After just taking home the animation crown, the Blu-ray release of Disney’s Big Hero 6 gives the world a chance to fall in love with this film (and it’s huggable robot) all over again.
The Film
Big Hero 6 tells the story of a boy genius, Hiro Hamada, and his robot, Baymax, who together form a ragtag band of crime fighters to save their home of San Fransokyo from a supervillain called Yokai. It’s Disney’s first animated superhero film and boy does it pack a punch. The six main characters of Hiro, Baymax, Honey Lemon, Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, and Fred have so much chemistry and really carry the entire film. Without this diverse bunch, the film would be a flop; however, Disney spent a lot of time making this team into one that we love and cheer for.
Bonus Features ✮✮✮1/2
Overall, the bonus features are a bit lacking; however the ones that Disney does include are very well done, informative, and fun.
- Feast Theatrical Short (6:13): If you haven’t seen Feast, then you are in for a real treat. This adorable short just won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and it definitely deserved the prize. Feast tells the story of a couple’s life, and the food they share, through the eyes of a Boston Terrier named Winston. Be prepared to go “Awww” and start googling photos of Boston Terriers upon watching.
- The Origin Story of Big Hero 6: Hiro’s Journey (15:10): This is your typical making-of featurette and Disney really outdid itself with this one. The short is hosted by Jamie Chung, who voices Go Go Tomago, although we don’t see much of her. Her voice and shots of her walking around San Francisco pop up every few minutes or so, but the real meat of the featurette are the interviews with the directors, producers, and other people involved in production. This featurette covers a wide gamut of information from story origins to characters to word building. The only issue I had with this bonus feature is that the interviews weren’t filmed on a tripod, but rather with a hand-held camera. As a result, they interviews themselves were a bit shaky. I found this distracting, but, other than that, the featurette was great.
- Big Animator 6: The Characters Behind the Characters (6:39): This features a round table interview with various animators who worked on Big Hero 6. It’s really engaging and great to hear the animator’s experience working on the film. The discussion is centered around the short test animations they created for each of the main characters, which helped to cement each character’s movements, gait, and personality.
- Deleted Scenes: This is another Blu-ray bonus feature staple that I’m glad Disney included. We see four clips introduced by the film’s directors Don Hall & Chris Williams. All of these clips are in storyboard for, since animated films typically have very few deleted finished scenes. These scenes include two alternate openings, a clip featuring Yokai’s group of baddies, and a cute scene between Hiro and Fred about a grappling hook.
- Big Hero Secrets (Easter Egg): An easter egg about easter eggs! This bonus feature isn’t easily found, but once you find it, it highlights all the fun easter eggs that the Disney crew hid within Big Hero 6. Check out this bonus feature below:
Final Thoughts
Big Hero 6 is one of the best films of the year and it’s Blu-ray really reflects this sentiment. While the Blu-ray is a bit light on bonus features, the ones that are included are very well done and informative. Meager bonus features aside, you’ll definitely want to add Big Hero 6 to your collection.
Purchase
Big Hero 6 Collector’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD: Amazon
Edited by: Hannah Wilkes
