Hitting our shores in a few short weeks, Big Hero 6 presents the Marvel Universe through the Walt Disney Animation Studios lens, being the first full on adaption by Disney of a Marvel Comics property. Without any involvement from Marvel Studios, this obscure comic book team, who first saw the light of day in 1998, was a blank slate for the Disney Animation team, but instead of totally pulling asunder what came before, the core themes and characters were kept intact, while necessary changes were made to suit the new medium. But just where do these heroes come from?
Created by Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle (two fifths of Man of Action, the team behind popular kids cartoon Ben 10), Big Hero 6 haven't had much in the way of exposure in their history, with only two miniseries (one in 1998, and then one again ten years later) and a handful appearances in other comics to their name. A team of super heroes sanctioned by the Japanese government, they began life with serious ties to the X-Men, with two of their number, Silver Samurai and Sunfire, being important to the mythos of Marvel's team of mutants at the time. This was downplayed as time went on, and soon the team stood on it's own two feet with the core members we know from the movie. It's from here the deviations begin. Of course, the movie version isn't created by the government, but in fact a group of science student friends, and the wonderfully vibrant and massive San Fransokyo is a creation I think only the minds at Disney could envision. Most of the characters deviate quite a bit from their comic book counter parts, but do retain some of aspects of their original character, like Honey Lemon's 'power purse', or Fred's (Fredzilla in the comic, due to the fact he could transform into a massive monster) love of Kaiju.
The biggest connection to the comic comes in the form of Hiro (his second name Takachiho changed to Hamada for the movie), who retains the precocious teenage robotics genius persona, and his robotic sidekick, and best friend, Baymax. The squashy, balloon like Baymax is far removed from his original incarnation, a human like robot that could switch between different forms, like that of a dragon and an armed to the teeth mech warrior. But the emotional connection between Hiro and Baymax remains intact. Whereas the movie has Baymax as a reminder of his inventor, Hiro's deceased and sorely missed brother, the comic book Baymax was created by Hiro, and programmed with the brainwaves of his dead father creating a deep connection between the two, manifested by the fact that Baymax would never leave Hiro's side.
Our review goes online this week, and let's just say we don't throw around the words one of the best animated movies of the last 10 years, easily.
