Tag Big Hero 6

Peeks: Early Thoughts on Big Hero 6 Animated Series and DuckTales Reboot

silverstar 12 Comments

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 – “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

ducktales 2017

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.

Bubba06

Bubba was basically Waluigi, only without the fan base.

 

 

Talkin’ Nerdy: Super Powers or Stupid Powers?

silverstar Leave a comment

As Goldstar noted earlier in Six Ridiculous Super Powers, there are some superheroes whose powers, personas and skill sets are just lame and can never be considered cool no matter how artists, writers and directors try to dress them up. I’m looking at you, Battling Bantam.

battling20bantam_zpsi1dfqdbu

“Box-Box-Buck-CAW!”

Fozzie2

“Have ya heard the one about the Battling Bantam? It turns out he’s a big CHICKEN! Waka-waka-waka!”

While I don’t dispute that, there are some super powers which appear goofy on the surface, but could actually be useful, even formidable, despite their silly lamp shading. Today’s Talkin’ Nerdy will address and pay tribute to those silly but potentially effective super heroes and their unique power sets.

First up, Marvel’s Rocket Racer.

rocket20racer_zpsgnjay3tv

“I’m Gleaming the Cube…for JUSTICE!!”

For those who don’t know, the Rocket Racer was Robert Farrell, a scientific prodigy who initially turned to a life of crime as the Rocket Racer. He developed a super-powered skateboard which is propelled at great speed by small rockets and cybernetically controlled by a crude walkman-like device. He wore a weapon-equipped costume, including rocket-powered gloves which give him the ability to hit an opponent with a “rocket-powered-punch.” After several defeats at the hands of Spider-Man and several brushes with the law, including a short jail sentence, Robert was later convinced to reform.

OK, yeah, this guy will probably never be an A-Lister; the name ‘Rocket Racer’ is a tad on the cornball side, and tooling around on a skateboard isn’t the sort of thing you’d expect an adult to make a career out of…

Tony Hawk

“WHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT??”

…But I don’t really think Rocket Racer’s abilities were all that lame. Think about it, the guy was a science prodigy and he could control and command his board remotely via a device of his own design. Tweak that a little and that could actually be pretty cool. It would be even better if RR’s ability were souped up a little, like another underrated (IMO) Marvel character, Taki Matsuya, aka Wiz Kid.

wizkid_zps9tt3t6aw

“I just pimped out my ride!”

Wiz Kid was a mutant inventive genius whose power was technoforming: the ability to mentally rearrange objects made of glass, plastic and metal into powerful weapons, vehicles and devices, so while he was confined to wheelchair, Taki could transform his chair into cool stuff like a cyber-walker…

wizkid2-jpg_zpsxxywof44

…And a hovering land-speeder.

wizkid3_zpsk6bwggiu

Of course, that’s no substitute for the ability to walk, but it’s still a pretty darn cool power nonetheless.

Another such super power to consider is that of ‘Sweet Lou’ Dunbar, aka Gizmo Man of the infamous Super Globetrotters. As Gizmo Man, Sweet Lou’s super power was his enormous Afro, from which he could produce a vast array of gadgets for seemingly any occasion.

gizmo20man_zpskm38pwsf

“Just combin’ my ‘Fro, y’know, lookin’ for a rocket launcher.”

As with Rocket Racer, it’s all to easy to write this guy’s power off as ridiculous; after all, dude sports an Afro the size of a double-decker bus! But while the physical vessel of Gizmo’s ability is indeed out there, what he can actually do is impressive: the guy’s HAIR serves as a gateway to Hammerspace. He can produce nearly anything his team needs from it. When you think about, Gizmo Man’s super power is a lot like Honey Lemon’s from Big Hero 6.

honey20lemon_zpsuzwkkdq1

“Hola, amigos!”

Ah, no. In this case I’m referring to the comics’ version of Honey Lemon.

 

honey_lemon_marvel_comics_zpsh6iv3bbf

BOM-CHICKA-WOW-WOW!

In the movie, Honey Lemon had a bag which contained colored balls of her own design, which, when fired, could explode into numerous effects, such as ice or foam, upon impact,

honey-lemon-bag_zps8emzfgnl

Now that’s an impressive set of…no, no, too easy. Joke withdrawn, folks. Joke withdrawn.

