KEVIN VALK: Welcome to talk to Google.
I am Kevin Valk, and I'm going to be your host today.
I'd like to welcome the cast and creative crew from "Big Hero
6."
So we have Chris Williams and Don Hall, directors.
Ryan Potter, Hiro.
Jamie Chung, Go Go Tomago.
Genesis Rodriguez, Honey Lemon.
And Roy Conli, producer.
Hey, guys.
Who's the Fallout Boy fan?
Is that marketing?
DON HALL: It was just a suggestion
from our music department.
And we met them, and they're super cool, and love Disney.
And the love comic books a lot, too,
so they were the perfect choice.
KEVIN VALK: Now, it's a great film.
How many in the room saw the film last night
when we showed it?
It was great.
We did a screening for the Google people.
People loved it.
Families loved it.
The theater was packed.
It was a beautiful, beautiful film.
And, Don, you were on it from the very beginning.
So this was your pitch.
DON HALL: Yeah.
Three and a half years ago.
I was finishing up "Winnie the Pooh,"
and I just talked to John about what my next thing would be.
And as a kid I loved Disney animation,
I loved Marvel comics, and we just
purchased Marvel, Disney had.
So I just pitched that to John and he got really excited
and said, go find something, go.
And I did a lot of research and then found "Big Hero 6."
And it felt like the perfect choice for us.
I mean, it's a very obscure title in the Marvel pantheon.
Which actually ended up benefiting us, I think.
But I love the characters.
The whole thing was very light on its feet
and is like a love letter to Japanese pop culture.
And we also saw there could be an emotional story there, too.
So it had all the elements we were looking for.
KEVIN VALK: Absolutely.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: And John Lasseter, he's always
got his radar out for people's passions.
And when he sensed how excited Don was
about the idea of pursuing a Marvel property,
he really got behind them.
KEVIN VALK: And then, Roy, when did you come on to the project?
ROY CONLI: I came on to the project about a year ago,
and basically we wrapped everything
up in terms of pulling together the story.
It was a long process, and literally we
finished the film about 15 days ago.
We finished the story process probably sometime in August,
so it was a nice one.
KEVIN VALK: And, Ryan, our Hiro of the story.
RYAN POTTER: I came on about a year and six months ago.
KEVIN VALK: This is your first voice acting role, right?
RYAN POTTER: It's my first voice acting role, yeah.
And it's funny because last recording session
was maybe a month ago that we had.
KEVIN VALK: But that's the story process of Disney, right?
It's really just figuring out the story, always changing.
RYAN POTTER: Yeah.
DON HALL: Lasseter has a phrase.
He says is our films are never finished,
they're just released.
KEVIN VALK: So this film isn't finished.
DON HALL: We still could go back to it, yeah.
KEVIN VALK: And so you guys came on at what point in the film?
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: I believe I auditioned last November.
KEVIN VALK: Really?
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
So I can't believe it's gone by so quickly.
KEVIN VALK: And you're mostly live action.
You started off, your big hit was "Entourage," really.
And then you came on with "Last Stand," "Identity Theft,"
and "Hours."
And you work with some incredible people and teams,
and then you come into Disney and do this voice acting role.
What was that like in terms of doing the voice, as opposed
to acting in front of live, real actors?
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: I've always been a Disney fan,
so they did me a huge favor by giving me this job.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: You're welcome.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
RYAN POTTER: All Chris-- it was all Chris.
KEVIN VALK: Fun fact, I hear that you
were on an all-girls robotics team in high school.
And you're a self-proclaimed nerd.
So we have to talk about those.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Yes, I was on a robotics team
and I did, basically, robot wars.
And I was a welder, and I gave the robot commands.
I really wasn't into the physics aspect of it, or a driver.
I don't drive in real life.
They didn't give me the robot to take care of,
but it was so much fun.
It was just the coolest thing I've ever done.
KEVIN VALK: So what was the transition into acting, then?
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: I don't know how it translates.
I don't know what the similarities are.
I guess it's having an idea and being
able to express it or execute it.
It was just really cool to just think of something
and be able to create it and make it actually tangible.
So I had the best time.
I love seeing the boy's faces when an all-girls robotic team
just walk up.
And they wouldn't think that we were so bad-ass but we were.
KEVIN VALK: Did you guys know this before?
DON HALL: I didn't.
I think she already had the part.
Then we were talking, she was like, I
was on an all-girls robotics team.
Then you're like what?
Because, on a research trip back East at Carnegie Mellon,
I met the Girls of Steel, which was a high school
all-girls robotics team.
Their logo was Rosie the Riveter with a cyborg
arm, was really cool.
And again, I'm just struck by their spirit,
and a lot of that we try to get into the characters of Honey
Lemon and Go Go.
Just that idea of this can-do.
They're all makers, they're all scientific,
they're all super-smart and enthusiastic.
And that really influenced those two characters.
