Big Hero 6 (film)

Theatrical release poster

***Big Hero 6*** is a 2014 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 54th film produced by the studio, it is loosely based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name created by Man of Action. It was directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams from a screenplay by Jordan Roberts, Robert L. Baird, and Daniel Gerson, and produced by Roy Conli. The film stars the voices of Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Daniel Henney, T. J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph, and Alan Tudyk. *Big Hero 6* tells the story of Hiro Hamada, a young robotics prodigy, and Baymax, his late-brother Tadashi's healthcare-provider robot, who form a superhero team to combat a masked villain who is responsible for Tadashi's death.

*Big Hero 6* is the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics characters, whose parent company was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2009. Walt Disney Animation Studios created new software technology to produce the film's animated visuals.

*Big Hero 6* premiered at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 23, 2014, and at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival on October 31; it then premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on November 4, and was released in the United States on November 7, in the 2D, Disney Digital 3D, and RealD 3D formats. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the animation, action sequences, pacing, entertainment value, heart, and emotional weight. It grossed over $657.8 million worldwide and became the highest-grossing animated film of 2014. *Big Hero 6* received several awards and nominations: seven nominations for Annie Awards (winning one) and a Golden Globe. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film won Best Animated Feature.

A television series, which continues the story of the film, aired from 2017 to 2021 on Disney Channel and Disney XD. A two-season short series, *Baymax Dreams*, premiered in 2018. Another series, *Baymax!*, premiered on Disney+ on June 29, 2022. A sequel, *Big Hero 6: Searching for Lost Souls*, was released on November 21, 2029.

## Plot

In the futuristic city of San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo), 14-year-old high school graduate and robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada is competing in underground robot fights for a living, constantly dodging violent threats from his bitter, defeated opponents. In an effort to get Hiro out of this dangerous lifestyle, his older brother Tadashi takes him to his research lab at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Hiro meets Tadashi's friends Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred, as well as his creation Baymax — an inflatable healthcare robot — and his mentor, Professor Robert Callaghan. Inspired, Hiro gives up his robot fighting habits and applies to the university, impressing the school's showcase with his project: a swarm of tiny microbots that can link together in any configuration using a neural transmitter. Callaghan accepts him into the school, and Hiro rejects tech giant Alistair Krei's offer to buy the microbots. When a fire erupts moments later, Tadashi rushes inside to save Callaghan, but dies when the building collapses after an explosion resulting from the fire.

Two weeks later, Hiro inadvertently activates Baymax, and they follow his only remaining microbot to an abandoned warehouse, where they discover someone has been mass-producing the microbots. A man wearing a Kabuki mask attacks them with the microbot swarm, but they escape, and Hiro suspects the masked man set the fire to cover his theft of the microbots. Determined to avenge his brother's death, Hiro equips Baymax with armor and a chip programmed with martial arts moves for defense, and they return to find the warehouse empty. At the nearby docks, Baymax summons Tadashi's friends, and the group is attacked by the masked man but escapes after driving into a lake. Once they resurface, the group stops at Fred's mansion, where Hiro upgrades Baymax's armor and he and the others weaponize their various inventions to take on the masked man, whom they suspect is Krei.

They track the masked man to Krei's abandoned island lab, which they discover was used for teleportation research until a test pilot disappeared inside a portal, leading the government to shut down Krei's experiment and seal off the island. The masked man suddenly attacks the group, but Hiro knocks off the man's mask, revealing him to be Callaghan, who was thought to be dead. Callaghan reveals that he had actually escaped, using the microbots to shield himself from the flames. Shocked and enraged that Tadashi died in vain, Hiro removes Baymax's healthcare chip and orders him to kill Callaghan, but his friends intervene and Honey re-installs the chip at the last second. Callaghan escapes with the microbots, and Hiro, angered by his friends’ actions against Callaghan, flies off with Baymax, still intent on avenging Tadashi.

When they return home, Hiro tries to remove the healthcare chip again, but Baymax blocks his access port and shows him footage of Tadashi's numerous tests during Baymax's development, reminding Hiro that his brother's goal was to help others not harm them. Hiro apologizes to Baymax and his friends; through research, they discover the lost test pilot was Callaghan's daughter, Abigail.

