The magic of the newly minted Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Big Hero 6 is that it finds a way to be exciting, clever, and genuinely emotional in spite of being wholly inevitable. One of the film’s directors, Don Hall, mentions in one of this Blu-ray’s special features that once the Walt Disney Company bought Marvel, he essentially rifled through the various collections in the hopes of finding something to adapt for Disney’s animated purposes. Certainly, the source material was obscure, which helps in terms of creating a blank slate for audiences. But what Hall and co-director Chris Williams achieve in Big Hero 6 is a surprisingly effortless overall experience, in spite of some niggling plot-based issues.
The film opens in the Port of San Fransokyo, a blend of Tokyo and San Francisco that’s a nice way to build a world without spelling it out too much. Hiro Hamada is a 14-year old prodigy, having already graduated high school, but chooses to spend his time in the underworld of bot fighting for profit. His older brother Tadashi is able to convince him, after a rough outing that ended in jail, to join his so-called “nerd school,” where young minds are inspired to think beyond current technology to help create the future. (Hiro’s initially dismissive attitude is one of the few missteps of the film, considering that his next-level intelligence, by itself, defines him as a “nerd.”) But after a tragic fire, Tadashi dies, leaving Hiro with only one of his inventions, a health care companion robot named Baymax. Hiro decides to get revenge on the mystery figure who not only caused the fire, but stole his microbot tech to use for presumably nasty reasons. He does so with Baymax, whose “nonthreatening, huggable” figure can be manipulated with the right software updates (downloading karate moves is helpful). But Hiro soon realizes he needs Tadashi’s classmates to help out, forming the eponymous group.
There is, as you can see, a mystery of sorts, but its conclusion is far less interesting than the relationships the heroes share with each other. (The whole “surprise” surrounding the identity of the masked man is mostly a wash, in part because there are only so many preexisting characters from whom to choose.) This is largely about Hiro and Baymax (the latter voiced by Scott Adsit of 30 Rock, in a charming performance), and how the latter ends up helping the former cope with the loss of his father-figure brother. Tadashi’s friends—voiced by, among others, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, and Damon Wayans, Jr.—all add a dash of personality here and there, but only come to gain true multidimensionality in the last 40 minutes. It’s here when the masked villain reveals himself as well as his backstory. This is arguably less fascinating than the generally propulsive pacing of the first hour, but Hall and Williams create such a lively world that even the vagaries of the Marvel comic-book-movie structure (would it surprise you to learn that the film’s climax takes place in the big city, specifically centered on a large building being destroyed?) are overcome by its attitude and charm. In the end, what makes Big Hero 6 work so well is how oddly natural it feels, from the first scene.
A/V
Unsurprisingly, the audio and video quality of this Blu-ray reflects what home-media users have come to expect from Disney in relation to their new releases. The vibrant colors of San Fransokyo, as well as the equally colorful suits that Hiro designs for the team once they’re given superpowers of a sort, are brought to stunning life in high definition. And the symphony of unexpected sounds, from a fire-breathing super-suit to Baymax’s recreation of a fist-bump sound effect, sound as full as if booming from the best theater speaker. The transfer isn’t remarkable, granted; it’s exactly what should be the case for any new release on Blu-ray, but that’s enough.
Extras
On the one hand, there’s not a ton of special features on this Blu-ray. On the other, there’s actually more behind-the-scenes content on this disc—hell, in just one supplement alone—than on the entirety of the so-called “collector’s edition” Blu-ray of Frozen. How the most popular animated film of recent memory (as well as the highest-grossing animated film of all time) got such a weak release continues to boggle the mind. Aside from the short Feast, which played with Big Hero 6, the two major extras here are “The Origin Story of Big Hero 6” and “Big Animator 6.” The former is a 15-minute all-encompassing featurette hosted by Chung; the most notable tidbit is that Baymax’s fist-bump sound effect was an improvisation from Adsit that was then the inspiration for other gags in the film. The “Big Animator 6” feature is a too-brief roundtable with some of the animation supervisors discussing the project’s conception. Then, there are a handful of deleted scenes, including two alternate openings that prove, at the very least, the filmmakers were right to start with bot fighting. In general, the extras here aren’t that impressive; again, it’s what’s expected from Disney now, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing.
Overall
Extras aside, the Big Hero 6 Blu-ray is a fine purchase, thanks in no small part to the film’s fast-paced and entertaining style. And as an entrée into the world of Marvel, it’s a fine start.