KEVIN VALK: And Jamie, you're a San Francisco native.
JAMIE CHUNG: Yes, I am.
KEVIN VALK: So you're from here.
So what part of San Francisco?
JAMIE CHUNG: Born and raised in Westwood Park,
right by Monterey and Miramar.
KEVIN VALK: So this was interesting
because this is a beautiful, beautiful film,
and you really capture the city.
And it's incredible.
Was it cool seeing San Francisco in animated form?
JAMIE CHUNG: I mean, to be honest,
I didn't really know how the world was going to look like.
And right away, it's so recognizable.
All the great landmarks are there.
So the Transamerica building, and the Golden Gate Bridge,
and Market Street.
It's really surreal, because you don't get that feeling
when you're in a recording booth.
KEVIN VALK: And I want to talk about that,
because it's a beautiful, beautiful film.
And it looks like you basically took the footprint of San
Francisco, and then you just added all the aesthetics
of Tokyo, and it's gorgeous stuff.
DON HALL: Thank you.
Yeah, we started with, basically,
a computer model of San Francisco.
So we start with the baseline, the geography.
And geographically it was always going to be San Francisco.
So we spent a lot of time in Tokyo doing research trips,
as well.
Just trying to get as much of that in there.
And we were just in Japan a week ago for the world premiere.
And we had a lot of Japanese press coming up to us
and saying how they love the film
and they love how authentic it felt.
Down to little details, like they
put their empty recyclables in these milk crates
and put them in alleys.
Well, we have that in a lot shots
in the film, which we didn't even know.
We didn't even ask our production designer to do it,
they just did it.
But they were so appreciative of those little details like that,
because it just made them feel like we did our homework.
ROY CONLI: We had a great crew.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Exactly.
ROY CONLI: Paul Felix and Scott Watanabe,
are our production designer and art director.
Scott was kind of a secret weapon,
because Scott grew up in San Francisco
and is Japanese-American.
He spent his summers in Japan, so it's
like having this double threat.
KEVIN VALK: And I've only been here three years
in San Francisco, and even just the feel of the weather,
and the fog, and the lighting, everything
is very, very specific to San Francisco.
DON HALL: We tried very hard to capture the lighting,
because it was important to John Lasseter.
When we first pitched this idea, he said you've got to go up
and you've go to study the light, because the light in San
Francisco is like no other place.
So we did send a team up here and they
were on rooftops of buildings, taking time lapse
photos of the light throughout the day, and we use that a lot
through the film.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Even the placement of the sun in the sky
is accurate to San Francisco, depending
on the time of day in the scene.
They go really deep, and it's important to make note of,
because before we try to construct the story,
we try to rebuild the world.
Because the story is something that,
over the course of the years of production,
is going to evolve quite a bit.
We work in a very iterative way.
The story is always going to change,
but you're stuck with the world you create.
So before we do that, we go back and do tons and tons research.
And our art director and production designer really
immerse themselves in this world.
And they sketch a lot, and they and they take pictures,
and they really immerse themselves.
And that's why it feels so complete
and it feels like the world has a history to it.
KEVIN VALK: It's incredible.
I mean, even this poster we have sitting back there.
Sorry to make you all turn around.
But it's just a beautiful sunset with Baymax and Hiro.
And your character has an awesome scene with Baymax
where you guys are flying around the city, kind
of testing him out.
And there's a beautiful little part in there,
it's not even acting on your part.
I know it's an animator, but it's a beautiful little scene
with hero where you catch you're reflection in the building.
It's so subtle, but it's an amazing moment
for the character to just be like oh, this is awesome.
RYAN POTTER: It's funny you say that,
because it's something I do in my everyday life.
And I'm trying to find out which of the animators
put that in there, because they watch hours and hours of me
in the booth.
And they watch my face and what my body does.
And when I look at something that I think is cool
or I think it's entertaining or funny,
I almost do this laugh to myself.
It's like, huh.
And I do that.
And Hiro does it twice in the film.
He does it when he's on the back of Tadashi's moped.
They head up and he's looking next to the glass
and sees himself he does a laugh.
And then that scene parallels with the first flight scene
where he's on the back of Baymax.
And he's going around city and he sees himself in the mirror
again, in the glass.
And it was just so bizarre, watching
the film, when those two things--
I missed the first one the first time around.
But when I saw the one where he's on the back of Baymax,
it blew my mind.
Because some animator saw me do that in the booth,
and put it into the film.
KEVIN VALK: It's such a cool part.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: That's the first time
I cried, is that scene.
[LAUGHTER]
CHRIS WILLIAMS: But not the last.
KEVIN VALK: Behind the 3D glasses.
It's such an incredible scene, it just
makes these characters alive, and they're
actual human beings.
They're not computer or data, their actual human beings.
And seeing that little moment, he could just be flying around,
but he's actually seeing how cool it is.
Just a complete teenager thing to do.
ROY CONLI: A total testament to our animators.
