Starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine, Into the Woods is a humorous and heartfelt musical that follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel—all tied together by an original story involving a Baker and his Wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the Witch who has put a curse on them.
The film hits theaters December 25.
Hiro Hamada isn’t your average teenager. And neither is Ryan Potter, who provides the voice for the boy genius in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Big Hero 6 (in theaters Friday, November 7). The 19-year-old actor has been on a whirlwind tour to promote the film, traveling just about everywhere between Hollywood, California, and Tokyo, Japan.
Q&A with the Creators of Big Hero 6 ►
D23 was lucky enough to sit down with Ryan and talk to him about bringing Hiro to life in the film. Oh, and we had to sneak in a question about his favorite Disney “thing,” too! Check out the Q&A below to see what this up-and-coming star had to say.
D23.com: What was it like to voice Hiro Hamada?
Ryan Potter (RP): Surprisingly enough, I didn’t have to do anything special to voice Hiro. I just walked right in and lent my voice; it worked out pretty perfectly. I’d say Hiro may seem like your average teenager, but his brain ends up getting him into a lot of trouble. I related to him on so many levels and that’s what made the job easy and fun.
D23.com: What about immersing yourself in Big Hero 6‘s world of science and technology? Were you ever interested in the subjects as a kid?
RP: Growing up, anything futuristic, tech, robots and Super Heroes were my thing. And San Fransokyo just happened to be a city that’s a blend of the place I grew up in, Tokyo, Japan, and a city I visited every holiday season, San Francisco, California. There are no two other cities that would have been more perfect for Hiro to live in.
D23.com: Is Big Hero 6 your first Disney project?
RP: It is, and I think it’s kind of like jumping into the pool. I’m not wading around at all. And it’s a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, so I’m very excited! To put it simply, the team knows what they’re doing. It’s a lot of fun to play in their world.
D23.com: What are we going to love about the film?
RP: I think every single audience member can relate to one of the characters in one way or another, whether it’s a personality or their look. I hope everyone can walk out of the theater and say, “Hey! I saw a little bit of myself in one of those characters.” That’s what I love so much. It’s just such a diverse cast.
D23.com: Last question! What is your favorite Disney “thing”?
RP: I spent my first birthday at Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland is my absolute favorite Disney “thing.” I actually haven’t been to Walt Disney World yet!
As Winston joins the dogs of Disney past (and future), director Patrick Osborne reflects on the influences of what’s come before. “There’s this idea of a story that can be told through pantomime, that doesn’t need the words at all,” he continues. “It’s all part of a Disney tradition: You can show it to people and they can connect to it in any language.”
Q&A with the Creators of Big Hero 6 ►
“There’s something special dinner.” According to Patrick, that’s the simple inspiration for the charming new Walt Disney Animation Studios short Feast that debuts in front of Big Hero 6.
With its graphic shapes and bright colors, Feast, as the title suggests, is a tale about food. But it’s also a love story and a life story experienced through canine eyes, as peppy pup Winston accompanies his human on a relationship roller coaster.
The concept for the short was simple, but the planning was complex. Everything had to be boiled down to its most essential form. “The first couple iterations ended up being more conventional, camera-wise.” Patrick adds. “It wasn’t until we came back to the focus of the pitch, that we realized food should be the center of every shot.” The menu included everyday favorites like pepperoni pizza versus a barbeque chicken pizza, for instance. “You want to tell as much story as you can in as little time as possible,” production designer Jeff Turley explains.
Feast‘s epicurean storyline aptly transcends language. After all, what’s more universal than food?
. . . one that sounds somewhat familiar, yet slightly off—San Fransokyo. This Friday, November 7, audiences around the world will travel to the high-tech locale, and meet Hiro, Baymax, and the rest of the Big Hero 6 cast.
Director Patrick Osborne Talks About the Latest Disney Dog in Feast ►
But before the film hits the big screen, the trio talks to D23 about their experience (they went to Tokyo and San Francisco for their research trips!) and other stories from production.
Live-action superhero films often make audiences feel like their movies’ powerful figures exist in our world, but you don’t quite have those constraints with animation. How does that affect the direction you take with this kind of story?
RC: I wouldn’t say we don’t have those constraints because one of the big tenets that we work under is we want to make our story logical. We did an amazing amount of research, from the medical aspects of Baymax to the powers of what superhero suits can do; it’s all kind of based on actual science. And early on, we spent a fair amount of time at Carnegie Mellon and MIT. I think it’s really important to base your story in the truth.
