Big Hero 6



""We didn't set out to be superheroes. But sometimes life doesn't go the way you planned. The good thing is, my brother wanted to help a lot of people and that's what we're going to do.""

- Hiro Hamada, closing narration

Big Hero 6 is Disney's 54th entry in its animated canon line-up, (very loosely) based on the Marvel Comics series of same name. It's animated in 3D using computer-generated imagery, and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2015.

The film tells the story of 14-year-old Hiro Hamada. A young prodigy, he has already graduated high school and spends his time hustling at bot fights -- at least until his older brother Tadashi decides to step in and takes Hiro to his lab. There Hiro not only meets Tadashi's fellow students (and an unenrolled layabout who is also the school mascot), he meets Tadashi's project -- Baymax, an inflatable robot nurse. Inspired by the cool tech and the possibilities, Hiro decides he wants in -- but to get in, he needs to come up with something mindblowing for the upcoming Science Expo in order to impress Dr. Callaghan, the head of the program.

Which he does, by presenting a swarm of tiny robots controlled with a neural interface, which can move on their own, assemble themselves into any shape, assemble raw materials into finished structures, and do pretty much anything their controller can imagine. He wows the Expo, and is given an invitation to join the same program as Tadashi. But Hiro's moment of triumph is shattered when the Expo is firebombed, destroying his microbots -- and Tadashi dies trying unsuccessfully to rescue Dr. Callaghan from the flames.

Hiro plunges into a state of apathetic depression, and is only roused from it when he accidentally activates Baymax -- whose attempts to deal with Hiro's emotional state lead to the discovery that Hiro's microbots are not as destroyed as he thought. Instead, they are being manufactured in huge amounts by a strange figure in black wearing a kabuki mask (called "Yokai" on The Merch but unnamed in the film); Yokai understandably takes offense at Hiro's investigation.

Hiro and Baymax escape, only to return to the pursuit of the man in the mask after reporting the situation to the authorities proves to be useless. They trail him to the waterfront, and inadvertently involve the other students when they show up to counsel and comfort Hiro in response to an earlier call by Baymax. A frenetic Car Chase ensues, and though Yokai makes several attempts on their lives, they escape, taking refuge in Fred's home. There Hiro convinces the others to help him take down Yokai in revenge for both Tadashi and Dr. Callaghan's deaths. It's fanboy Fred, though, who comes up with the idea to take their research projects and use them to become superheroes. He's even sure he knows who Yokai really is...

In a matter of days they are armored, equipped, and ready to face Yokai again. Using Baymax's medical sensors cranked Up to Eleven, they locate him on an island in San Fransokyo bay, where they discover his real identity, his motives, and his ultimate target -- and none of them are what the team expected. And when Hiro forces Baymax to berserk in an attempt to kill Yokai in revenge for Tadashi's death, the nascent team may well break apart before they really become a team.

What happens next may determine the fate of San Fransokyo...

