration is paused while Alistar Krei (Alan Tudyk) walks up to them. Tudyk is of course known for his voice work and is currently Mr. Nobody in the Doom Patrol series. Krei is the lead of Krei Tech and an ambitious industrialist. He offers Hiro to bring the microbots to Krei Tech. Callahan is angry at Krei’s “cutting corners”, but Hiro refuses him. Callahan gives Hiro the admission letter.
Aunt Cass offers dinner to all of the group. Tadashi walks with his brother to see the school at night where he welcomes Hiro to “Nerd School.” They hear an alarm and Tadashi rushes into the building to help Callahan when the building explodes. This is incredibly sad for a Disney and superhero movie and the very HEART of superhero stories. A part that is ignored by the MCU. Hiro stays in his room, he is caught between returning to his bot fighting, and ignoring school registration. Of course, there is the superhero call through his accidental dropping of Megabot on his foot. Baymax is activated. A very funny sequence with Hiro brushing off Baymax and finding a microbot.
This is a mystery that leads to Hiro following Baymax seeing the direction of the microbot in a petri dish. It ends at a warehouse where they see swarms of microbots under the control of a villain in a Kabuki mask called Yōkai, a sort of Japanese ghost, in the promotions. Hiro must use his genius to uncover the mystery of why his invention is being used, training Baymax into a martial arts, mecha superhero, and then giving the rest of his friends super suits. The Fall Out Boy "Immortals" song is great, "Every hero needs a theme song." A great mix of comedy, action, friendship, and behind it all the heart of superhero stories, the theme of being a hero for the right reasons. Big Hero 6: The Series airs on the Disney Channel and streams on Disney+. We all need Baymax and Big Hero 6 in our lives!
Five Microbots out of Five!
#BigHero6, #DonHall, #ChrisWilliams, #RyanPotter, #ScottAdsit, #JamieChung, #DamonWayansJr, #GenesisRodriguez, #TJMiller
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