Having stolen the microbots to seek revenge on Krei, Callaghan reactivates the teleportation portal to destroy Krei and his headquarters during a ceremony, but Hiro, Baymax, and their friends defeat Callaghan and save Krei. Baymax detects Abigail alive inside the portal, and despite Krei’s attempts to keep them away from the portal because of its instability, Hiro and Baymax leap through and find Abigail trapped in hyper-sleep in her rocket. While helping Hiro transport Abigail out of the portal, Baymax is struck by debris, disabling his thrusters and forcing him to fire his rocket fist, leaving him behind while propelling Hiro and Abigail back through the portal before it is destroyed. Abigail regains consciousness, and Callaghan is arrested.

Hiro joins his friends at the university, and discovers Baymax's healthcare chip clenched in the rocket fist. He rebuilds Baymax, and they and their friends continue to protect the city as a team of high-tech superheroes, known as Big Hero 6.

In a post-credits scene, Fred stumbles upon a secret superhero lair in his family mansion and is reunited with his father, who tells him they have a lot to talk about.

## Voice cast

*Further information: List of Disney's Big Hero 6 characters*

* Scott Adsit as Baymax, an inflatable robot built by Tadashi as a medical assistant. Hall said, "Baymax views the world from one perspective – he just wants to help people, he sees Hiro as his patient". Producer Roy Conli said "The fact that his character is a robot limits how you can emote, but Scott was hilarious. He took those boundaries and was able to shape the language in a way that makes you feel Baymax's emotion and sense of humor. Scott was able to relay just how much Baymax cares".
* Ryan Potter as Hiro Hamada, a 14-year-old robotics prodigy. Speaking of the character, co-director Don Hall said "Hiro is transitioning from boy to man, it's a tough time for a kid and some teenagers develop that inevitable snarkiness and jaded attitude. Luckily Ryan is a very likeable kid. So no matter what he did, he was able to take the edge off the character in a way that made him authentic, but appealing".
* Daniel Henney as Tadashi Hamada, Hiro's older brother and Baymax's creator. On Tadashi and Hiro's relationship, Conli said "We really wanted them to be brothers first. Tadashi is a smart mentor. He very subtly introduces Hiro to his friends and what they do at San Fransokyo Tech. Once Hiro sees Wasabi, Honey, Go Go, and Fred in action, he realizes that there's a much bigger world out there that really interests him".
* T.J. Miller as Fred, a comic-book fan and slacker who is also a team mascot at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Speaking of Miller, co-director Chris Williams said "He's a real student of comedy. There are a lot of layers to his performance, so Fred ended up becoming a richer character than anyone expected", both literally and metaphorically.
* Jamie Chung as Go Go, a tough, athletic student who specializes in electromagnetics. Hall said "She's definitely a woman of few words. We looked at bicycle messengers as inspiration for her character".
* Damon Wayans Jr. as Wasabi, a smart, slightly neurotic youth who specializes in lasers. On the character, Williams said "He's actually the most conservative, cautious—he [*sic*] the most normal among a group of brazen characters. So he really grounds the movie in the second act and becomes, in a way, the voice of the audience and points out that what they're doing is crazy".
* Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon, a chemistry enthusiast at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Williams said "She's a glass-is-half-full kind of person. But she has this mad-scientist quality with a twinkle in her eye – there's more to Honey than it seems".
	+ Rodriguez reprised her role in the Latin American Spanish dubbing of the movie.
* James Cromwell as Robert Callaghan / "Yokai", the head of a robotics program at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology who becomes an extremely powerful masked supervillain, who plots revenge against Krei.
* Alan Tudyk as Alistair Krei, a pioneer entrepreneur, tech guru, and the CEO of Krei Tech and is always on the hunt for the next big thing.
* Maya Rudolph as Cass, Hiro and Tadashi's aunt and guardian.
* Katie Lowes as Abigail Callaghan, the daughter of Professor Callaghan and a test pilot for Krei Tech.
* Daniel Gerson as Desk Sergeant Gerson, the desk sergeant for the San Fransokyo Police Department.
* Paul Briggs as Yama, a notorious gangster who seeks revenge after Hiro defeats his robot in a clandestine robot fight with illegal betting.
* David Shaughnessy as Heathcliff, Fred's family butler.
* Billy Bush as Newscaster
* Stan Lee as Fred's dad, who appears during the tour of Fred's house in a family portrait and briefly appears at the end of the credits.