We've got the greatest animation team in the business,
right now, who are able to take human characters
and make them come alive.
Oftentimes, I'll be talking to people, they'll say,
I forgot I was watching an animated film.
And it's not photo real.
It's totally exaggerated in a way
that an animated film should be.
But you emotionally fall in love with these characters
and you just go with it.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: And for those little moments of spontaneity,
we really rely on big moments.
We really rely on these guys.
We rely on the cast.
Because the way animation works, everything
is so meticulously planned.
Everything you see on the screen, every little crack
on the sidewalk, is a choice that somebody made.
And so the one place where we can find spontaneity
is in the recording booth with these guys.
And they so inhabited the characters
and brought them to life and so we're
very grateful to you guys.
Thank you.
KEVIN VALK: So, Genesis and Jamie,
that must actually interesting, too.
Because you watch yourself on screen in live action films,
and you obviously see yourself, but now
you're seeing these characters up onscreen.
So do you see any little bits that the animators took out
from you guys?
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: I mean, they got the nerd aspect.
[LAUGHTER]
I totally nerded out in the room and acted a fool
with you guys for, like, four hours.
And they saw some of the kookiness,
and the lip biting thing, and the mad scientist
that we did in the room.
They captured that.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: We needed to give Genesis lots of room.
We moved things out of the way.
We're all very, very active.
KEVIN VALK: Now were any of you guys
together during the recording process?
JAMIE CHUNG: No, not at all.
We met less than a month ago for the first time
at a cast dinner.
DON HALL: Yeah, it's hard to do that,
just because everybody's schedules and our production
schedules.
In a perfect world, it would be awesome to get everybody
and record at the same time.
RYAN POTTER: I worked with Maya Rudolph, who
voices Cass for about 20 minutes.
That was about it.
It was fun being able to work with another actor,
but with voice over, I think, what's
so amazing about it is because it's just yourself,
you have so much freedom to play around.
Because, usually in live action, you're
worried about someone maybe messing up
a line, or what's my body look like on camera?
You have all these things to worry about,
but with voice, it's simply your voice.
So you can run around the room, you can do cartwheels,
as long as the voice matches.
That's all that matters.
JAMIE CHUNG: To expand on that, I
feel like the difference between doing a live action film
and then doing an animation film is you have the luxury of time.
I mean, Don's been with this project for many, many years.
And for them to continually perfect it.
And same thing with the characters,
we have that luxury.
KEVIN VALK: I think that's the great thing about Disney,
and Pixar does it, too.
you guys don't stunt cast.
You're not like, let's get Brad Pitt,
let's get Tom Cruise in there.
You guys find the perfect people, because you guys just
blend perfectly in with these characters.
It really goes to the realism of the character.
You really believe these characters
are live by hiding that voice in the character.
And you are Hiro, and you are Go Go.
It's incredible.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: I really feel that way.
Pretty early on in the process it
became impossible to imagine anyone else
playing these characters.
They just really inhabited them.
And you have to remember these guys have
to conjure up everything.
They don't have a costume.
They don't have a set.
They don't have the other actors to bounce off of.
And if it was a live action thing
you'd probably come to the set to do one scene that day.
Whereas, we have them race from scene, to scene, to scene,
in the course of one recording session.
DON HALL: The whole movie, basically.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: So it might be a comedic scene followed
by a very emotional scene with great tragedy.
And they're forced to nimbly shift from one thing
to another.
And I'm always really amazed.
And we're all exhausted by the end of each recording session.
KEVIN VALK: It's an incredible film about a boy coming of age,
and these teenagers and these college students coming of age.
And there's this beautiful, really interesting part
I've never seen done in animation before.
And I'm not going to spoil it for people
who haven't seen the movie, but there's
a part where a particular character just
does a complete 180 and completely changes.
And I haven't seen that before, especially from definitely one
of the main characters.
And it's so interesting because it's a real emotion, right,
I think it's something that's very
specific to someone who is young.
Who gets put into these very difficult situations,
who has to have these real human emotions.
And that's an interesting part without spoiling that part.
It's a little tough.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: We're very, proud of that scene, too.
And it does kind of plumb some of the darker
depths of this particular character.
It was one of those scenes that as we animated it,
we kept shifting things.
It came across in the animation, we
thought, oh man, this is really powerful.
And then when it came time to score it and mix it,
we found that taking out the sound effects
and just letting the score play actually
really made it land emotionally.
So it kind of kept evolving throughout our process.
DON HALL: Yeah, I think that the idea that Hiro
inherits his brother's robot and then
wants to turn him into something other than what he was intended
to be is actually a lot of the fun
and the comedy of the movie.
But we knew, inevitably, it would
lead to a terrible choice.
And we knew it wouldn't be true to not do that.
But it's a challenge, really.
We were asking the audience to suddenly severe
from the main character and not like what he was doing.
But we knew it had to be in the film and so we took it on
and hopefully we did artfully.
