Recently, it’s been announced that Disney will be launching 2 new animated shows: a reboot of DuckTales (which was announced previously) and a series adaptation of Big Hero 6, both due out in 2017. I decided to give Twinsanity’s early thoughts, impressions and ramblings on each series in the same article, since both shows are coming to us from the same studio and in the case of each we only have a single image to go on. We are lazy, keep in mind. I’ll address them in alphabetical order.

BIG HERO 6: THE SERIES

BIG HERO 6 – “Big Hero 6,” an animated television series for kids, tweens and families based on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award-winning feature film inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, has begun production for a 2017 premiere on Disney X-D platforms around the world. (Disney X-D)

Disney has announced a new series based on the Academy Award-winning film set to premiere in 2017 on Disney X-D platforms.

The show picks up where the movie left off, focusing on 14-year-old genius Hiro, his personal healthcare companion Baymax, and the rest of the team, including Wasabi, Go Go, Honey Lemon, and Fred.

According to Disney, Hiro will face “daunting academic challenges” and “social trials” on campus at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. The team will also protect San Fransokyo from “an array of scientifically enhanced villains.”

“Our colleagues at Walt Disney Animation Studios have created a brilliant new world, inspired by Marvel, with vivid, unique characters. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to further develop these characters into a world class animated series…” Disney Channels Worldwide President Gary Marsh said in a statement.

Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, who collaborated on Kim Possible, will executive produce the Big Hero 6 Animated Series.

Last year, Stan Lee dropped hinted at the possibility of a Big Hero 6 sequel in an interview. It remains to be seen if a sequel film happens now that an animated series is coming.

OUR THOUGHTS:

• Judging by the above image (which again I’d like to emphasize is all we have to go on thus far, so if I’m wrong about any of this, don’t rake me over hot coals), it would appear that this series will be hand-drawn rather than CGI. Now unlike most people I don’t hate CGI; it would be nice if every animated movie weren’t rendered in CGI by default, but I’m OK with CG if it’s good and professionally done, however this would seem to be another case like the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command animated series (anyone remember that?): the Mouse House probably figured that producing a TV series with the film’s level of animation would be expensive and time consuming. If the animation is decent, then that’s fine; I hope it’ll be a step up from the Marvel Universe shows.
• Speaking of, I wonder if this series will be part of the Marvel Universe block, or will it air separately? And if it’s the former, will BH6: The Series be part of the Marvel Animated Universe? I personally kind of hope not; I wouldn’t want every other episode to be some crossover with a Marvel superhero and for whenever anything out-of-the-ordinary happens in San Fransokyo, the Avengers and Spider-Man fly in to see what’s going on. That might help the show sell better, but IMO it would be more constrictive on the stories. I’d rather BH6 take place in its’ own separate universe and continuity.
• The article I read states that the show will be divided along the lines of Hiro and company’s adventures at the Institute mixed with superhero capers. I hope this means that the gang won’t be saving the world in every episode, just some of the time. I see this series as sort of a Dexter’s Laboratory meets Ultraman. The part about “social trials” kind of troubles me, though; I hope this doesn’t mean the show will degenerate into Saved by the Bell territory.
• To make me a happy fan, the shows needs to do 2 things: One, don’t give Hiro a FRI (Forced Romantic Interest). The last thing the character needs is some unnecessary girlfriend/love interest character hanging around. Hiro isn’t Ben 10, and he doesn’t need a Julie. Two, producers, I beg you: KEEP TADASHI DEAD. I can’t tell you how many cheesy fanfics I’ve read in which Tadashi miraculously comes back to life or it’s revealed that he wasn’t actually dead. Bringing Tadashi back would not only be pointless and unnecessary, but it would negate the events and tribulations of the movie. I can’t believe the number of people who became emotionally attached to that character; these people have obviously never read a comic in their lives; you guys realize that Tadashi is nothing, right? He was created by Disney for the sole purpose of becoming a martyr for the sake of getting the plot going because that’s what Disney does. So the Powers That Be bring Tadashi back, and then what? He joins the team and it becomes Big Hero 7? Lame. He starts dating one of the female team members? Doubly lame. I can’t over-emphasize this: keep the realtionships between the individual team members strictly platonic. DO NOT under any circumstances, turn this show into The O.C. If that happens, I’m out.
• OK, there’s actually a 3rd thing I’d like to see happen on this show: I’d like for Go-Go, Honey Lemon, Fred, Wasabi and Aunt Cass to get more screen time and maybe an episode or 2 devoted to them once in a while, since the movie largely focused on Hiro and Baymax.

