디즈니 Revival Rundown: ‘Big Hero 6′ 

Welcome to the Disney Revival Rundown! This week, we at Rotoscopers are analyzing some of the most recent Disney animated films, and what makes each one so great. At the end of the series we will have a fan vote to determine which is the best of them all!

when it first came out, because it was Disney, and at this point, the company had definitely hit it’s stride and had completely revitalized their films- just read any of the other articles from this series. But, I wasn’t rushing to the theaters when

 was originally released. I’m just not the biggest fan of superhero movies. Not that there is anything wrong with them by any means, they just aren’t my usual go-to genre of films.

(maybe two or three months after it hit theaters,) I couldn’t believe what I had been putting off for so long.

Yes, it was a superhero movie, and it was extremely well aware of the fact, and that’s part of the reason it was so amazing.

The story didn’t try to veil their sheer amount of super that there was to these heroes. They simply allowed each character to be themselves. This means that we got a wide array of diverse characters who were aware of that they were essentially superheroes, and they put all of their effort into fulfilling what that role.

The characters truly made this film so epic.

I hate to be that obnoxious writer that capitalizes everything, but Tadashi is definitely worth the caps lock.

I had previously been spoiled to Tadashi’s fate (oh yeah, there will be spoilers in this article, dear reader) and so, I wasn’t really expecting to feel that sad when he was gone. But that was probably one of the most heartbreaking deaths I have ever experienced in any movie ever.

Tadashi was basically the best role model that a younger brother could have. Hardworking and highly intelligent, he always wanted to help others, whether that be creating the ultimate health care companion, or risking his life for someone he cared about. He may not have had much screen time, but during every moment he was on screen, he was amazing. I did not expect to feel so connected to a character that we saw for such a little amount of time. He was completely developed, despite his early demise.

And this brings us to the amazing relationship between Tadashi and Hiro. I’ve never had any brothers, but the sibling relationship between the two felt very relatable to me. At times, they even reminded me of the relationship I have with my younger sister. The two brothers are extremely supportive of each other, even if they don’t always see eye to eye, with Hiro occasionally being annoyed with Tadashi, while Tadashi just continues to work in his brother’s best interests.

Hiro, our main protagonist, is also probably the most flawed of all of the characters too. A little bit of a brat, he gets thrown in jail in the first ten minutes we meet him, and rushes out again almost immediately after he is bailed. But, he also has great character growth. Going through puberty isn’t an easy experience for anyone, and when you are an orphaned genius whose brother has died as well, makes the experience positively heartbreaking. Throughout the film, he doesn’t always make the best decisions, from abandoning his friends on a spooky island, to trying to kill his nemesis. His attempts to do the right thing are almost heartbreaking, because who wouldn’t want to get revenge on the man responsible for your sibling’s death? But the relationship he had with his brother’s friends was amazing. While they didn’t know each other very well, each and every one of the supporting characters did so much to try and help Hiro. The relationships the film explores between the characters, focusing on siblings and friends instead of romantic entanglements, especially shows how far Disney has come in the last few years with their character and story developments. This movie proves that the animation company is just as competent at developing story lines of all relationships and not just romantic ones.

And this brings me to the nerd school- San Fransokyo Institute of Technology (SFIT.)

Being a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology (and well aware of the fact that my own younger sister probably thinks of it as a nerd school) I found SFIT extremely epic. I’ve seen the amazing things that students at my school do, and SFIT takes that to the next level. The technologies we see are so inspiring- I really hope that Hiro’s microbots or Tadashi’s health care companion are in the works with some scientist right now. This school inspires creativity, and with the evolution of the characters from nerds to heroes, this school fully proves that nerds do in fact, rule the world.

There’s Wasabi, perhaps the most normal of the gang, since he is constantly pointing out the absurdity of the situations that they are in, while the others just accept it. He is neurotic, but extremely cool for that. Everything from the use of his turn signals during a high speed car chase, to his super precise method of organization makes him extremely real and hysterical.

Go Go Tomago proves that girls can be both super sweet, independent, and kick-ass all in one. She may be a woman of few words, but the few words she does have are great. From her catchphrase, “Woman Up!” to her support of Hiro (and let’s not forget her mad driving skills) she kind of felt like a modern, technological Mulan.