"HOLY MOTHER OF MEGAZON!"
 * Actor Allusion: James Cromwell, who plays robotics pioneer Dr. Robert Callaghan, also played robotics pioneer Dr. Alfred Lanning in I, Robot.  Both are credited with codifying the Laws of Robotics.
 * Actual Pacifist: Baymax, because of his programming to be a healer.
 * Alternate Universe: Word of God confirms that this film takes place in a version of Earth where a massive influx of Japanese immigrants helped rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire, and contributed innovations to help earthquake-proof the city.  In appreciation and their honor the city was renamed to "San Fransokyo".  It's also explicitly not the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
 * Arc Words: "I am satisfied with my care."
 * Also, "Shake things up! Use that big brain of yours to think your way out! Look for a new angle."
 * And, "Tadashi is here."
 * Ascended Fanboy: Fred.
 * Avoid the Dreaded G Rating: Rated PG.
 * Badass Adorable: Honey Lemon.
 * Badass Longcoat: Yokai.
 * Badass Normals: Everyone on the team but Baymax eventually becomes this.
 * Berserker: Baymax when Hiro swaps memory cards on him.
 * The Big Guy: Baymax.
 * Blob Monster: The microbots under Yokai's command are very much a technological version of this in many ways, except they can't absorb and consume things.
 * Brain-Computer Interface: Hiro's microbots are controlled by a neural interface which he initially has in a headband, but which Yokai installs into a kabuki mask.
 * The Cameo: Stan Lee, as is pretty much mandatory for a Marvel-based film.
 * Car Chase: And there are no red lights during it -- at least according to GoGo.
 * Car Fu: Yokai throws a car at Hiro and the other students as they race away from the waterfront.
 * Catch Phrase:
 * Baymax: "Oh, no" and "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?"
 * Honey Lemon: "It's really... not."
 * Chekhov's Gun: The early parts of the film are well-supplied with them, waiting to be fired anywhere from midway through the film (how all the students' projects in the "nerd lab" become their equipment/powers) to the end (Fred's facility with a sign in hand).
 * Cool Gate:
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Alistair Krei, according to Dr. Callaghan.
 * Crush! Kill! Destroy!: Baymax, once Hiro swaps memory cards on him and orders him to kill Yokai.  He nearly kills the whole team before they can stop him.
 * Dead Big Brother: Tadashi, to Hiro.
 * Disneyfication: Big time.  Except for a few names and the fact that Baymax is a robot, this movie bears almost no resemblance to the Marvel comic which spawned it.
 * Eldritch Abomination: Yokai plus the microbots definitely give off this vibe at times.
 * The Faceless: Yokai.
 * Foe-Tossing Charge: Baymax when Hiro forces him to berserk.
 * Foreshadowing: When Hiro first meets everyone at Tadashi's lab, they are all working on something that becomes the basis for their armor or their "powers".
 * Genre Savvy: Fred.
 * Goofy Suit: Fred, both as the school mascot and as a member of the team.  Averted in that he's not at all troubled by having to wear either.
 * Hard Work Montage/Time Compression Montage: An unusual example of both combined when Hiro is developing his microbots; rather than getting the series of key shots that usually makes up a Time Compression Montage, we get a Time Lapse sequence that speeds through at least a week or two of real time.
 * The Hard Work Montage is also subverted immediately prior to this when Hiro sits down to brainstorm what his project will be. As he gears up to work, we get dramatic shots matched to "Eye of the Tiger" -- which then promptly screeches to a halt the moment he's about to put pencil to paper.
 * Heroic BSOD: Hiro after Tadashi's death.  It lasts weeks.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:.
 * Hustling the Mark: Hiro does this with Yama, and it's implied that it's his usual modus operandi at robot fights.
 * Ink Suit Actor:
 * Instant Expert: Baymax knows kung fu.
 * It's Personal: Seems to be at least one of the reasons Tadashi's fellow students join with Hiro against Yokai.
 * The Kid with the Remote Control: Hiro, essentially.
 * Killer Robot: Baymax when Hiro swaps memory cards on him.
 * Letting the Air Out of the Band: See Hard Work Montage above.
 * Mask Power: Very literally in the case of Yokai -- Hiro quickly figures out that he must have the neural controller for the microbots incorporated into his kabuki mask.
 * Meaningful Name: Hiro (pronounced identically to "hero").
 * Bot fighter Yama ("mountain" in Japanese) is huge and physically imposing.
 * Yokai ("spirit" in Japanese)
 * GoGo is the adrenaline junkie and ends up the speedster of the team.
 * Morality Chip/Personality Chip: The memory card with Baymax's programming -- including his pacifism -- on it.  Hiro replaces it at a key point with a different chip that turns Baymax into a Berserker Killer Robot.
 * Mythology Gag: Fred's "giant lizard" mascot costume and his complaint that no one has made him a serum that lets him turn into a monster both refer to the power his comic book counterpart possesses.
 * Neat Freak: Wasabi.
 * Never Bareheaded: Yokai wears a tight cowl which leaves only enough of his face bare to cover with the mask.  Since the mask incorporates the microbots' neural controller, this actually make sense.