KEVIN VALK: I think that was the great thing, is it
was completely unexpected.
ROY CONLI: And it's a testament to you two guys, Don and Chris.
I think there's some really brave filmmaking going on.
The fact that they do not depend on sound effects,
they do not depend on a score.
They actually let moments go silent,
which I think in animation is really important, because it
is a visual art form.
And they really play into the strengths of animation.
And also the power of emotion, and not try and gimmick it up.
You two guys are great.
DON HALL AND CHRIS WILLIAMS: Thanks, Roy.
ROY CONLI: You're welcome.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: I got little goosebumps.
KEVIN VALK: Was there a lot of pressure
because Disney's in this new golden age of animation.
Again, back in the '90s when it was "The Little Mermaid,"
"Aladdin," and "Beauty and the Beast."
And now you have "Tangled," which is an amazing film
and "Wreck-It Ralph," and "Frozen."
Is there a lot of pressure to succeed?
After frozen comes out does Lasseter come in like,
oh my gosh we need a ballad with Baymax?
DON HALL: Oh yeah, and with a cigar.
Uh, no.
No, no no.
I mean, the pressure's really more internal than external,
to be honest with you.
And the fact that we grew up Disney fans.
Our whole building is full of fans,
and somehow, somewhere in their childhood,
they were emotionally touched by a Disney film
and that made them want to work there.
And so, the pressure is strictly can we
make a film that is a Disney film that is fresh and new,
and can it sit on the shelf with those other classics?
And so, really, it was more of an internal pressure
than any kind of external pressure.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Yeah, we don't compete with other Disney
movies in that way.
We're actually a pretty small community at Disney animation
and we all work in each other's movies.
And so any one movie's success is everyone's success.
And so we're not worried about trying
to make more money than "Frozen."
There is no such thing as more money than "Frozen."
[LAUGHTER]
But what is important is that we have
a relationship with the audience.
They track Disney-feature animated films.
And we want them to believe that if they
come to see one of our movies, whatever the genre
we're taking on, that they'll have a great experience.
That's what's most important, and that's
the thing that keeps me up at night.
ROY CONLI: I think the strength of the studio
right now is the fact that Don was working on "Winnie
the Pooh" and decided he wanted to do a superhero movie.
That split, for me, I'd done "Tangled"
and the next thing I do is a superhero movie.
That's great, and that's the strength of our studio
right now, in terms of storytelling.
And it's all about the storytelling.
And whenever we make a choice, it's
about what's the best story.
KEVIN VALK: I think that's incredible, too.
With you guys as the voice cast, with your guys' costumes,
did you have any say over that stuff?
Any little bits and pieces of it, or not really?
JAMIE CHUNG: Zero.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: I'm want her wardrobe, though,
so I hope that happens for me, because it's
absolutely adorable.
KEVIN VALK: And I want talk a little about that
with the costumes, and their powers and everything.
Because, Wasabi, he has, basically, light saber hands,
is essentially what he has.
Fred is a fire breathing monster.
Baymax has his karate skills.
And Go Go has the wheel discs.
Honey has the purse bombs.
DON HALL: Purse bombs-- perfect.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
RYAN POTTER: Don't scream that at TSA.
KEVIN VALK: Purse bomb!
But the incredible thing with Hiro
is that actually he doesn't have anything.
He just has his suit and Baymax, and he needs Baymax.
That's very particular and very specific to your character,
where it was you need Baymax.
RYAN POTTER: Well, it's funny.
You go all the way back to the origin of "Big Hero 6,"
and you see Hiro's role.
And it's still very much the same thing
from the comic book to the film.
He is the strategist.
He is the guy who figures out the plan.
Basically, these guys form Voltron,
and I'm stealing a line from the Wu-Tang Clan, Hiro is the head.
Yeah, he didn't add anything to his suit except for the fact
that he connects to Baymax.
And, yeah, when you watch the film you here him call out,
oh do this, do that.
And it's great because everyone's powers,
they come together really nicely.
Everyone's skills and intellect come together in a way
that they can work together as a team really well.
DON HALL: It was important, early on, when we first
started developing it that I just
made a choice to not have super-powered
beings in this movie.
I felt like there was a lot of that.
And I like the challenge of creating-- really,
the superpower in the movie is their intelligence.
It's super-tech, really, and the smarts of these characters.
And it lead us down interesting--
because it made us research more.
And boy, I mean we found so many really cool maglev technology,
we researched that.
And even telekinesis for Hiro's micro bots, which we thought
was a crazy sci-fi kind of thing.
Turns out there are people working
on some rudimentary aspects of telekinesis.
KEVIN VALK: Probably us, right?
DON HALL: Probably.
[COUGHS] Google!
So I think it paid off in that they
do feel, they're mortal beings, they're just kids.
Really, Go Go's the only one that has any business
being a superhero, to be honest with you.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: She carries the team for a while.
