--- description: This sci-fi animated feature has a caregiving android to cry for. And there's a Feast before the film even starts. title: Big Hero 6 Review: A Feast Before the Movie Even Starts image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ad2e23e0842274f/698767cbe20a8715eea833ed/big-hero-6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # REVIEW: The Huggable Marshmallow Robot of Disney's _Big Hero 6_ by [Richard Corliss](/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 7, 2014 11:07 PM CUT  "BIG HERO 6" ? Pictured (L-R): Baymax & Hiro. ?2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved. "BIG HERO 6" ? Pictured (L-R): Baymax & Hiro. ?2014 Disney. All Rights Reserved.Disney by [Richard Corliss](/author/richard-corliss/) ## Richard Corliss Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 7, 2014 11:07 PM CUT Go to Disney’s _Big Hero 6_, and you’ll see a wonderful movie: the short cartoon before the animated feature. In _Feast_, a Boston terrier named Winston feeds on the treats his master tosses him: bacon and eggs, pizza, nachos — all the snacks a single man thrives on. When the man begins seeing a woman, the scraps left for Winston turn organic: a Brussels sprout topped with a sprig. In six minutes, writer-director Patrick Osborne synopsizes a dozen years in a man’s life, from loner to dater to husband and father, as seen and shared by winsome Winston. [Shot with a narrow color palette and dramatically flat shapes](http://collider.com/patrick-osborne-feast-interview/ "undefined"), and overflowing with heartful wit, _Feast_ is a banquet for all lovers of dogs, food and movies. Stick around for the feature attraction — on which Osborne worked as co-head of animation — and you’ll find another non-human character every bit as appealing as Winston. It’s [Baymax](http://time.com/3547838/the-culture/ "undefined"), a robot caregiver for young Hiro, the hero of _Big Hero 6_. In repose, Baymax fits into a small suitcase. But when it hears the word “Ow,” it inflates into [a six-foot, white, vinyl balloon animal ](http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/11/07/362030044/the-challenge-of-big-hero-6-how-to-make-a-huggable-robot "undefined")with black eyes and the pudgy shape of the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man from _Ghostbusters_, or Po the [Kung Fu Panda](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1812145,00.html "undefined"). Programmed to speak in a benign, avuncular tone (voiced by Scott Adsit) as he detects and corrects health problems, Baymax becomes the fussy guardian of Hiro, his friends and virtually any other creature it sees. Finding a big orange cat, Baymax pets it and soothingly whispers, “Hairy baby!” Hiro (Ryan Potter) needs help. In the future city of San Fransokyo, this 14-year-old brainiac makes his living as a petty criminal hustling his own prize robot at underground bot fights. Adhering to [a Disney tradition as old as _Snow White_ and as recent as _Frozen_](http://time.com/53766/movie-moms-pixar-disney/ "undefined"), the new movie makes Hiro an orphan who must fend for himself. He then loses his big brother and fellow science genius Tadashi Hamada (Daniel Henney) in an act of sabotage at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, where they have both become students. To solve the mystery of his brother’s death, he teams with four other SFIT misfits: perky Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), lumbering Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), cool GoGo (Jamie Chung) and party-hearty Fred (T.J. Miller). Add the resourceful Baymax, and you have the Big Hero 6 team. Directed by Don Hall ([_Winnie the Pooh_](http://entertainment.time.com/2011/07/13/winnie-the-pooh-review/ "undefined")) and Chris Williams ([_Bolt_](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1861025,00.html "undefined")), and very loosely based on a lesser galaxy of Marvel Comics characters, this is the rare Disney animated feature that sets out to establish a franchise. (If it’s a hit, there’ll surely be a _Big Hero 6 2.0_.) Except for Baymax, and possibly Hiro, the team members are rudimentary sketches of clumsy or foxy nerds; the amiably doltish Fred, for example, is simply a pale copy of [Shaggy, the _Scooby-Doo_ sidekick voiced by Casey Kasem](http://time.com/2878606/casey-kasem-the-voice-of-america/ "undefined"). Initially meant to illustrate the effective use of brain power, the kids transform themselves into a military-industrial complex, [becoming weapons masters in a montage scored to Fall Out Boy’s “Immortals.