The team behind Big Hero 6 describe the process of making a movie for Disney

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

With promotion for BIG HERO 6 in full swing, the creators took to reddit to do a little Q&A. There are definitely some interesting tidbits shared (you can check out the whole AMA here) but one of the more fascinating aspects is how exactly a project, which can take anywhere from 3-5 years of development, is started over at Disney Corp. Directors Don Hall and Chris Williams, head writer Paul Briggs and producer Roy Conli were more than happy to answer that question and more.

In regards to how a team pitches a project to Disney/Marvel:

Don: Hmm. We pitched projects to John Lassiter (the chief creative officer at Disney/Pixar), he wants us to come up with at least 3 ideas, and they have to be something the directors are passionate about. For Big Hero 6, I think there were 5 projects and Big Hero 6 was the one that made it through the process. The first thing you do is a top line pitch, just about the world, the characters, and just a real broad sense of the story, basically John wants to know where the emotion is in the story. But really it’s not fleshed out at all, it’s really high concept stuff. Then we start working on it, we do research actually. We don’t delve into story yet, we do research on the world, get really immersed in that. And then once we’ve done enough research do we start fleshing out the story. The visual component is throughout, but early on, we don’t have a lot of people, we try to keep the crews very small. Visual development happens a bit later, once you’ve got more of your story figured out. Big Hero 6 was 3.5 years from conception to completion.

ROY: Which is very short for an animated film. Usually it’s in the 5 year range.

CHRIS: Would you say very short?

ROY: I’d say significantly shorter. And stop contradicting me! HAHA!

PAUL: What are we talking about again?

What the team enjoyed most about creating BIG HERO 6:

CHRIS: Oh… the best about creating it? Well we certainly had fun last night, now that it’s almost done, screening with an audience…

PAUL: Meeting John Romita Jr.! You get to meet your comic book heroes!

ROY: I just loved the story process. I loved sitting in the story room, and laughing.

DON: Well, it’s hard to say one thing, because I thoroughly enjoyed each phase of that movie – from the development phase when it was me and 1-2 people, to when we had a full production crew and our days were booked from 9 until 10 at night. Each phase of the process I found really enjoyable, culminating last night to watching with an audience for the first time. It was really magical.

CHRIS: They were great last night, really incredible.

How to the town of of San Fransokyo measures up to San Francisco:

ROY: We basically used the US geological survey of San Francisco to actually build the town, and we actually went to the SF city assessors office to get a plan of every building that is in SF, so you’ll recognize a LOT of landmarks and street structures.

CHRIS: And then we heightened it and caricatured it to work in animation, and then we put it through the filter of blending a Western & Eastern aesthetic.

DON: Pay special attention for our version of Coit Tower. It’s pretty awesome.

ROY: Also, one of the things they’ve been able to achieve is the LIGHT of San Francisco. Having the bay and Ocean on one side. Also, the quality of the air is very SF.

DON: That was one of the things John Lassiter was very keen we capture, was the light of San Francisco. That accounted for one research trip alone!

CHRIS: Even the lighting – depending on the time of day of a scene, the sun had to be in the right place in the sky, and even the direction the fog was blowing – partly because John Lassiter is so familiar with SF, he would know if the suns was in the wrong place!

It’s strange to think that while a lot of animation is passed off as popcorn entertainment or kids fare, that there is a whole team of people who devote years of their lives to creating it, from the story and characters to the environment in which they live in. Even CG-intensive live-action films take less time than that! With that said, I hope BIG HERO 6 delivers the entertainment factor that Marvel flicks have accomplished so well lately.

BIG HERO 6 will be released on November 7, 2014.