DON HALL: She kind of carries them a little bit.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Yeah, thank you.
DON HALL: But it is a sort of celebration
of the Maker Movement and super technology.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: They're all smart.
I mean, they're all smart kids, and we celebrate that.
And they have a lot of potential.
And that's one of the things the movie talks about,
is that each of us has potential,
and what are you going to do with it?
Are you going to do something selfish or selfless with it?
And if this movie in any way inspires scientific curiosity,
then that's a good thing.
ROY CONLI: I do want to double back, because these guys may
not think they had anything to do
with the look of their character.
But essentially, their performances
are what finally shaped the character.
We don't do anything with the character
until we have that voice.
And so slight design changes, and all kinds of things
in terms of costume, it's all a result of your performance.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: And the body language, as well.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Good to know.
KEVIN VALK: What was the balance of,
you're taking this very obscure Marvel property,
and trying to translate that into-- I
know Disney-Marvel just did it with "Guardians of the Galaxy."
You guys are doing it with "Big Hero 6," kind
of introducing this and finding that balance of respecting
the original property, but also making it your own.
And, looking back at the original,
because I really didn't know it.
I was looking at it, and some of it crosses,
but some of the characters are different.
And, I mean, Baymax is way better than the original.
DON HALL: Well, it actually came from one
the first meetings we had with Marvel.
I pitched several ideas to John based on Marvel ideas
and he gravitated towards "Big Hero 6."
As did the other directors.
We generally pitch stuff to all the other directors,
we all work on each other's stuff,
and everybody seemed to gravitate toward "Big Hero 6."
And Marvel was super cool with it,
and they just said, don't worry.
You don't have to worry about setting
this in the Marvel universe.
You don't have to worry about Iron Man, and Captain America,
and everybody showing up.
They really encouraged us to make it our own,
and that's what led to San Fransokyo.
If it's not the Marvel universe, which is generally
New York City in the real, world then what is our world?
That led to San Fransokyo.
And, ultimately, they gave us complete freedom
to make this our own.
And we ended up, really, taking the characters' names,
and we tried to base their tech on something
from the comic book, loosely.
But Baymax, really, is a whole new character,
and that came from our research.
I did a robotics tour very early on.
About 3 and 1/2 years ago, actually, at Harvard, MIT.
And Carnegie Mellon was where I found
a researcher named Chris Atkeson, who
was doing research in soft robotics.
You guys are probably working on it, too.
But I met Chris Atkeson, and I was on the hunt for something
unique.
I knew was going to challenge to put a unique robot on screen,
we've seen so many.
And not only that, but he had to be appealing and huggable.
Everybody kept saying, he's got to be a huggable robot.
So when I saw that soft robotics that's when I knew
we'd found our Baymax.
And so his character, his personality,
everything from Baymax came from that research trip.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: And the fact that it
stems from a more obscure property actually
really served us, because the audience wasn't
going to bring any preconceived notions about what
the character should be, or what the story should be.
One thing you can't emphasize enough
is how fluid our story environment is.
We spent years crafting the story,
and it changes quite a bit over the course of that journey.
And the whole system is designed to be constantly questioning
your assumptions about the story,
and so it changed dramatically.
So one thing you know is whatever you start out
with, you're going to end up with something
else at the end of the journey.
So better to start with something
that people don't have a fixed idea of what it should be.
KEVIN VALK: Interesting. for the development of the characters,
the story's constantly changing, you guys
were probably brought in, I'm guessing several times,
to do audio.
Now is there any thought to bringing in these actors
maybe even sooner, maybe earlier in the process?
Kind of when you're developing the characters,
or are you still just trying to find them and find their voice?
But would it be easier almost to find the actors first and then
develop the character from there?
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Well, they are part of the process.
I mean, for years you guys have been involved, right?
For a year and a half or so?
DON HALL: I mean, yeah.
Even when they auditioned we had pages, but it was kind of like,
OK take it and do whatever.
We really encourage them to bring a lot of themselves
to it, and bring any kind of improv.
Because, again that keeps it fresh for us.
And the characters were definitely not baked
when you guys came in.
You had a huge impact on defining these characters.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: And the structure
will be always evolving, the scenes would be changing.
So you guys will be asked to come in
and rerecord the scene over and over and over again.
And I've always impressed by your patience.
RYAN POTTER: That happened?
ROY CONLI: We probably did how many
recording sessions with you?
15?
RYAN POTTER: More than 20.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: And they can be four or five hour sessions,
and it was pretty demanding.
And you guys never lost faith, I felt.
You had every reason to, I think,
because you're seeing scenes change
over and over and over again.
Thank you.
RYAN POTTER: Being able to come in so many times,
I was able to see how the script evolved.
And it just kept going.
I already thought was phenomenal,
but then it just kept evolving, and becoming
better and better and better.
And every time I came in, I was happy to see
that it could get better.
And it was weird.