How were you able to find a perfect balance between Eastern and Western styles?
Don Hall (DH): It was actually kind of a fun challenge. John [Lasseter, chief creative officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios] is always encouraging us to create new worlds, and we could’ve set the story in San Francisco or Tokyo, but the idea of kind of making up our own world was far too enticing. We feel that it’s creatively more fun to set this story in a world that’s more of a mash-up. And once we went on our research trips to Tokyo and San Francisco, things would just start popping up. It gave us nice guidelines to follow.
How did your team work together with Marvel to bring this story to life?
DH: Marvel really encouraged us to take Big Hero 6 and just do our thing with it. And from the beginning, they were very, very gracious with their property to let us do that.
Roy Conli (RC): It’s been great because Joe Quesada and Jeph Loeb, who are two major creative players at Marvel, would come to all of our screenings and share notes with us. It’s just been an amazing relationship.
What was so special about the journey of making Big Hero 6?
Chris Williams (CW): I’ve been here 20 years, and every movie is exciting because each presents us with its own set of challenges. And a lot of this journey involved finding the personality of this movie that would be all encompassing, that would make everything play nicely together. We challenged each other a lot, and there was a lot of wiggling, changing, and adjusting. Then we got to this place where it’s like, “Hallelujah, it works, all these things work!” It’s like a meal. You can have all these wonderful ingredients, but you can’t just pour them in the same amount in the meal and expect it to taste good. You have to kind of balance it out and figure out what’s there!
What did you find that you could do with a superhero story through animation that makes it unique and different from live action?
DH: It was really important early on that nobody’s really super powerful. Nobody can fly; nobody got bombarded with gamma rays or, you know, cosmic rays or anything else. The characters are all normal people who are really smart and have access to technology. And so I thought that was important because I wanted to ground it in a certain reality and put limitations on the characters. Go Go, for instance, racing around on these sort of magnetic wheels at supersonic speeds, gave animators a lot of freedom to come up with really cool ways to make her move. And even Baymax—making him so simple and elegant, and not having a mouth. This challenged our team and enabled them to express things with very few of the sort of bells and whistles that they normally do with that. These are things that wouldn’t have been pulled off in live-action that we could pull off better in animation.
CW: We were able to caricature a little bit more as well. We pare things down to a more simple truth, and sometimes that can just mean that the particular action scene or an action moment is really crystallized down to its most awesome form.
Could you maybe give us an example from a Story Trust meeting of an “Aha!” moment that helped shape what you were doing with Big Hero 6?
RC: I could relate one incident where there was a spark that actually drove everyone to start thinking in a different way, and that was when we had an off-site—a day after a screening when we put ourselves in a room and just start brainstorming. For this day in particular, we brought in several social workers to talk about loss amongst teenagers [spoiler alert!]. At the end of those three hours, we were buzzing and the Story Trust was there at the time, and we just started throwing out ideas. I think it really helped focus the film in terms of the thematic [elements]. And certain things evolved or devolved. It was just a really exciting time though, because we found the root of who Hiro was and what Hiro was going through, and how Baymax could help him.
Inspired by the 1987 true story, McFarland, USA follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school, with whom they ultimately bond to build not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.
Disney Interactive has released Big Hero 6 Bot Fight,
. . . a new game for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Android and Windows Phone Devices.
With an original storyline that expands upon the film, in theaters November 7, Big Hero 6 Bot Fight continues the journey of Baymax, Hiro and the rest of the Big Hero 6 team in an epic match-3 puzzle adventure. This new free-to-play game was co-developed with Gumi, one of the top mobile RPG developers in the world.
November is here and that means one thing—at least for Disney fans—the holiday season is about to get underway at Disney Parks and Resorts!
Guests at Walt Disney World Resort get to kick off their holidays starting tomorrow, November 5, at the Magic Kingdom, when Frozen‘s Queen Elsa “lets it go” and transforms Cinderella Castle into a glistening ice palace for the holidays. “Jingle Cruises” set sail in Adventureland beginning November 7, which is also the first night for the separate-ticket event, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We’re also looking forward to grabbing a cup of hot cocoa at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, singing along to Frozen songs with our favorite Arendelle royal family members, and checking out The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (from November 7, 2014–January 4, 2015). And it just isn’t Christmas at Walt Disney World without Candlelight Processional. The Little Mermaid herself, Jodi Benson, is the first celebrity narrator when the event makes its seasonal debut on November 28.