Honey Lemon is long, lean, and beautiful. A mad scientist-esque Latina hippie, fluent in Spanish, Japanese, and English, and extremely optimistic. The incongruous nature of all of her descriptors makes her extremely lovable, and her chemistry skills are pretty epic.

And that brings us to Fred, perhaps the best breakout character of the gang. He may seem like the Shaggy of the group, but his role as the comic-book enthusiast who is the, “

school mascot by day, but by night… also a school mascot” makes him amazing. Every one of his lines are extremely quotable, and the fact that Stan Lee (Stan Frickin’ Lee!) is his dad (and a superhero to boot) is completely unexpected and perfect. And let’s not forget that he is super rich (and does not live under a bridge) and he has Heathcliff, another character of few lines, but whose every moment on screen as the stately British butler just helps to make Fred’s personality as the eccentric and personable comic-book lover, even more random and perfect. Plus, who can forget his amazing song, “Six intrepid friends lead by Fred, their leader, Fred. Fred’s Angels, m-m-m. Fred’s Angels, m-m-m. Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient amulet they found in the attic. M-m-m. The amulet is green. M-m-m. It’s probably an emerald.”

The storyline of the film was very impressive as well. When you think of everything that this movie was able to convey in such a short amount of time, it’s positively stunning. Fred said it himself: this is an origin story. It contains revenge, and heartbreak. Amazing technology, adventures, relationships, robots, superheroes, and villains. The superpowers each character got through their suits Hiro made were amazing and extremely original. Professor Callaghan was surprising (not

-level surprising, but still surprising nonetheless) and with his backstory, you can’t blame him too much for wanting revenge. The way he went around his revenge was awful, and his lack of sympathy over Tadashi’s death was devastating, but you wonder to what levels of madness he went through as well after he lost his daughter. Plus, there is that moment when Hiro could’ve become Callaghan when he tries to kill him. Without his friends, who knows what Hiro might’ve become? And since this is an origin story, it is perfectly set up for a sequel, perhaps more so than other movies that Disney has recently released, and in all honesty, despite my usual hatred of sequels, this is the one film that really and truly does deserve a sequel. The story was solid, but it also as a means of introducing us to these characters, and developing Hiro. A sequel could only benefit the character’s expansion, and allow them to have more time to explore their sheer superhero-ness.

The music and scenery, and the developed world of San Fransokyo really makes me wish that it were a real place. The amount of diversity within the world, and the beauty of each and every building makes this film one of Disney’s more visually stunning works.

At this point, you must be wondering why I haven’t yet mentioned our favorite health care companion. Well, since this is the last article in our Disney Revival Rundown, I felt that I must truly save the best for last.

Baymax is the sidekick to end all sidekicks. He has awesome character development, which was even mirrored in his movements throughout the film as he became less stiff and robotic and more flexible and caring. He does everything for Hiro, and is perhaps the best friend anyone can ask for. He is hysterical when he is drunk- I mean, low on battery power. He can fly, he’s very literal, and his fist bumps are legendary. Even though he is a sidekick, he perhaps one of the most developed characters we have seen from Disney’s latest films. There is so much to say about this character, but since I am sure that you are tired of me raving about this film, I will simply leave you with this:

[Update] Oh yeah, this movie also won the Best Animated Feature at the Oscars last night, proving once and for all, that Disney is back, and their movies are better than ever.

What do you think of ‘Big Hero 6’? Where do you think it ranks in the Disney Revival Rundown?

I loved this movie. It is the Tangled of Non Musicals cause none of it feels slow, everyone is likeable and Baymax. Baymax is the most lovable sidekick since Genie from Aladdin. And I especially loved San Fransokyo. It feels so real yet so new. Big Hero 6 reminds me of my older bro telling me to do great things and because of him I’m going into a career in journalism.

Baymax was adorable In fact all characters were amazing.Movie was awesome but it is not as good as frozen or tangled or wreck-it-Ralph.

They should have a gold Baymax statue for the Oscar party at Disney.