I'd say, it's not going to get any better than this,
and it did.
ROY CONLI: It's an interesting thing for you,
because your character is in most of the film,
so you saw most of the script.
Because these guys only see, really,
the chunks of the script that they're in.
And so, he was able to see the arc developing.
You guys probably have a little bit more,
hmm, what's going on here?
RYAN POTTER: And I'm glad you guys were
able to finally settle on an opening of the film.
I guess that's always the last thing you do.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: There are so many versions
of the first scene of the movie.
DON HALL: But to Roy's point, though,
I wouldn't say we ever really have a finished script to hand
out because of that evolution.
I mean, there may be a complete script at one point,
but it's never done in our terms.
And so, we can't really ever hand out a finished script,
because it doesn't exist really until the movie's done.
We keep iterating and iterating and iterating.
And so, there's no version of a shooting script in live action.
In a sense it's the shooting script is when it's done.
And that's the shooting script.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Oh yeah, oh there it is.
DON HALL: Yeah-- right there.
It was there all the time.
KEVIN VALK: And for you three it, with any time
you're acting you're always a character, right?
And so what were your inspirations
of trying to bring these characters to life?
Was it yourself?
Was it a sibling?
Was it another actor?
Was it something from your childhood?
What was bringing it about?
Because, obviously, you're not 14- and 20-year-olds
in college.
RYAN POTTER: Man.
It's funny, because everyone keeps asking the question,
how are you similar to your character?
And I don't really have any differences from Hiro,
other than the fact that he's much smarter than I am,
in certain ways.
But besides that, we're so similar.
Obviously, the body language, and the way
you see Hiro onscreen, that's attributed to the animators.
But I didn't have to change my voice at all for the project.
It's my voice through and through.
And what was written on the page, I feel like,
were things I've already gone through,
things I've already experienced, things I've said.
And obviously when I was able to improv,
I was able to bring more of myself to him.
But honestly, every time I went in there
was nothing I had to do.
All I did was walk through the door, they started recording,
and I read lines off a page.
And it was just as me.
JAMIE CHUNG: Yeah, I think you're going to see a parallel,
because there's a reason why they hired us. [WHISPERS]
Thank god!
And so you're going to see some resemblances.
But, I feel like, for my character,
they gave me great direction.
And it was, she's the female version of Clint Eastwood.
She doesn't have a lot to say, but when she says it,
it's just straight to the point.
So that was really helpful.
KEVIN VALK: So what you're saying
is that you had the easiest job.
Because you only had--
JAMIE CHUNG: So easy.
ROY CONLI: You had to learn to skate, though.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: We had to ask her to be mean, sometimes.
It was breaking away from who you are, I think.
More mean, more mean.
Nastier, nastier.
KEVIN VALK: So was there any room for improvisation?
Because you mentioned that.
So you got to improv a little bit?
RYAN POTTER: Yeah, for sure.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Did I improv a lot?
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Yeah, there's sections where--
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: It's a blur.
Because I walked in, I had so much fun.
I said, I can't believe I worked today, and I got paid for it.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: All you guys would say, can I try something?
And the answer's always yes.
It always has to be yes, because you might get great stuff.
And also you want to see their interpretation
of the scene, the moment, the character.
And you want to create that environment
where everyone's point of view is worth listening to,
so you guys offered so much great stuff that was off page.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Good.
RYAN POTTER: It's also cool to see it
in the final, when it's done.
You go, oh my line made it.
Right, you're like, oh no way!
Yes!
They approve!
TJ, I'm sure, was just constantly,
DON HALL: No, he stuck to the script the whole time.
RYAN POTTER: Oh, perfect.
DON HALL: TJ is a crazy man.
KEVIN VALK: It was him and Scott, too, right?
DON HALL: Well, Scott, interestingly enough, though,
was probably the most scripted character.
Because Baymax, we were pretty strict
with him, and his syntax, and how he speaks.
And it was all very scripted out,
and Scott is such an amazing actor and improver
that he could find nuances within lines
to make them funny.
Or, actually, to make them tug at your heart strings.
And that's a testament, because we really hemmed him in,
as far as--
ROY CONLI: An envelope.
DON HALL: Yeah, he had a very tight envelope
with which to act, but he did a great job.
KEVIN VALK: I was going to ask about Baymax.
I know Scott's not here, but his character
is so interesting, like his voice.
And how did you even find Scott?
Because it's got to be hard to cast a voice,
because you're probably going with trying to figure out
what's going to be the robot voice.
DON HALL: I looked at several.
KEVIN VALK: Just a few, right?
DON HALL: 40ish.
And there was a certain, definitely
had something in mind.
It had to be that kind of calm, soothing, kind
of peaceful, cheerful tone.
Because he's a nurse, and that's how he views the world.
And so we were really looking for the right tonality.
And then when Scott came in he was really good at it.
He brought that idea of when you call a call center
and it's not a human being on the other end.
