Disney’s Big Hero 6 is Here!

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Erin

Disney’s Big Hero 6 is Here!

By Mindy Marzec

What do you get when you combine classic Disney animation with the action-adventure of live action Marvel super hero movies? The result is the stunning “Big Hero 6,” the 54th animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

“Big Hero 6” is set in the futuristic fantasy world of San Fransokyo, where young robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter) befriends a large inflatable robot, Baymax (voiced by Scott Adsit). Baymax was programmed to be helpful and compassionate, but when evil befalls the city, Hiro must help Baymax become an all-powerful fighting machine. They team up with Hiro’s friends GoGo Tomago (voiced by Jamie Chung), Wasabi (voiced by Damon Wayans Jr.), Honey Lemon (voiced by Genesis Rodriguez), and Fred (voiced by T.J. Miller) and become the high-tech super hero team Big Hero 6.

The movie is based on the Marvel comic of the same name, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. Marvel gave Disney their blessing to use the name and create their own story and universe, which is exactly what Disney did. “Big Hero 6” is certainly packed with action, but it also has that Disney heart and soul we come to expect. And I don’t want to give away spoilers, but yes, this one is a tear jerker so pack some tissues (think “Dumbo” and “Bambi” level heart-string-pulling). While we’ve come to expect tragedy in Disney movies, this one is a little different. The audience goes on an emotional journey with Hiro as we watch him deal with grief and then process those feelings and emotions throughout the film. It’s quite touching and groundbreaking for an animated movie. As the kids would say, it gave me “all the feels.”

Big Hero 6: Thoughts From the Cast & Creators

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Erin

Big Hero 6: Thoughts From the Cast & Creators

By Mindy Marzec

Last month I had the great privilege to see a screening of “Big Hero 6” and attend a press junket with some of the film’s creators and voice actors. It was a fun afternoon at the Disney studios in Burbank, CA, and I want to thank Erin at Horsing Around in L.A. for the experience! My review of the film is coming up, but first I wanted to introduce you to some of the creative geniuses behind “Big Hero 6,” then be on the look out for the scoop on the short film that runs before it, called “Feast,” tomorrow!

First we got a little background about how the film was made from Don Hall (Director), Chris Williams (Director), and Roy Conli (Producer). They were asked about how the project came to be and how similar it is to the original Marvel comic of “Big Hero 6.”

Don: “The project came from my love of comic books. It was a dream project to take these things (Disney and comics) and combine them. We inquired about the project because I liked the title, found out it was a Japanese super hero team and then became more intrigued, then actually read the comics and got really intrigued. And so when we met with Marvel and said, ‘We want to do Big Hero 6,’ they loved it, they loved the idea we were going to do, and they said ‘don’t worry about setting it in the Marvel universe. Do your own thing. Use your own creative and create your own world.” So then we created San Fransokyo, because that’s what we do first, right off the bat, what’s the world we’re dealing with here? We love fantasy and we do fantasy very well, and so we wanted to create a fantasy world. That’s what led to this mash up of San Fransokyo. We wanted this world to not be super powered beings walking around, there’s a reality to this world. And then super technology became everybody’s super power. So a lot of these little decisions took us farther away from the comic book.”

What about criticism from Marvel fans?

Don: “One thing about our process is, no matter what story you think you’re going to tell when you start out, it is going to be something else by the end. That’s just the way it is. (Changing the story) was always going to be that way. I will say that Duncan Rouleau, who is one of the co-creators of the original comic, just saw (the film) and loved it.”

Big Hero 6 in the Streets of San Fransokyo

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Erin

Big Hero 6 in the Streets of San Fransokyo

By Erin

*I attended an early press day for this film as a guest of Disney for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain my own. All photos and videos are courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.*

In just a little over a month, Big Hero 6 is set to launch into hearts everywhere and onto the big screen. Last month, I introduced you all to a First Look at Who’s Who in Disney’s “Big Hero 6″ where we met the Big Hero 6 Gang: Hiro Hamada, Baymax, Go Go Tango, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, & Fred.

Hiro & Baymax

Now, we’ll go into a little bit more detail about where all of the Big Hero 6 adventures are set to take place. The filmmakers decided to set the pace of this action-packed story into an all-new world that embraced the Japanese influences, but also provided a fresh take unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Director Don Hall thought about San Francisco originally, but then thought to mesh this city up with Tokyo to create the totally unique city of San Fransokyo. This created a much more playful and exotic tone to the setting of the film. It was something that could be created with endless visual possibilities between the two cities, which are pretty different aesthetically. By meshing these two unique cities together made for a really cool place to set the story.

Filmmakers took trips to both San Francisco and Tokyo and observed the unique architecture of each city to give San Fransokyo its visually distinct look.

Horsing Around In LA

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Disney’s Big Hero 6 is Here!