10 Times Comic Book Movies Departed From The Canon And It Was Great
10. Big Hero 6 - Baymax Is A Lovable Robot Stay Puft Man
Disney's purchase of Marvel back in 2009 was met with predictable lamentations from fans of the comics publisher that the Mouse House would take the odd and esoteric stories and characters from the funny pages and turn them into soft edged, brightly coloured, cutesy, cartoonish product designed more to shift toys than tell a compelling narrative. And with 2014's Big Hero 6, the first feature made by Disney Animation based on a Marvel source, that is exactly what happened. And it could not have worked better. Perhaps taking a less well known work from the vast Marvel canon was designed to prevent any objections, given the studio clearly intended their Big Hero 6 to be about as faithful an adaptation as their takes on Victor Hugo or Hans Christian Andersen. Just as those works were transformed to make something that fit comfortably into the Disney style and, at least in the case of the latter, resulted in bona fide classics, Big Hero 6 the movie succeeds by taking inspiration from the broad concept of the American written, Manga influenced, Japanese super-team, but then developing its own ideas around the material. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in protagonist Hiro's robo-sidekick Baymax. On the page, Baymax is a shape-changing bodyguard-cum-butler, ordinarily assuming a broadly humanoid form, but becoming a battle-dragon or mecha as the occasion demands. On screen, he has instead become a healthcare-bot and taken on a puffy, white, inflatable form. It's the combination of these two elements that makes Baymax the breakout star of the movie, bringing a winning combination of naivety and caring. Baymax's visual design pays little heed to the comic and instead puts together the best parts of the Iron Giant, Wall-E and Ghostbusters' Stay Puft Man. Just like Star Wars' BB-8, the movie Baymax is a perfect demonstration of how Disney's eye for what makes an appealing toy design can actually enhance the charm of a movie character's look.