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMeYTyrtjaU "undefined") (Even Baymax gets outfitted in [red Iron Man armor](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1736742,00.html "undefined").) In sum, they are the _Mission: Impossible_ crew relocated to San Fransokyo’s Mission district — or, to make a Disney-Pixar comparison, [_The Incredibles_](http://time.com/3556360/after-10-years-still-incredibles/ "undefined") without the emotion or verve. The plot, which involves the theft of the microbots Hiro has invented, is also on the generic side: a Kabuki-masked villain has turned Hiro’s potentially life-saving bots into an army of evil, shape-shifting dominoes. But in the screenplay by Robert L. Baird, Daniel Gerson and Jordan Roberts, there’s also an odd parental twist. Having killed off Hiro’s mother, father and older brother, and allowing the other team members no visible parents, the writers introduce two father figures who are either untrustworthy (tech titan Alistair Krei, who is voiced by Alan Tudyk and looks like a sleazy [Julian Assange](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/16/the-fifth-estate-a-hollywood-cartoon-of-julian-assange/ "undefined")) or violently missing presumed dead (the [Malden](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1909626,00.html "undefined")\-faced SFIT Dean Robert Callaghan, voiced by James Cromwell). So it’s odd that the third act should turn on a father who is both grieving and enraged. If the story doesn’t grab you, the visuals will. San Fransokyo is sumptuously designed as a clash of Tokyo and Bay Area architecture; the Golden Gate Bridge tower is pagoda-shaped. The kids, like those in anime books and movies, have Japanese-American features, suggesting the melding of races as our future world interbreeds attractively. Finest of the movie’s hybrids is Baymax, a robot who’s also a mensch. He doesn’t have much competition, but he’s the most human character in _Big Hero 6_. On the high-quality scale set by the Disney animated features in their latest Renaissance — [_The Princess and the Frog_](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1945379%5F1943915%5F1943917,00.html "undefined"), [_Tangled_](http://entertainment.time.com/2011/06/23/the-25-all-time-best-animated-films/slide/tangled-2010/ "undefined"), [_Wreck-It Ralph_](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/11/01/wreck-it-ralph-toy-story-with-avatars/ "undefined") and [_Frozen_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/11/23/frozen-this-disney-princess-movie-is-thaw-some/ "undefined") — this one doesn’t quite measure up. But _Big Hero 6_ is sure to entertain millions of smart kids and their escort parents. They may all want Baymax as their personal caregiver. And if they see the adorable _Feast_, there’ll be a run on Boston terriers as Christmas pets. ### Meet the Big Hero 6, Disney’s Newest Team of Superheroes  Baymax, voiced by 30 Rock alum Scott Adsit, is a friendly, giant, inflatable robot who was created as a medical companion to treat ailments, but gets upgraded with armor and weapons to fight crime. Disney  Hiro Hamada, voiced by Ryan Potter, is 14-year-old robotics prodigy and de facto leader of the Big Hero 6 who gives Baymax his robotic crime-fighting upgrades. Disney  GoGo Tomago, voiced by Jamie Chung, is a a spunky and athletic girl with a need for speed. She zooms around on electro magnetic discs that double as weapons that she can project. Disney  Wasabi, voiced by Damon Wayans, Jr., is a slightly neurotic neat-freak who uses a pair of plasma laser blades to slice up opponents. Disney  Honey Lemon, voiced by Génesis Rodríguez, fights crime with her purse, which doubles as a mini-lab that can churn out spheres that can disable, explode, or do a host of other things to foes. Disney  Fred, voiced by T.J. Miller, is the resident comic-book geek of the group. Although not a genius like his compatriots, he more than makes up for it with his enthusiasm and a robotic suit that can breathe fire. Disney ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3572499/review-big-hero-6/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3572499/review-big-hero-6/"},"headline":"REVIEW: The Huggable Marshmallow Robot of Disney's Big Hero 6","datePublished":"2014-11-07T23:07:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:08.120Z","description":"This sci-fi animated feature has a caregiving android to cry for. 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