D23 Expo 2013: Don Hall Gives An Exclusive Look At Disney & Marvel’s “Big Hero 6”

In 2009, the Walt Disney Company purchased the Marvel Comics name and brought the mega comic book company into the family. It was only a matter of time before the two would unite for one big film. Flash forward to 2013, when it was announced that the two would release an adaptation of Big Hero 6. It is one of Marvel’s lesser own titles, but one that is ripe for adaptation. Winnie the Pooh director Don Hall suggested that its obscurity would allow him to craft a great origins story, that combines Disney magic with Marvel action flair. Hit the jump to see what exactly he meant by saying that.

Set in the fictionalized city of blend of San Fransokyo: a hybrid of San Francisco and Tokyo, the film centers on a boy named Hiro, who lost tragically lost his brother. To cope with his loss, he meets Baymax, a large robot whose purpose to to take care of it’s users health. The cute robot, who somewhat resembles a penguin in the way it movies and looks, is then retrofitted by Hiro with red armor, wings, jet packs, and more.

He also teams up with his friends, who become more than average when he gives them their own suits, each matching a certain personality or physical quality. There’s Go Go, a bike messenger; Wasabi No Ginger, a sushi chef; Honey Lemon, a chemist and barista; and finally Fred, a comic book fanboy.

The overall look of Big Hero 6 has a heavy Japanese influence, almost as if it was anime but with a touch of CGI. Hall said this was a reprsentation of a boy’s dreams to be a hero and build large robots. I would like to think that he accomplished that task.

Now we will have to see if the first Disney and Marvel project can actually work.