There's always that weird pause between words,
Scott brought that in there and it
seemed to really fit the character.
KEVIN VALK: And was there anything
that was just so crazy and wild, that you really
wanted in the film, but it just didn't fit
or you just had to cut it?
CHRIS WILLIAMS: That's a hard question.
There were scenes that followed the villains' plot a little
more that were really fun and cinematic,
but ultimately didn't serve the story.
So they had to go.
DON HALL: Yeah, you just can't.
When you're making an animated film,
unlike a live action film, we are generally
in the 85 to 90 minute range.
And can't really go too much beyond that for many reasons,
actually.
And so it does make be like, you have
to sort of kill your babies.
As far as like, OK, does that work?
Does that not?
Does that further the story?
Does it not?
And you've got to be really, really hard core.
Kill your darlings, or whatever-- you know,
everybody knows the term.
[LAUGHTER]
So you do have to make those tough choices.
So, yeah, we did follow the villain's story a little bit,
and there were very cool cinematic scenes.
But they just didn't further Hiro's emotional story,
which had to be the main story.
KEVIN VALK: So, was there any point
where you just got completely stuck,
you're just like this is not going to work?
Because I know every film basically
at it's initial birth, is just, it's not good.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: For sure.
I mean, we put up a series of screenings,
which are story reels.
Storyboards with music and dialogue and sound effects.
And we put up, I think, seven or eight versions of the story
reels, internally, over the course of making the movie.
And after every screening, you get lots of opinions,
and lots of ideas, lots of feedback.
And you're in a position to do lots
of soul searching about what you think is working,
what's not working.
What your vision of the film was, what it now has to be,
because that's constantly evolving, as well.
And there are moments where you think,
well I don't know if we can crack this one.
This was a very ambitious story, plot wise.
As far as the emotional storyline, very ambitious.
And there were certainly moments where
we thought well, I don't know if we're
going to be able to crack this one.
But somebody would keep talking.
We would just keep going.
And the machine would just keep--
there's about eight or ten people in that story
room sitting across from each other for days on end.
And that process goes on for years.
And somebody will always be that spark plug that fires up
the conversation, keeps it going,
and we all fire off of each other.
And so there might have been those moments of doubt,
but with the people that we're surrounded by,
it doesn't take very long.
ROY CONLI: We're very fortunate in the sense
that we have this story trust.
And it's all the directors that work on all the films,
and we meet after every screening
and have these great offsites and discuss specific notes.
But there were two moments that I remember,
that were really essential.
We did one offsite and we brought
in a psychologist and a couple of social workers
to talk about teenage loss, and that really kind of solidified
Hiro's story in our minds.
That kind of took us in the right direction.
And then the other moment was when
we discovered that it was really Baymax
who had to drive the story.
He was the one who actually gets the team together.
And once that happened, then the pieces
started falling into place.
That happened around the fourth screening.
And so then the next four screenings
were about getting all the other elements functioning.
KEVIN VALK: We're going to do some Q&A, as well, if people
want to get up to the microphone.
But something I want to talk about, too,
is what was your guy's favorite part of the movie?
And there's a few of those.
And there's a couple parts where Disney socks you in the gut,
and you start crying.
And it's some heartbreaking moments,
but there's got to be some, the Hiro scene, and stuff.
Seeing your reflection.
Roy, we'll start with you.
ROY CONLI: The thing that I love the most is when they're
walking into the hall for the showcase.
And they're rolling in the microbots
in the little containers.
And it's the team.
It's the team together, just goofing around, and talking,
and trying to pep him up.
And it's so real, and it's so gentle.
And yet, it's a bunch of kids just shooting the breeze.
And for that moment, I see them together for the first time.
I see them as a team, I see them as friends, I see them as buds.
And it's kind of a special scene, and it's simple.
RYAN POTTER: We already touched on it.
My favorite thing in the whole film was actually that look.
When Hiro looks into the glass, and basically
does what I do in my everyday life.
But the opening is a great scene.
It's a lot of fun.
The first flight sequence was great.
JAMIE CHUNG: Ryan, just one.
RYAN POTTER: And then, and then this,
and then, And there's just so many great moments,
there really are.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: My favorite scene
is when you see the team trying out their gear
and perfecting it with Heathcliff.
That's very funny to me.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: Your character's very sweet in that scene.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Yes, she's very sweet.
JAMIE CHUNG: Drunk Baymax.
Low battery Baymax is probably the funniest thing ever.
I would just keep him on low, just hang out with him.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: You like the drunk version better?
JAMIE CHUNG: Yeah, he's cool.
He says some funny things, he is hilarious.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: There's a couple scenes
that I actually don't want to talk about too
much, because of spoilers and things.
But, one scene that I love, and I think it's
a credit to the way that we build our stories.
It's after the first flight scene
where Hiro's riding on Baymax around the city
for the first time.
There's a very quiet moment where
they're sitting on top of a wind turbine above the clouds.
