Big Hero 6 The Series: 6 Things We Learned

The moment Big Hero 6 debuted in 2014 it amassed a worldwide fanbase that fell in love with the colorful characters of Hiro, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go Go, Fred, and of course Baymax. Now three years later the team returns in Disney’s Big Hero 6 The Series.

At the premiere of the series in Little Tokyo, the executive producers of the series (Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley) along with Ryan Potter (Hiro) and Scott Adsit (Baymax) dropped some hints about the premiere and the series itself going forward.

The Pilot Expands On The Ending Of The Film

The original Big Hero 6 film ended with Hiro being able to repair Baymax, bring him back to life, and the team all went off to fight evil. It made a fine ending to the film but Schooley and McCorkle have expanded those three minutes into the story of the pilot. 

“We thought getting the team back together, “explains Schooley, “was kind of a fun story to ease you back into this world.”

Will Hiro’s Trauma Be Dealt With?

During the film Hiro suffered the loss of his big brother Tadashi and showed some signs of depression. Will the series tackle the fallout of this traumatic part of his life?

Potter says that, to keep the series on a light and hopeful note, “we won’t be battling depression the whole series but we will be battling some very real world events.”

Schooley elaborates that while they can’t deal with grief issues every week, “we do acknowledge it and Hiro is still processing (Tadashi’s death) over the course of the first season.” 

He also stresses that Tadashi is a big touchstone for the series and the entire creative team is very aware he has a huge fan base. “We wanted to keep his memory alive. He plays into some episodes in kind of a significant way.”

Potter also promises “every single character will definitely have their own unique arc. Every single one of them will go through their own real-world problems, outside of the villains.”

Science Is A Very Positive Thing

One of the things that excited Mark and Bob after watching the film was the positive spin it had on science and learning. Growing up as kids during the Space Race, science and learning was always a positive thing to them. This positive portrayal of science will continue in the series. 

“Of course being heroic and a good person is obviously the ultimate theme of the series, but there is something nice about (the lesson of) it’s cool to learn, it’s cool to be smart,” says McCorkle.

Part Of The Animation Style Is ”101 Dalmatians Meets Anime”

Right from the start of production the producers decided that 2D animation would best help the series stand apart from the series.  Even with that, it still took them a long time to nail down the look of the characters and backgrounds.

“The backgrounds, ultimately,” says McCorkle, “it’s sort of 101 Dalmatians meets anime. We sort of merged those two aesthetic approaches to come up with a look for our backgrounds.” The animation team also explored Japanese woodblock printmaking from the early 20^th century, which brought a lot of the detail into backgrounds as well. 

Those three styles ended defining the look of the series.

Baymax’s Heart

While discussing Bayman’s psychology, Adsit made it clear that Baymax is not a, “magical robot who has some soul that is just innate.” Instead over the course of the film he developed, “something of a soul but it’s in there so deep and it’s not a part of his programming. It’s in there, but he doesn’t quite know how to communicate it.”

When the moderator likened him to Spock, Adsit suggested, “Spock is fighting emotions and Baymax is looking for a route to get them out of his heart, out to you.”

Season Two Is Already Confirmed

Before the series has even premiered the production team is already hard at work on season two, with the second season being written right now.

If you want to know more about the premiere itself, make sure to check out our spoiler free review here.

Make sure to stay tuned for the premiere of Big Hero 6 The Series, which airs Monday November 20^th at 8:00PM EST on Disney XD and Disney Channel. Two more episodes will be available after that premiere and the series will debut sometime in 2018.

Shamus Kelley is hyped for this show. Mostly for the focus on the side characters. Follow him on Twitter!