Over at Disneyland Resort, World of Color—Winter Dreams returns to Disney California Adventure on November 13, 2014 (and concludes January 6, 2015). Our favorite snowman, Olaf, serves as narrator—and we’re hoping he brings along some of his Frozen friends! And just across the Esplanade, at the Merriest Place on Earth, Disneyland, we’re excited for the return of it’s a small world Holiday, Haunted Mansion Holiday, and, of course, A Christmas Fantasy Parade. We’re already dreaming of gingerbread Mickey cookies.
Be sure to mark these upcoming Disney events on your calendar:
| D23 and Walt Disney Archives November 5 ASIFA and D23 Celebrate 30 Years of Disney Television Animation November 8 Walt Disney Studios and Archives Tour November 11 The Hunchback of Notre Dame VIP Experience November 15 An Afternoon Under the Sea: Celebrating 25 Years of The Little Mermaid November 22-23 Destination D: Attraction Rewind at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Walt Disney World Fall 2014-2015 D23 Member Nights at Newsies—On Tour Through January 4, 2015 Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives, presented by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago August 14-16, 2015 D23 Expo 2015 returns to Anaheim, California Television November 9 Pants on Fire premieres on Disney XD (7 p.m. ET/PT) December 1–25 ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas” |
Parks November 7, 10, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, and 30; and December 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 19 Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parties at Magic Kingdom Park Studios November 7 Big Hero 6 opens in theaters. December 25 Into the Woods opens in theaters. February 20, 2015 MacFarland, USA opens in theaters. March 13, 2015 Cinderella opens in theaters. May 22, 2015 Tomorrowland opens in theaters. June 19, 2015 Inside Out opens in theaters (along with the short Lava). |
If you love Baymax, get your drink in the Baymax souvenir sipper at Tangaroa Terrace, Tomorrowland Terrace, Tomorrowland Lemonade Cart, and Award Wieners at the Disneyland Resort. The sipper and other tasty items will only be around for a limited time, starting on Friday, November 7, when Disney’s Big Hero 6 hits theaters. Inspired by the streets of San Fransokyo, try the teriyaki street dog at Award Wieners in Disney California Adventure park. This teriyaki-glazed all-beef hot dog is served on a garlic chive roll, topped with wasabi mayonnaise, and ginger, carrot and cucumber slaw. There’s also a deliciously refreshing coconut milk tea, served cold with coconut and lychee flavors. These limited-time offerings are as unique as they are tasty.
Walt Disney Studios has released a trailer for McFarland, USA, which, like all our favorite Disney movies, looks like it’s going to have us laughing and crying from start to finish. Inspired by the 1987 true story, McFarland, USA follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Kevin Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school, with whom they ultimately bond to build not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well. The trailer above will have you running to your nearest theater when the film opens February 20, 2015.
Ever wonder what the Avengers do when they’re off-duty and just hanging out? We love seeing that even super heroes can get competitive with one another, but we’re pretty sure that Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye will come together and battle to save the planet from destruction at the hands of the villainous Ultron.Catch Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron in theaters on May 1, 2015. We can’t wait!
We’re beyond excited about the 2015 premiere of Marvel’s Agent Carter. Lucky for us, the November 18 episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will feature a return guest appearance from Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), to tide us over. In the episode, titled “The Things We Bury,” Coulson and his team find themselves in an epic face-off against Hydra to uncover an ancient secret, while Ward kidnaps his brother, Senator Christian Ward, for a violent trip down memory lane. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on the ABC Television Network.
Big Hero 6 opens on the big screen this Friday, November 7, but we’ve already started exploring the world of San Fransokyo on our small screens with Disney Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay, a side-scrolling action and platforming experience for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS handheld systems. The game, which comes from Disney Interactive and GameMill Entertainment, features four playable characters—robotics whiz kid Hiro Hamada and his friends, GoGo Tomago, Wasabi, and Fred—with fellow squad mates Baymax and Honey Lemon appearing along the way for support. And on our smartphones and other mobile devices, we’ve been playing Disney Interactive’s other new release, Big Hero 6 Bot Fight. The game, which was co-developed with Gumi, continues the journey of Baymax, Hiro, and the rest of the Big Hero 6 team in an epic match-three puzzle adventure.