 * The Nicknamer: Fred, who gave all the others their nicknames.
 * No Name Given: The other students in the "Nerd Lab" are all known solely by their nicknames; we never learn their real names.
 * Likewise "Yokai", the villain's sobriquet, is never actually used; in fact, it can only be found on the licensed toys.
 * Non-Indicative Name: The title seems at first glance to refer to Baymax.  It doesn't -- it's the name of the team, although it is never actually used in the course of the story.  (It does appear on a headline in a newspaper seen under the closing credits, though.)
 * The Reveal: Yokai's mask comes off surprisingly early, but the face behind it only leaves the team with bigger questions.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Yokai's motivation.
 * Also Hiro's -- and it briefly becomes very literal when he swaps Baymax's memory cards and orders him to kill Yokai.
 * Robots: Tadashi and Hiro are both geniuses at robotics, and the plot revolves around the robots they create.
 * Robot Buddy: Baymax, to Hiro.
 * Rocket Fist: Hiro builds one into the armor he makes for Baymax.
 * Secret Identity: Yokai.  Subverted in that the team finds out what it is in their second encounter with him.
 * Averted by the team themselves. Save for Fred, who's essentially wearing a monster-shaped battlesuit, their faces are not hidden, and they use their usual nicknames.
 * Sentai: The Big Hero 6 team definitely has a strong sentai influence.
 * Shout-Out: The film is littered with them:
 * In the second bot fight with Yama, the combat ends with a series of moves very similar to two scenes from The Incredibles: where Dash rapidly punches a mook, and the Omnidroid destroying itself with its own arm.
 * Honey Lemon's "Blue Dragon" acetylene torch has a logo inspired by that of Dragonball Z.
 * During the first traveling shot through the Science Expo, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter can be seen talking to a blonde woman.
 * One of the competitors at the Science Expo is demonstrating the brain-wave analyzer created by Emmett Brown in Back to the Future.
 * Alistair Krei may reference Cray Computers.
 * Mochi the cat can be seen wearing a Stitch costume in a photo hanging in the stairway of the Hamada home.
 * The video game Sugar Rush can be seen in an arcade.
 * Hiro's room has the following:
 * A Mazinger Z wall clock.
 * A Dalek figurine on one of his shelves.
 * On the desk next to his computer monitor is what looks to be the head of EVE from WALL-E.
 * A figure of Wreck-It Ralph on top of his monitor.
 * In the police station can be seen a wanted poster for Prince Hans from Frozen, a wanted poster for Flynn Rider from Tangled (with a huge nose), and a photo of Bolt.
 * Fred's room includes:
 * A Stitch pillow on his bed.
 * A statuette of Elastigirl from The Incredibles
 * A case of masks that appear to be from Super Sentai/Power Rangers.
 * A life-size statue of Saitine from Wreck-It Ralph
 * Mannequins wearing the costumes of minor Marvel Comics villains Orka and Black Talon.
 * A copy of Marvel Premiere #32 (October 1976) featuring Monark Starstalker.
 * The escape pod Ralph used to escape Hero's Duty in Wreck-It Ralph
 * A cabinet video game called District 51 which appears to be an Expy of Area 51
 * A statue of Prince Hans from Frozen, which is destroyed by the first test of Baymax's Rocket Fist.
 * While Hiro is designing Baymax's armor, a schematic that looks like the top half of Iron Man's helmet can be seen.
 * Hiro's armor looks like Ratchet's.
 * A ship from Arendelle (in San Fransokyo bay) and a statue of Olaf can be seen during Hiro and Baymax's first flight.
 * A McMaster-Carr catalog can be seen in Hiro's final scene.
 * The briefs hanging in the vault finds in the Stinger are actually Palette Swapped versions of the shorts the original version of Mickey Mouse wore.
 * Squick: Fred's underwear "cycle".
 * Stinger: As is common for both Disney and Marvel films.
 * The Swarm: Hiro's microbots, especially under Yokai's control.
 * Take a Level In Badass: Everyone on the team -- including Baymax -- has to do this in order to come out triumphant.  They all do it within a few seconds of each other during the final fight with Yokai.
 * Teen Genius: Hiro.
 * Teleporter Accident:
 * Toilet Humour: When Hiro and Baymax first find the warehouse in which Yokai is manufacturing microbots, a small window is the only way in.  And the only way Baymax can get through it is to deflate himself partially.  Cue long, long whistling fart-like noise.
 * Trailers Always Lie: Among other things, they make Baymax appear to be rather dimwitted and easily distracted.
 * Training Montage: We see each member of the team getting used to their equipment and practicing snatching a mask off a living target.  Subverted in that each member trains up individually and not as a team, which causes problems the first time they face Yokai.
 * Unusual Euphemism: From Fred, of course:
 * Training Montage: We see each member of the team getting used to their equipment and practicing snatching a mask off a living target.  Subverted in that each member trains up individually and not as a team, which causes problems the first time they face Yokai.
 * Unusual Euphemism: From Fred, of course:


 * Wetware CPU: Whoever wears the neural interface for the microbots.  By themselves they can do nothing; they need a human mind directing them.