Big Hero 6 is a 2014 American animated superhero film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, which is loosely based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name created by Man of Action. It was directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams from a screenplay by Jordan Roberts, Robert L. Baird, and Daniel Gerson, and produced by Roy Conli. The film stars the voices of Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph, and Alan Tudyk. Big Hero 6 tells the story of Hiro Hamada, a young robotics prodigy, and Baymax, his late brother Tadashi's healthcare-provider robot. They form a superhero team to combat a masked villain responsible for Tadashi's death.
Big Hero 6 is the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics characters, whose parent company was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2009. Walt Disney Animation Studios created new software technology to produce the film's animated visuals.
Big Hero 6 debuted at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 23, 2014, and was released in the United States on November 7. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised it for its animation, action sequences, pacing, entertainment value, heart, and emotional weight. It grossed over $657.8 million worldwide and became the highest-grossing animated film of 2014. Big Hero 6 received several awards and nominations: it received seven nominations for Annie Awards and won one, and also received a Golden Globe. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film won Best Animated Feature.
A television series, which continues the story of the film, aired from 2017 to 2021 on Disney Channel and Disney XD. A two-season short series, Baymax Dreams, premiered in 2018. Another series, Baymax!, premiered on Disney+ on June 29, 2022.
Plot
In the futuristic city of San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo), 14-year-old high school graduate and robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada spends his time competing in illegal underground robot fights. In an effort to get Hiro out of this dangerous lifestyle, his older brother Tadashi takes him to his research lab at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Here, Hiro meets Tadashi's friends Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred, as well as Tadashi's creation, Baymax — an inflatable healthcare robot — and his mentor, Professor Robert Callaghan. Hiro applies to the university, impressing the school's showcase with his project: a swarm of tiny microbots that can link together in any configuration using a neural transmitter. He is accepted, but the celebration is short-lived when a fire erupts. Tadashi rushes inside to save Callaghan, but dies after an explosion.
Two weeks later, Hiro, who has isolated himself in grief, inadvertently activates Baymax. They follow his only remaining microbot to an abandoned warehouse, where they discover someone has been mass-producing the microbots. A man wearing a Kabuki mask attacks them; Hiro suspects the man set the fire to cover up the theft of his microbots. Determined to avenge his brother's death, he equips Baymax with armor and a chip programmed with martial arts for defense. Baymax summons Tadashi's friends, and the group is attacked by the masked man, but Baymax saves them. Hiro upgrades Baymax's armor and the group weaponizes their own inventions to take on the masked man.
They track the masked man to tech giant Alistair Krei's abandoned island lab, which was used for teleportation research. However, when a test pilot disappeared inside a portal, it led the government to shut down Krei's experiment. The masked man attacks them, but Hiro knocks off his mask, revealing him to be Professor Callaghan, who was thought to be dead; however, he had actually escaped using Hiro's microbots. Enraged that Tadashi died in vain, Hiro removes Baymax's healthcare chip and orders him to kill Callaghan. His friends stop Baymax, allowing Callaghan to escape and leaving Hiro angry.
Back at home, Hiro tries to remove the healthcare chip again, but Baymax blocks his access port and shows him footage of Tadashi's tests during Baymax's development, reminding Hiro that his brother's goal was to help others, not harm them. Hiro apologizes to Baymax and his friends; they discover that the lost test pilot was Callaghan's daughter, Abigail.