The world of San Fransokyo from 2014″s Big Hero 6 was too vibrant and rich to be contained by a single film! Today Disney announced Baymax, Hiro, Honey Lemon, Go Go, Wasabi, and Fred will be heading to Disney XD in their own animated television series. The show will reunite Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley, and Nick Filippi who were the creative team behind Disney”s smash hit Kim Possible.
Big Hero 6: The Series will pick up right where the film left off, following the adventure of 14-year-old Hiro as he and his friends navigate being superheroes with being super scientists. From the official press release:
As the new prodigy at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, Hiro now faces daunting academic challenges and the social trials of being the little man on campus. Off campus, the stakes are raised for the high-tech heroes as they must protect their city from an array of scientifically enhanced villains.
Right now Disney XD has Big Hero 6 scheduled to premiere sometime in 2017.
On a personal note, Disney appears to be heavily invested in the success of Big Hero 6 as a franchise. Over the Christmas holidays, I was at Disney World with my family. Part of the Epcot”s Innovations West pavilion had been converted into a Baymax Meet and Greet. While standing in the (considerable) line, I chatted up several Disney employees about the large empty space sealed off behind the character spot. Innovations West shut down in May of 2015, leaving the huge pavilion space empty. According to two separate employees working the Baymax line, Big Hero 6 and San Fransokyo are going to take over at least part of that space. Which explains the location of the character spot.
As Epcot has struggled to find its identity as a City of Tomorrow, adding in the scientific elements of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology feels like a good way to marry innovation with Disney flair. Anything that gets kids interested in STEM fields is a good idea in my book.