And there's a stillness, and, I think,
a very good kind of sentimentality to that scene.
And I'm very proud of it.
And it's a scene that came very late in the game for us.
It was only after years of the story
evolving, and working on the structure,
that we realized that we were missing something.
We were missing that scene.
And once we had it, we couldn't imagine how we ever
had a version of the movie without it.
So, I love that scene, and I love
what it says about our process, that it even exists.
DON HALL: Yeah, and for me the first flight sequence
was the near and dear to my heart.
And it was in every version of every screening we ever did.
And it never really integrated until we came up,
it was John Lasseter, actually, came up with the idea
that Baymax was going to go on a daredevil flight
through San Fransokyo in order to boost
Hiro's neurotransmitter levels and get him to feel excited.
But it also, to me, was the ultimate.
This movie to me is like, there are
moments in this film where I'm eight years old.
And I know how I would feel about watching
that in the theater, and that's one of those scenes where
I just know my eight-year-old self would go bananas for it.
KEVIN VALK: So that's interesting,
because I was going to ask about that, too.
So that scene was in it through every iteration.
Were there a couple of those?
DON HALL: It didn't work until John came up with that idea.
Well, for instance, in the beginning with the botfight,
that was in the first couple versions of the film,
and then kind of went away, and meandered back in.
That often happens, just because we're trying out stuff.
And you throw it away, doesn't work in this context.
But then you pull it back out and now it
works in the new context.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: The first flight was
in every version of the movie, it just
needed the right context.
DON HALL: Exactlly.
KEVIN VALK: And you need it.
And, Roy, you could probably jump in here, too,
with the technological challenges.
Because Baymax is something I don't
think we've really seen in terms of a character.
He's crazy, and I'm sure that character rig must
have been crazy for the animators.
And you also have the microbots, which are just
this beautiful amazing thing, and I'm coming together.
I want to talk about the technological challenges
with that, and making that all kind of,
ROY CONLI: Well, you're hitting two great teams that we have.
One is tech, and they basically work after animation
and make sure that vinyl was actually vinyl.
I mean, it is amazing, for example
the folds and how the vinyl moves.
That's all tech, and that's just an amazing team
that we work with.
And then, our effects team, who came up with so much
in this film.
It's kind of interesting.
If you were to take San Fransokyo and the world
that we built in this film, you could fit Tangled,
you could fit Wreck-it Ralph, and you
could fit Frozen into this world.
It was so amazing, what they were able to accomplish, just
in terms of rendering power.
In terms of the animation, and all the nuance that's there,
it's brilliant.
KEVIN VALK: It's visually beautiful, I mean,
it's just crazy.
And again, Baymax is just one of those characters
I don't think we've ever seen onscreen before.
ROY CONLI: We were rendering like 1.1 million hours
per night.
We had 50,000 cores running this thing.
It was insane, it was insane.
KEVIN VALK: And one of the last things,
we're going to wrap it up.
And I don't think there's anyone for the Q&A.
But there's a lot of Easter eggs,
and a lot of [INAUDIBLE] I think.
I wanted to tell viewers, I think, basically,
in Fred's room I saw a ton of stuff.
A little bit in Hiro's.
The big window, I'm not going to reveal
what it is, but the big window, is
that designed after something, in Hiro's room?
CHRIS WILLIAMS: The round window?
KEVIN VALK: Yeah.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: I don't know, was it, Donny?
KEVIN VALK: It looks like a Pokemon ball.
I don't know if that's intentional or not.
DON HALL: Are you talking about in Tadashi's lab?
KEVIN VALK: Yeah, I'm sorry.
Yeah.
DON HALL: Actually, no.
That was from our research.
There is a robotics lab at MIT that I
visited that had that kind of turret-like window.
Kind of like the Millennium Falcon, and so that
always stuck in my head, and I based it on that.
But we could say Pokemon.
CHRIS WILLIAMS: There are lots of Easter eggs,
and lots of Marvel fans, and obviously people
proud of the Disney history in our building.
And so they were placing lots of Easter eggs,
to the point where Don and I had to tell them to knock it off.
There were just too many, and we actually pulled a couple out.
KEVIN VALK: Lock it down.
Great, great.
I think that's all we have time for because we
got to wrap this up.
Thank you guys so much for being here.
GROUP: Thank you.
KEVIN VALK: So everyone, the movie
comes out Friday, November 7, so just a few days.
And, if you guys are going to watch this,
make sure you promote on social media.
G+, Facebook, if you're going on hash tagging it, #BigHero6,
the number 6.
And we have one gift, and so if you want to grab that, Roy.
This is for you guys.
You guys saw this a little bit earlier.
We have a Baymax Android for you guys.
That's going back to the cast and crew
of "Big Hero 6," back at Disney.
Thank you guys for being here, I really appreciate it.
Thank you, and thanks everybody.
[APPLAUSE]