DUCKTALES REBOOT

It’s a Duck-Blur!

OUR THOUGHTS:

• Again, going by the above image, it would appear that the new DuckTales series will likewise be hand–drawn rather than CG. No doubt that decision was fueled at least partially by the success of the new Mickey Mouse shorts, which have been doing quite well with audiences and are actually quite good, if you haven’t seen them, I’d suggest you rectify that problem. This also puts the series closer to the legendary Carl Barks Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck comics, which inspired DuckTales in the first place.
• You’ll notice that Huey, Dewey and Louie are sporting more disparate and distinctive looks and outfits here; note that Huey’s the only one wearing a cap, Dewey’s wearing a 2-colored T-shirt and Louie’s wearing what appears to be a hoodie. Fans may recall that Disney attempted to give each nephew their own look once before in Quack Pack; a lot of fans objected to that, but honestly that was the least of that show’s problems. The Mouse House has already designated that each brother will wear a distinctive color (here’s how to remember: the brightest hue of the 3 is red, the color of dew is blue and that leaves Louie, and leaves are green), so giving each one their own outfit only seems like the next logical step. I wonder if the characters will each have different personalities like they did in Quack Pack (those who remember that series will recall that there Huey was a like a teenage Johnny Bravo who tried to put the moves on anything with long eyelashes, Dewey was the smart one who was into tech and believed in aliens and the like, and Louie was the most playful and outgoing but a little slow on the uptake) and whether they’ll each have different voices this time around.
• Webby’s clearly a little older this time around; again I have no problem with the character and hope she can carve a niche for herself as an active character and not just be an annoyingly cutesy tag-along.
• Perhaps THE most notable change this time around is that it appears that Donald Duck himself may be joining the adventures full-time (otherwise, why bother putting him in the publicity picture?); in the 1987 series, Don appeared in the pilot and only made occasionally appearances from then on, the producers had him join the Navy for some reason, perhaps they felt at the time that the classic shorts characters such as Mickey, Donald and Goofy were considered too iconic to be used for a ‘lowly’ syndicated TV series, though Disney later reneged on that decision with Goof Troop and Quack Pack. I’m a fan of Donald Duck and so I’m totally fine with him being around full-time if that’s the case.
• Speaking of, some fans have stated that they want to see the characters of Launchpad McQuack and Fenton Crackshell/Gizmoduck make their returns; while I wouldn’t be against them coming back and would be fine with them being there, idly I have to wonder how necessary they’d be now that Donald’s apparently going to be a regular. Keep in mind that many of the DuckTales episodes were just TV adaptations of the Carl Barks comics’ stories, and in several of them Donald’s part would have to be given to somebody else due to his not being a full-time regular. For example, in “The Land of Tra-La-La”, the character who gives one of the citizens of Tra-La-La a bottle cap, thus introducing them to the concept of money, was Donald in the original comics story, on TV that role was given to Fenton. Also, in “The Golden Fleecing”, the character who first encounters the Harpies in the comics version of the story was Donald, but in the TV episode it was Launchpad. So given how in many cases Launchpad and Fenton were more-or-less stand-ins for Donald, I’m not sure how much this new series will require them, however, I’d still be OK with them showing up.

-Honestly, I’m OK with any character coming back, as long as Bubba Duck stays buried.

Bubba was basically Waluigi, only without the fan base.