I’ve been a Disney animated movie lover since I was old enough to watch my first films. I remember watching The Fox and the Hound in the movie theatre the summer I turned 5. Disney has a way of making movies—across the ages—for the kid in all of us. I love The Fox and The Hound just as much today as the day I first saw it in the theatre. Big Hero 6 is bound to be one of those timeless Disney animated features.
When I was in LA this summer, I had the chance to chat with Directors Chris Williams and Don Hall and Producer Roy Conli about the new Disney Animation Studios (DAS) feature film Big Hero 6.
Conli has been with DAS for 21 years, but he says that there has never been a “more creative and vibrant time than now” at DAS. The Story Trust at DAS is a group of directors that works with individual directors to help shape and create their films. The Story Trust has worked on lots of films over the years, including Bolt, Winnie the Pooh, The Princess and the Frog, Wreck-it Ralph, Tangled, Frozen, and now Big Hero 6. “We keep pushing ourselves to make each and every film unique and engaging, and at the same time we want to make sure that we are filling it full of heart and humor that the audience is expecting of Disney animation,” Conli said. “This film has that same heart. We continue to create new worlds and new characters.”
The creation of the movie Big Hero 6 was inspired by a lesser known Marvel comic series of the same name. The title is the biggest thing in common with the source material. The names of the characters are from the source materials, “but from there we took it and we were inspired to create an original story set in a new unique world that is totally made up and totally originated out of this building,” said Hall.
The 14-year old boy genius who specializes in robotics, Hiro Hamada, lives in the city of San Fransokyo. “It’s a city of the near future and a blend of San Francisco and Tokyo,” said Williams.
When I was visiting the studios in July, Conli mentioned that all hands were on deck finishing up the animation on the movie. Everything is created. While it’s nearly impossible to put an exact figure on how many person hours goes into creating a DAS feature film, Conli did say that for 4–5 months, about 400 people were working 60 hours/week to pull the feature together. I had no idea just how long it took to create an animated feature film. Hall said he started his research for Big Hero 6 the week after Winnie the Pooh was released in theaters—which was July 15, 2011. That’s more than 3 years to complete Big Hero 6!
Here is a closer look at some of the research, visual development art (vis dev art), and progressions used and developed in the process of creating an animated feature film.
“BIG HERO 6” – Filmmakers were inspired by the look of Japanese bells to create Baymax’s simplistic facial design. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – The production team took a research trip to Carnegie Mellon University where they learned about soft robotics, the cutting-edge technology that helped inspire Baymax’s inflatable, vinyl, truly huggable design. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – The production team took a research trip to Carnegie Mellon University where they learned about soft robotics, the cutting-edge technology that helped inspire Baymax’s inflatable, vinyl, truly huggable design. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – The production design team was impressed by the attention to detail that was given to even the most common objects in Tokyo, and was inspired to include the design aesthetic in the landscape of San Fransokyo. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Animators use character model sheets like this one of Hiro Hamada as a guideline that showcases the character’s range of facial expression. Drawings by Jin Kim. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Filmmakers used early “slice of life” concept drawings to explore Hiro’s personality. Drawing by Shiyoon Kim. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Filmmakers used early “slice of life” concept drawings to explore Baymax’s personality. Drawing by Shiyoon Kim. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Filmmakers captured the busy look of a bustling multicultural city in an early visual test of the look of San Fransokyo in the daytime. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Hiro Hamada’s ultimate look was achieved with character visual development like this design by Shiyoon Kim. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Visual development artist Lorelay Bove created character lineup concept art to showcase the “Big Hero 6” team. Pictured (L-R): Wasabi, Go Go Tomago, Honey Lemon, Fred, Hiro Hamada & Baymax. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – Visual development artist Lorelay Bove created character lineup concept art to showcase the “Big Hero 6” team. Pictured (L-R): Fred, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Go Go Tomago, Hiro Hamada & Baymax. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – The “Big Hero 6” character lineup pictures (L-R): Wasabi, Go Go Tomago, Honey Lemon, Fred, Hiro Hamada, Baymax, Aunt Cass, Tadashi Hamada, Professor Robert Callaghan and Yokai. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – (Progression Image 1 of 3) Filmmakers combed the streets of San Francisco to find this architectural gem that served as the inspiration for Aunt Cass’s Cafe. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – (Progression Image 2 of 3) Artists transformed the real-life inspiration to create concept art for the design of Aunt Cass’s Cafe. Drawing by Scott Watanabe. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
“BIG HERO 6” – (Progression Image 3 of 3) Filmmakers ultimately created a detailed and believable final look for Aunt Cass’s cafe that perfectly suits the film’s San Fransokyo setting. ©2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
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BIG HERO 6 opens in theaters everywhere on November 7th!
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[…] I saw snippets of the movie and met the directors at Disney Animation Studios this summer on a press trip to LA, I’ve been dying to see Big Hero 6. And today, you can see it […]