Disney Animation’s Big Hero 6 is a futuristic sight for sore eyes

REVIEW: Big Hero 6 is a refreshing mix of American and Japanese cartooning kids will love and parents will find refreshing

Big Hero 6 (PG)

Directors: Don Hall, Chris Williams

Starring: the voices of Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, Genesis Rodriguez.

Rating: 3.5 stars

All those zeroes and ones really add up

Disney Animation’s summer release is a futuristic sight for sore eyes, a Pixar-esque tale of a young robotics genius and his heartfelt bond with one of his automated creations.

DISNEY FILM SECRETS: Big Hero 6 producer Roy Conli

Comic-book buffs will already know Big Hero 6 draws its name from an obscure title in the Marvel stable, but that won’t matter so much to the movie’s target audience of 13-and-under.

The striking setting of Big Hero 6 is the bustling metropolis of San Fransokyo, a sleek and shiny combo of San Francisco and Tokyo.

It is here we find teen tear-away Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter), an orphan who lives with his aunt and older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney).

Beautifully designed ... Hiro and Baymax in Disney’s Big Hero 6.

The self-reliant siblings both share a prodigious talent for all things scientific, as evidenced by Tadashi’s design and construction of a magnificent medical robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit).

The software inside Baymax - a portly, marshmallow-like being - is designed to focus on the healing of humans.

However, in the wake of a sudden tragedy, Hiro takes it upon himself to reprogram Baymax into something more aggressive and decidedly less nurturing.

Without giving too much away, the ever-resourceful Hiro is hell-bent on revenge, and Baymax is very much the secret weapon powering his scheme to get square with an imposing enemy.

Stunning blend ... Big Hero 6 combines the best of American and Japanese cartooning.

A number of other youngsters with crafty technical know-how later pitch-in to help Hiro and Baymax, each of them boasting a special talent that transforms Team Hiro into a high-school science-lab version of The Avengers.

The breakout character of this beautifully designed affair is definitely the big-hearted Baymax, whose blobby appearance is at odds with the steely logical reasoning he regularly dispenses to his young human counterparts.

Visually and tonally, Big Hero 6 is a cleverly arresting hybrid of American and Japanese cartooning that kids will love in a heartbeat, and their parents will find resolutely refreshing.

Originally published as Disney Animation’s Big Hero 6 is a futuristic sight for sore eyes