Walt Disney Animation can never have suspected that Frozen, its last major release, would become one of the cultural phenomena of the age. Happily, by accident rather than design, it has followed that film up with exactly the right sort of project: something completely different. Nodding vigorously to the world of Manga, this beautiful film has all the hip and zip of a Pixar project, but it also manages the warmth and gentle sorrow of a Dumbo or a Bambi.
Set in a perfect amalgam of two great cities that (no clues here) goes by the name of San Fransokyo, Big Hero 6 concerns the sad, but promising life of a bright teenager named Hiro. The technical genius is wasting his talent on backstreet robot fights when his brother introduces him to personnel at the robotics lab in the city's university. Hiro is a very modern sort of creation: the bright, sensitive kid who, though lost at school, comes alive when put among similarly focused digital brainboxes. A tragedy soon knocks him down again, but redemption is at hand.
There is nothing at all wrong with the first half of Big Hero 6. Origin story to a cult Marvel posse, the film introduces Hiro to a hugely charming, inflatable robot named Baymax. Triggering reminders of The Iron Giant, the two meander about a gorgeously realised city whose foliage blends the western US with eastern Asia. There are the makings of a classic in that relationship.
Unfortunately, the film slips off the rails a little in its later stages as it turns into a fairly conventional superhero adventure (and goodness knows, we have enough of those), involving a noisy fight against a bafflingly uninteresting villain.
Still, Big Hero 6 confirms the continuing strength of mainstream animation. If you want further evidence, be sure to arrive in time for the gorgeous Oscar-nominated short Feast.
