Disney’s latest 3D computer animated movie, Big Hero 6, may well have had a split release date with the US getting to see the film much earlier than in the UK and Europe, but both sides of the Atlantic have taken to the film well considering its box office success and the Best Animated Movie award it picked up at the 2015 Academy Awards. Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name, it’s the first animated crossover for the two massive brands, but it goes a long way to re-invent the storyline from that of the comic books that inspired it.
Release date
Big Hero 6 was released in the US on the 7th November 2014, following its Tokyo International Film Festival premier on the 23rd October 2014. However, the UK release date didn’t take place until the 30th January 2015, so Brits had nearly three months to wait to get to catch up with the other side of the pond-like divide, which is sort of a rarity with movies these days. It’s a similar story for the DVD, Blu-ray and digital download release too, with the movie already out for home home entertainment as of the 24th February 2015 in the US and the UK having to wait until the 25th May to catch up.
Storyline
While the story is inspired by the comic book, it’s actually bit more of a splinter effort than an adaptation. Instead of being set in Japan, the crazy robotic tale actually takes place in an imagined future-scape city called San Fransokyo as a young robotics genius called Hiro Hamada faces off against a kabuki masked mentalist.
With his trusty new robot buddy Baymax and a host of new friends, including chemistry wiz Honey Lemon, comic book nut Fred, big lazer-cutter Wasabi and the quiet action girl GoGo Tomago, the child prodigy must try to get to the bottom of the plot to steel his nano-bot technology. Check out the trailer below to get a glimpse of the movie in action if you haven’t seen it yet.
Cast
The cast for Big Hero 6 is far from being well known, with perhaps the biggest names being Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch, The Hangover 2 and Sin City: A Dame To Kill For) as GoGo Tomago and Damon Wallaims Jr. (Let’s Be Cops) as Wasabi. The film also stars relative newcomers Ryan Potter as Hiro, Daniel Henney as his older brother Tadashi, T.J. Miller (Transformers: Age Of Extinction) as Fred and Génesis Rodríguez as Honey Lemon.
Scott Adsit (30 Rock) plays the inflatable healthcare robot Baymax, Alun Tudyk (Wreck It Ralph, Frozen) voices tech businessman Alistair Krei and Maya Rudolph (Turbo) stars as Hiro and Tadashi’s Aunt Cass. James Cromwell voices Professor Robert Callaghan, the head of the robotics program at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, which Tadashi is keen for Hiro to join.
Production
Don Hall and Chris Williams have directed the movie. Williams was one of the story artists on Frozen and also voiced the shopkeeper Oaken. The screenplay was written by Jordan Roberts, Dan Gerson and Robert L. Baird.
Review
Big Hero 6 is a fun action adventure cartoon movie, with a solid concept built around the comic book story it’s based on. It’s the first computer animated crossover between Disney and Marvel, following the acquisition of the comic book legends back in 2009 and they’ve managed to deliver the movie with a lot of heart, a great sense of humour and a lot of great action.
There’s a sort of modern day variant of Hiccup in the characterisation of Hiro, who uses his robotics knowledge to upgrade Baymax with armour and karate skills to help him take down the mysterious kabuki psychopath. While we weren’t necessarily blown away by the film from the look of the trailer below, it went on to impress with great visuals that lend themselves well to 3D screenings. Read our full Big Hero 6 review for more details.
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