The original Star Wars Trilogy features so many iconic characters, moments, and of course, costumes. Princess Leia’s white dress… Han Solo’s vest… Darth Vader’s cape. These costumes have spawned many a Disney fan’s Halloween attire, but now they’ve also inspired a book. Brandon Alinger’s Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy takes you behind the scenes of the original Star Wars Trilogy and gives you an insider’s look at some of the most famous outfits of all time.
Looking for a special holiday gift for your favorite fellow Disney fan? We’re going to be checking our stockings for one of the new sterling silver and 14K gold charms from PANDORA Jewelry, which has unveiled a beautifully designed assortment inspired by some of Disney’s most beloved characters. Many of the new pieces are inspired by iconic images of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, including Mickey and Minnie dangles, sterling silver character clips, and an openwork charm featuring Mickey Mouse’s unmistakable silhouette. To discover the new Disney collection from PANDORA, visit PANDORA.net. Items will be available at PANDORA concept stores starting in November 2014, as well as select Walt Disney Parks and Resorts merchandise locations.
Some of our favorite classic Star Wars and Indiana Jones-themed games are finally available in a new way! Disney Interactive has partnered with DRM-free digital distributor GOG.com to make more than 20 classic Lucasfilm titles available digitally. The six games kicking off the collaboration are Star Wars: X-Wing Special Edition, Star Wars: TIE Fighter Special Edition, Sam & Max Hit the Road, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Visit GOG.com to see the entire collection.
We love being able to take Disney movies along, wherever we go, thanks to Disney Movies Anywhere. And now, thanks to Disney’s partnership with Google Play, it’s even easier for us to watch our favorite movies on the go. Just download the Disney Movies Anywhere app, connect it to your Google account, and you’re able to access your entire collection of Disney, Pixar, and Marvel movies. Best of all, for a limited time, DMA users who connect a new participating retailer account will receive a free digital copy of Wreck-It Ralph. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Maleficent and Planes: Fire & Rescue have just become available on digital and Blu-ray. Happy Movie Night!
The Walt Disney Studios and Google Play today announced a partnership enabling millions of U.S. Android users to enjoy their Disney, Pixar and Marvel digital movie collection across their devices through Disney Movies Anywhere.
Disney Movies Anywhere is an engaging and family-friendly digital destination that makes it simple for consumers to manage and enjoy their digital collection of Disney, Pixar and Marvel movies in one place, at home and on the go. The integration with Google Play means that it’s easier than ever for consumers to buy the films they love, and then enjoy them through the free Disney Movies Anywhere app and website, as well as everywhere Google Play Movies is available. Just download the Disney Movies Anywhere app and connect to your Google account.
“We are very excited to announce Google Play as our newest partner for Disney Movies Anywhere,” Janice Marinelli, president, Disney Studio In-Home and Digital Distribution and Disney/ABC Content Distribution, said. “We set out to create an exceptional Disney experience that made owning digital movies easy and fun, and with Google Play now on board following our successful launch in February, we are able to deliver unprecedented availability and ease for consumers across a broad range of mobile devices.”
“We want to make it easy for movie fans to enjoy all of their past and future digital purchases across all of their devices. Our partnership with Disney now gives Google Play users the ability to conveniently watch all of their Disney, Marvel and Pixar digital movies that have been purchased from any Disney Movies Anywhere participating retailer,” Jonathan Zepp, head of Google Play Movies Partnerships, said.
In Disney Movies Anywhere, consumers can explore Disney’s library of more than 400 active digital titles from Disney, Pixar and Marvel; preview upcoming offerings and enjoy hours of free new and exclusive short-form content; and discover curated content based on their individual preferences. In addition to browsing titles available for purchase, consumers can redeem digital copy codes found in Disney, Pixar and Marvel Blu-rays and DVDs directly in Disney Movies Anywhere, as well as earn Disney Movie Rewards points for digital purchases.
For a limited time, Disney Movies Anywhere users who connect a new participating retailer account will receive a free digital copy of Disney’s hit animated film Wreck-It Ralph. The launch of Disney Movies Anywhere on Google Play also coincides with the release of Maleficent, one of the year’s biggest hits, and Disney’s animated Planes: Fire & Rescue, both out on digital and Blu-ray today.
The Disney Movies Anywhere app is available in the U.S. for free from the Google Play Store and the iTunes App Store. Sign up is also available through the Disney Movies Anywhere website.