However, the comics’ Honey Lemon’s purse was basically the comics equivalent to Felix the Cat’s Magic Bag of Tricks.

felix20the20cat_zps4kcbnguv

“So does that make me a hero? As long as it doesn’t make me a sandwich! Aaah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Basically, she could produce anything she needed or wanted from said bag. When Honey needed a gun, she could pull one out of her purse. If she needed a motor scooter, reach in, pull out a motor scooter. If she needed several canteens of water for her teammates, there’d be as many canteens as she needed in there. You get the idea. So while I enjoyed the movie, I think Honey Lemon’s actual super power from the comics would have been better, and yes, I’ll say it: comics’ Honey Lemon was sexier.

honey20lemon20bun_zpsk4mpveyu

Which is not to say that movie Honey Lemon wasn’t appealing in her own way; I found her quite adorkable. She’s really tall, which was strangely appealing, and I can’t resist her with the bun.

I should also give Honorable Mention to Master Shake of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

master_shake_zpsgxzogvwq

It often seemed like Shake was the only Aqua Teen who didn’t possess a super power, though some fans have speculated that he did: Shake was often seen brandishing weapons such as guns, chainsaws, crossbows and baseball bats which he would produce from who-knows-where, so some have conjectured that Shake’s power is producing weapons from Hammerspace and that he was the team’s weapons expert.

angry_master_shake_by_krovash-d2y1ole

“I invite all of my naysayers to cordially sit and spin!”

Finally, we come to a one-and-done character: Sydney Wanamaker, aka Captain Mystery who appeared in a single episode of Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show entitled “The Mask of Mystery”.

captain_mystery2_zpsc8hpdtkp

Captain Mystery will kick your butt…at PlayStation.

In the episode, Sydney was a short, stout and nerdy computer-loving pal to Ronald Raymond, one half of Firestorm. This computer geek had accidentally hacked into the Justice League Computer. Using information he learned from the Justice League computer, he created an anti-gravity belt, and numerous gadgets (which on occasion would work) and became a superhero calling himself Captain Mystery.

However, he wasn’t very good at being a superhero, as he was such a big bumbler that he constantly made things worse and screwed up allowing villains to escape. After an ordeal with Lex Luthor, the Super Friends finally convince Sidney to hang up his cape for good, vowing to stick to his mousepad.

Now sure, it’s all too easy to write Sydney off as a dweeby loser, indeed the episode portrayed him as pathetically and hilariously out of his league, but I thought he had potential: again, the guy was a genius and he invented his own tech, including an anti-gravity belt. No tech company we know has made a working anti-gravity belt yet. Is that really so lame? I don’t think so.

I don’t write fan fiction ( I do write, but I prefer to use my own characters rather than other peoples’ characters), but if I did, I’d write a fanfic portraying Sydney as a cool, competent superhero. In fact, Jason did come up with such a story idea: Sometime after the events of “The Mask of Mystery”, the Super Friends formed a Junior League division whose roster included Robin, Firestorm, Aquagirl (from the Batman Beyond episode “The Call”) and the Wonder Twins. One of the new members was Sydney. After his initial run-in with the Super Friends, Sydney fully embraced his studies in high tech and in the process, he developed some miracle piece of software and made a fortune. The next thing you know, ol’ Syd’s a millionaire, and with his new found money and resources, he beefed up his tech and developed a fully functioning technosuit and gave himself a new super hero handle: Cyberstrike. He also created a wrist worn multipurpose mini-computer called the Cybertix…

wrist-worn-computer-zypad-large

..From which he could produce a set of colored semi-aware digital holographic shapes which could perform a variety of tasks at Sydney’s beckoned call.

Platonic_solids_by_arqaissa

These abilities include: taking digital photos, casting holographic illusions, firing themselves as projectile weapons and of course, hacking into other computers and machines. Sydney could control the Cybertix via mental implants and the device produced a continuous flow of information which only someone of his intellect could keep up with. The Cybertrix could only be removed via a passcode which only Sydney knew, anyone else who tried to remove it would get an omni-directional energy blast to the face and a few thousand volts through their body.

So in a unique reversal, the Super Friends would end up begging Cyberstrike to join them.

mach-2_zpsb2ec9k4w

“‘Nerd’? I prefer Highly Advanced, Technologically Gifted Mega-Genius!”