You forgot to mention how subtle the themes in the film was.

Hiro mirrors Callaghan in that both lost a loved one, but both went on different parts because Hiro had friends to comfort and support him. He also almost became Callaghan when he tried to kill him.

Hiro mirrors Tadashi, as Hiros actions in the end mirrored Tadashi selfless actions in the beginning.

Baymax mirrors Tadashi, for obvious reasons and his sacrifice to save Hiro

You described simply everything that I love about Big Hero 6 in this article. Big Hero 6 is my favourite in the Disney Revival. At first when I heard that Disney was going to make Big Hero 6 into a Disney movie I was nervous how it would turn out as Disney movie since Im not a Marvel fan. But when the first trailer for Big Hero 6 was released I fell in love with Baymax and was excited to see more because to me it didn’t feel like a Marvel movie but more like a Disney movie. When I saw the movie I found many similarities to Hiro reminding me back when I was at his age. I loved the animation in this movie because many sequences in the movie looked very realistic which was really impressive. I didn’t really have a favourite character cause many of them were very good in their own way but I think that Hiro was close as my favourite or Baymax. I loved Maya Rudolph’s voice work as Cass I just wish her character had more screen time same for Tadashi. My favourite line from her was “Stress eating”. Although the film was to rushed in the beginning and could have used that deleted scene from the DVD where we see more of Hiro and Tadashi as they grow up and testing their invention on Mochi. And the villain Callaghan just felt kinda lazy in my opinion and the ending also felt rushed and then I mean after satisfied with my care and before reboot I wanted to see more before the reboot. Other than that Big Hero 6 is one of the best Disney movies I have seen and so far this remains as my favourite in the Disney Revival.

My take: it should have just been about the boy and his robot.

The first 15-20 minutes I really liked – Hiro is refreshingly rebellious, Tadashi feels exactly like a good, caring older brother. I actually saw some of myself in Hiro – I’ve recently felt a lack of direction in my life and it was really inspiring to see him go from being a rebel to being a possible star student at SFIT.

The rest of the first half wasn’t quite as strong – it started to feel more paint-by-numbers, but Baymax was fun and his relationship with Hiro was well-executed.

Once the second half hits, though, I’m not as big a fan. Out of the other heroes, only Fred actually stood out, since I actually learned something about him other than his personality – the rest honestly felt like forgettable archetypes. The film keeps pushing the notion that they’re Hiro’s “friends” and the importance of that, but I didn’t buy into it – the formation of the team felt forced and the sole line implying their motivation was to avenge Tadashi didn’t convince me.

While Hiro’s arc still came through well for the most part, I didn’t care about the other heroes or the villain much – and the ending, without spoiling, felt like a frustrating step back that left an earlier poignant scene feeling hollow for me.

Overall… I think it’s just okay – one aspect done well, the rest not so much. I wish another film had won the Oscar, although I didn’t see all of the nominees.

Yeah, the relationship between Hiro and Tadashi reminded so much of mine with my older brother. He does his best to look out for me and doesn’t hesitate to help me with my problems.

Wasabi is the guy I relate to the most since I have a slight OCD problem and question everything that goes on around me. Also LASERS ARE AWESOME!

GoGo interestingly enough is voiced by the same woman (Jamie Chung) who played Mulan on Once Upon a Time but that’s probably why you said that. XD HER WHEELS ARE AWESOME.

Honey Lemon is adorable and I wish we got to know more about her. HER PURSE IS AWESOME!

Baymax in my opinion isn’t a sidekick. He’s no where near that. He’s a hero through and through. He gave Hiro the comfort and support that was needed after Tadashi died and gave his ‘life’ to save Hiro and Abigail near the end. The team is called Big Hero 6 for a reason because there are 6 heroes.

Baymax is just like Genie. On paper they seem like sidekicks but in all honesty they are the most pivotal part of the film

I did like this film a lot but I just feel they missed out on stuff I thought they would have made this a clear winner

Don Hall & Chris Williams: ‘Big Hero 6′ Sequel a Possibility, But Not Yet in Development

Use the hashtag #RotoShirt on Instagram to have your photo featured here!