Fighting an evil villain and saving the day are probably not very high on an average teenager’s bucket list. But for Hiro Hamada, star of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming animated feature Big Hero 6, those tasks just happen to pop up on a typical weekday.On November 7, you can join the mini mastermind and his inflatable robot sidekick, Baymax, on an action-packed adventure as they get entangled in a dangerous plot unfolding in the bustling, East-meets-West city of San Franskoyo.
Big Hero 6‘s Ryan Potter Talks About Why He Loves Working in Disney Animation’s World ►
And although its headquarters are thousands of miles away from Silicon Valley, the Disney Animation team didn’t hesitate to set up its very own start-up atmosphere in Burbank to dream up the high-tech story.
This time around, Marvel’s vault of epic Super Hero tales was opened to explore new ideas. “They [Marvel] encouraged us to take Big Hero 6 and do our thing with it,” director Don Hall reveals. “From the get-go, they were very gracious with their property and are incredibly supportive.” Producer Roy Conli added that Joe Quesada, chief creative officer, Marvel, and Jeph Loeb, executive vice president and head of Television, Marvel, were a part of the development process at the film’s early stage. “It’s been an amazing relationship,” he says.
They may have been inspired by the comic book’s title and characters, but there’s no question that Walt Disney Animation Studios created its own unique world with Big Hero 6. For Don and his counterpart, director Chris Williams, creating the film has been an unforgettable experience. “It’s kind of a dream come true,” Don admits. “The action part of the story appeals to my 8-year-old self. But the core emotional relationship between Hiro and Baymax appeals not only to my 8-year-old self but to my 45-year-old self, as well.”
Defining that connection between the leading pair was an especially exciting challenge for Chris. “Finding the personality of this movie was a journey on its own,” he mentions. “That idea inspired us to challenge each other a lot.” To find those characteristics, filmmakers relied on multiple sources of inspiration, which included landmarks from San Francisco and Tokyo. They even went back to school and visited Carnegie Mellon University and MIT to research and learn more about the science behind robotics.
Technology may be a predominant focus in Big Hero 6 but it was just as big of a priority behind the scenes. To bring the largest cast of main characters in a Disney animated film to life, John Kahwaty, character technical director, and his team invented a proprietary software called Denizen. “On our average animated Disney films, we have two to three main characters,” Zach Parrish, head of animation, points out. “Frozen had six main characters. On this show we have about 15 main characters.” This system helped animators create more than 700 unique characters and set up their motions so each of them could walk, talk, and more.
Another milestone for the film was its action sequences—the most for any Disney animated movie. To meet the creative and technical demands of each production, Walt Disney Animation Studios has continued to expand its Visual Effects team over the years. “As a department we’ve actually grown significantly over the past few films,” Nathan Curtis, effects production supervisor, observes. “In Tangled we had 13 effects animators, and in Big Hero 6 we’ve actually grown to 40.” By bringing more of these visionaries to the table, the Studio can push animation boundaries and make each film more and more lifelike.
With a little less than a week left until Big Hero 6 hits theaters, Don, Chris, Roy, and the team are closer than ever as they patiently wait for audiences to see the fruits of their labor. They mentioned that one theme—collaboration—continues to drive them to produce another Disney classic, one that has to stand alongside films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Frozen. “We’ve got this legacy of movies here,” Don adds as he glances around and admires the interior of the Roy E. Disney Animation Building. “Ours has to sit on the shelf with these other fantastic films that have come out of this studio. That’s why we continue to push and encourage each other so much.”
Chef Masaharu Morimoto is teaming up with Patina Restaurant Group to open Morimoto Asia as Walt Disney World Resort brings to life Disney Springs, an entertainment-dining-retail district re-imagined from Downtown Disney. To open in summer 2015 at The Landing, in the heart of Disney Springs, Morimoto Asia is the Japanese master chef’s first pan-Asian dining experience.
Morimoto Asia’s extraordinary, 36-foot-tall, two-story layout includes a vast range of areas to explore, including open terraces, grand hall, private rooms, long bar, cocktail lounge, waterside seating and more. The restaurant is being designed by STUDIO V Architecture.
Another new concept dining experience, The BOATHOUSE, was announced for The Landing in Disney Springs. The BOATHOUSE will be an upscale, waterfront dining experience that’ll immerse guests both on land and on water with live music, guided tours aboard the Captain’s piloted 40-foot Italian Water Taxi with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries and guided Amphicar rides that launch from land, enter the water, and take guests on a 20-minute tour of the landmarks of Disney Springs.
For more on this story, visit the Disney Parks Blog.