Nerdvana: San Fransokyo

silverstar 1 Comment

In the relatively short time we’ve been doing the Nerdvana segments on this blog, we’ve celebrated characters, songs, a food product and a building, but today’s Nerdvana celebrates an entire location. Today, Nerdvana geeks out over the setting of the geektacular Disney movie Big Hero 6, San Fransokyo.

If you can make it here, then you’ve got some sort of reality-warping machine, ’cause it’s a fictional location.
 
While the comic book miniseries that the movie is very, very, very, very, very, very loosely based on was simply set in Tokyo, the Mouse House’s filmmakers decided to make the movie’s setting a mash-up of Tokyo and San Francisco, just as the movie itself was a mash-up of Disney and Marvel. Even the Golden Gate Bridge is a Japanamerican mish-mash, viz:
Now I enjoyed the movie, but I REALLY fell in love with this city idea. As the producers have noted, San Fransokyo is practically a character in itself. This has already become one of my favorite fictional burgs, even surpassing Superhero City from Marvel’s The Super Hero Squad Show….
…of which I still like some of the architecture (particularly the Xavier Academy, Asgard and the Baxter Building, though I like the latter better with the blue hue it had on the show), but San Fransokyo edges Superhero City out on 2 counts: one, its’ buildings are more creative and imaginative, and two, San Fransokyo isn’t crawling with capes; if every other inhabitant of your city is enhanced, mutated or otherwise ‘superfied’ in some way, then being a superhero isn’t really anything special.
*************************************************
Now I’d like to do a story or make a show with an Eastern/Western mash-up setting. Why do I dig San Fransokyo? Let me enumerate the ways: first, it’s ethnically and culturally diverse, populated by Asians, whites, blacks, wasians (white Asians), blasians (black Asians–is that even a thing? Well it is now, I’m calling it) and other races live together in peaceful cohabitation with all of the various cultures, architecture and nomenclature coming together…
Wasabi_BH6
 “Note how he said ‘blacks‘, as in plural. Yes, there are other blacks in San Fransokyo. I’m not the only one. So pressure groups, put down your picket signs.”
Baymax
 
 
“Don’t forget robots. This town has a thriving robotic and mechanical population, with machines performing many useful and vital duties for humankind. Sure, we aren’t allowed to vote and we’re rarely taken out to discos, but we’re here, we’re digitized, get used to us.”
 
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is rockman.jpg
“Hey, dude. I get that you’re the current robot of the hour, but I gotta say, your look just ain’t cuttin’ it. Big, white and balloon-ey? No style. Fix yourself up with some styling metallic armor, with some gems and plates, a bot’s gotta have some bling. And stick a cannon to your arm, chicks dig arm cannons. But you can’t be blue! That’s my deal.”
 
That reminds me: another reason I like San Fransokyo is because it’s a futuristic city. I loves me some Cities of Tomorrow. San Fransokyo has a Science and Technological Institute…
…which is a haven for the future eggheads of tomorrow. There are even female students there.
 gogo-and-honey-lemon
Go Go: Yeah, girls like science and tech. No big whoop. I’m into anything that moves fast, flies high or causes motion sickness.
Honey Lemon: I love science! I also enjoy cosplaying at sci-fi and fantasy conventions. Ya hear that, writers of Conan and The Big Bang Theory?

“Hot babes who love STEM? My UltraMan boxer shorts just got tighter!”

Also, San Fransokyo reminds me of the wondrous cityscapes from Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series, with the futuristic flying cars, presence of high tech, advanced science and a little bit of magic, and the ovoid and spherical building structures.

“Yeah, this place you’re geeking on is pretty nice and all, guy, but that name’s just not working for me. I’d give it a more impressive, more awesome name, like…Satan City! Now that’s a name a town can be proud of!”

GoGo_Transparent

“Yeah, the home of Satan. That’ll bring in the tourists!”

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that San Fransokyo is the home of boy genius Hiro Hamada and his MILF-ish aunt Cass, a gregariously underused element in the film, as far as I’m concerned.
Disney’s Rapunzel has aged pretty well, I’d say.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson? Please say yes!”

 
Get outta here! I’m sure there’s a game of D&D going on that needs a Level 22 Archer or something.
-So come on down to San Fransokyo.
You’ll come for the beauty and the science, you’ll stay for the Sushi Burgers.