As part of the #McFarlandUSAEvent blog team, I got to do some pretty cool things thanks to Disney. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own!
If you’ve seen Big Hero 6 (which I hope you have!), I’m sure you loved it. I mean, how couldn’t you with such a great cast of voices and the great characters they played? Not to mention awesome Baymax! My daughter has been wanting to give fist bumps and going “fa-la-la-la” constantly since she seen the movie. 🙂 During the #McFarlandUSAEvent, we also got to attend a press junket for the in-home release of Big Hero 6. Today’s interview I’m sharing with you is the one we did with Don Hall and Chris Williams, the directors behind Big Hero 6!
Let me give you a little background on each of these great directors..
Don Hall directed Walt Disney Animation Studios 2011 feature Winnie the Pooh and has previously served as head of story for 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. He began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in June of 1995, coming onboard as the story apprentice on Tarzan. He has also been a storyboard artist on The Emperor’s New Groove, Chicken Little, as well as various development projects. For his work on Meet the Robinsons as the head of story, he received a nomination for the Annie Award for storyboarding.
Chris Williams directed the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Oscar-nominated feature Bolt in 2008 with Byron Howard. After joining the Florida animation studio as an intern in 1994, Chris worked on the story team for Mulan. He has also worked as a story artist on Lio & Stitch (story artist), The Emperor’s New Groove (won an Annie Award nomination for writing), Wreck-It Ralph (story department), and the 2013 Oscar-winning feature Frozen (story department). Chris has also written and directed Disney’s first CG short Glago’s Guest where he won an Annie Award, and won an Emmy as executive producer for the ABC holiday special Prep & Landing.
For Big Hero 6, I learned that there are actually comics of the same name (which I can’t wait to read now)!
Don: I was finishing up Winnie the Pooh and started thinking about my next project. John Lasseter [animator, film director, screenwriter, producer, and chief executive officer at Walt Disney Animation Studios] always asks the directors to start with what are you passionate about. I started thinking about it and as a kid I loved Disney Animation. Obviously that’s what brought me here, but I also loved Marvel Comics and it’s really where I learned to draw and tell stories. I pitched John that idea and he got super excited and said go find something. It was that simple. it was a 5 minute conversation. So I just made lists of stuff that I thought would be cool and I came across Big Hero 6. Having never read the comic, I just thought I liked the title. I researched it further and it was a Japanese Super Hero team. I thought that was cool. I read the comics and I thought the tone was appropriate. It was light hearted, the characters were fun – they had goofy names, you know. You could tell the creators just loved Japanese Pop Culture and that’s what they were trying to infuse into the Super Hero story.
We all love Baymax. I mean, how could you not?! Don realized that since they were won over by Baymax as a character and the film that they were sure others would be won over as well since he’s not that different from everybody else.
Don: Once we started rolling it out and sat in the audience and listened to them laugh and gasp and cry, then it started to hit us that okay, it seems to be resonating with people.
I was pleasantly surprised that they brought in a clinical psychologist to mold Hiro’s character. I think this was great since there is the topic of losing a brother and grief in the movie.
Don: It was hugely important on a couple of different levels. We always start with our personal tory, especially when you’re dealing with something as personal a loss. The conversations in the story room would always be more personal stories so you always start there because that’s your only experience. I did some reading very early on about loss and grief and watched Ordinary People. But when we did bring in the Clinical Psychologist, Child Psychologist later, it did two things – it gave us new insight into specifically teen loss but it also reinforced that we’re on the right track ’cause a lot of things she talked about and her social worker friends talked about, we were already doing in the film. So in a sense, it kind of validated our approach and also gave us some new insight.
Chris gave us some insight to this topic as well and how things were in the story room for the film:
Chris: It is amazing in our story room how generous and open people are and how vulnerable they allow themselves to be. The story room, for us, is a really sacred place. We come in there, we close the door, and then people are very open and respectful. The people will talk about some of the most difficult moments of their lives, and since we were telling a story about the character who’s dealing with loss and we wanted to be true to that experience.
Credit: Kayvon Esmaili
It was really great getting some insight into what went into making Big Hero 6. It has definitely become a beloved movie in our family that I know we will enjoy for years to come. You can purchase Big Hero 6 on Digital HD now, or on Blu-ray or DVD on February 24, 2015!
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I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
I didn’t know it was a comic either! I watched this movie with my bf and his kids and it was actually entertaining for me!! So cool you got to meet the directors!
That had to be so much fun! How many people get to pick the brains of the directors behind such a great flick. Awesome.
Oh, this was so much fun, wasn’t it?! I just about fell out of my chair when I heard that Chris Williams had worked on Prep and Landing. My son loves that one.
What a fun interview! I love getting a peek at the people behind my favorite movies. Awesome.
So fun! We haven’t seen this yet but I’d love to.
We loved this when it was in the movies. We are so happy it’s out on DVD now.
I seriously can not wait to see this movie!
It is so cool that you got to do this! 🙂 We adore Big Hero 6 in our home. And we were wondering if the movie had been based on an actual comic book series- thank you for clearing that one up for us.
I loved this movie!
ha, ha, ha… I am one of those audience members who laughed and cried. Shoot, I have seen the movie about ten times, yet I still laugh at the same parts and cry at the same parts. HA! Great movie. Thanks for sharing.
We just got our copy of this movie in! My kids are super excited to watch it!
I love this movie. It has so many values and lessons! Thanks for sharing the interview. Would have loved to be there
Big Hero 6 was one of the best movies we’ve seen in theaters in a VERY long time! Such a cool look into it!
I think it would be so fun to sit in the story room with the writers and watch the story come together. This movie looks awesome!
How fun!! I can’t wait to see this movie with the boys! I think they are going to love it!
This looks like such an adorable movie! I can’t wait to go see it!
That is soooo awesome!!! We LOVED this movie. We have already preordered it!
I am super excited for Big Hero 6 to be released!! I didn’t get a chance to catch it in the theater!
That looks like a great experience. Both movies look like something I will be seeing. 🙂
It definitely looks fun to get a behind the scenes look and chat with movie makers. What fun!
What a fun opportunity!! My boys loved this movie – can’t wait to watch it again at home. Great post!
My family loves Big Hero 6! It is really awesome that you got to be part of an interview with the masterminds behind the movie!
I loved this movie! It was so sweet
I have never seen any of the Big Hero movies. A recent clip I saw has me intrigued. The directors thoughts were so insightful into the spirit of the movie.
Looks like you had a lot of fun! I can’t wait to watch this movie with my kids.
This is a great interview. I loved Big Hero 6. I will have to pick up a copy of the Dvd.
Can’t wait to see this movie! Looks super cute!
Our whole family went to see it and loved it! So cool you got to chat with them!
What a fun opportunity!
I promised my Hubs that I wouldn’t watch this without him… and I’ve been waiting rather impatiently for him to get back from his latest trip! Can’t wait!