Does Big Hero 6 The Series Play Things Too Safe?

[SweetShop209]

So, with the rumor that Big Hero 6 The Series could end after season 3, and with only 10 episodes (we have to wait for more direct confirmation), there's this question I've seen floating around.

Does Big Hero 6 The Series Play Things Too Safe?

Let me elaborate. I've seen some people compare the show to Lilo And Stitch The Series, another show that's also based on a theatrical movie that could get into some dramatic territory and also covers similar themes on family, but not in the best way. Like with that show, I've heard complaints that Big Hero 6 The Series playa things too safe and doesn't go far enough with the drama or storytelling, playing out more like a low stakes, Saturday morning cartoon. I mean, with tv shows based on theatrical movies, they usually lighten things up a bit, whether it's having more humor or toning down the scariness. However, with Big Hero 6 The Series, I've heard complaints that there isn't enough story potential explored, such as not dwelling into certain characters' families or back stories, or feel like those such as Trina could've done more in season 2. I mean, the examples mentioned on the show's TV tropes page don't help.

What do you think though?

Big Hero 6: The Series / YMMV - TV Tropes

Abandon Shipping: When Trina was introduced in "The Bot-Fighter", fans saw her as an alternate pairing for Hiro as she helped him with the underground bot fights and even kissed him after one. Not even the revelation that she was a robot and …

tvtropes.org

 

[Frontier]

I do think the show could've done a much better job of expanding on the rest of the team.

We get into Fred's family and their heroic legacy but we still know virtually nothing about Wasabi, Go Go, or Honey Lemon's families or what they do outside the team. It feels like we've gotten glimpses as to what exactly motivates them as heroes and scientists but nowhere near the depth compared to Hiro. I'm also kind of surprised that in three seasons we haven't learned anything new about Hiro and Tadashi's dead parents.

I do think there are plenty of stakes, particularly from Obake's storyline or when the team was having to fight crime as wanted fugitives.

 

[Mostezli]

Relative to the theatrical movie, not at all. Relative to other action comedies, sure?

This is developed by the Kim Possible creators, so...
Obviously the main team on the show don't have much depth to them, but the side characters and villains are surprisingly either insightful or tear-jerking...and also why this show feels like a Saturday morning relic.

 

[Red Arrow]

Relative to the theatrical movie, not at all. Relative to other action comedies, sure?

This is developed by the Kim Possible creators, so...
Obviously the main team on the show don't have much depth to them, but the side characters and villains are surprisingly either insightful or tear-jerking...and also why this show feels like a Saturday morning relic.

You get to know all characters in Kim Possible, not so much in Big Hero 6: The Series. I consider that its main gripe. The series is nice, but it doesn't have much depth.

 

[ShadowBeast]

The show feels like it has potential, but like a lot of shows these day, they rather focus on the Goofy characters like Fred and Globby. It's disappointing that Obake was confirmed dead as we never got to see what he had planned with the piece of Globby he took. Sirque and Hardlight were wasted characters with Sirque being arrested off-screen and Hardlight being defeated by Karmi, those two had more main villain of the season than Trina ever did. It's like the show was only planned for the one season with Obake, as the show was at it's best there and while the first half of season 2 was pretty good, it wasn't planned out like season 1 was. But the second-half of season 2, aside from a couple of episodes, it was a mess. I really didn't like Megan and her father, and Trina's role wasn't built up very well. She just came out of nowhere with what? 1 "Obake being alive" hint before the finale? The ending felted forced with the legacies thing between Tadashi and Obake. That's something that should've been brought up more than once.

We get into Fred's family and their heroic legacy but we still know virtually nothing about Wasabi, Go Go, or Honey Lemon's families or what they do outside the team. It feels like we've gotten glimpses as to what exactly motivates them as heroes and scientists but nowhere near the depth compared to Hiro. I'm also kind of surprised that in three seasons we haven't learned anything new about Hiro and Tadashi's dead parents.

I agree, we don't even know their actual names since the names they use were created by Fred.
The first episode of season practically shows us how important they are to the series as they were left out most of time and the focus was one Hiro,Baymax, and Fred.

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

If we're talking about drama and tone, then yeah. The first two seasons had some dramatic moments, overarching storylines, and some heavy moments (Obake's suicide, Hiro confronting Callaghan, etc.), but yeah, comedy and wacky situations were always a priority. This was becoming evident near the end of the second season, where we got a lot of Fred focus despite the main story being about the police pursuing Big Hero 6. I guess the mandate of creating shorter episodes due to a shorter season 3 encouraged those priorities. I would've liked at least one more Callaghan scene before season 3's end, but I don't think that's likely with the pure comedy approach of the current season.

Obviously the main team on the show don't have much depth to them, but the side characters and villains are surprisingly either insightful or tear-jerking...and also why this show feels like a Saturday morning relic.

Yeah, that's another disappointment I had. Hiro and Baymax having more focus is fine since they are the protagonists, but Fred having so much focus was a big turn off. As much as I liked most of the show's OCs, it's kind of messed up that we know more about joke villains and supporting cast than, say, GoGo, Honey Lemon, or Wasabi. I think I noted before that "GoGo the Woweroo" is probably her first and only solo focus episode. The Nickelodeon Kung Fu Panda series also had this issue.

 

[Red Arrow]

I guess the mandate of creating shorter episodes due to a shorter season 3 encouraged those priorities.

I disagree. Well, at least I think I do, season 3 hasn't premiered here yet. Season 3 would have been the perfect opportunity to give Wasabi 11 minutes of spotlight. They could have shown how he has become a great teacher. Add some goofy story and tadaa, the perfect 11 minute episode. They could have done the same with Go Go and Honey Lemon. But based on your posts, they didn't do anything like that.

I wonder if the creators find Wasabi, Go Go and Honey Lemon too boring?

One more episode of Noodle Burger Boy and I am going to scream XD

 

[Mostezli]

I wonder if the creators find Wasabi, Go Go and Honey Lemon too boring?

They certainly don't have their careers from the Man of Action source material after the Disney revamp.
I have no clue how much the show seeded those titles of samurai chef, criminal stuntwoman, and secret agent.
Those seem like things the creators would do some great material with.

 

[Frontier]

The show feels like it has potential, but like a lot of shows these day, they rather focus on the Goofy characters like Fred and Globby. It's disappointing that Obake was confirmed dead as we never got to see what he had planned with the piece of Globby he took. Sirque and Hardlight were wasted characters with Sirque being arrested off-screen and Hardlight being defeated by Karmi, those two had more main villain of the season than Trina ever did. It's like the show was only planned for the one season with Obake, as the show was at it's best there and while the first half of season 2 was pretty good, it wasn't planned out like season 1 was. But the second-half of season 2, aside from a couple of episodes, it was a mess. I really didn't like Megan and her father, and Trina's role wasn't built up very well. She just came out of nowhere with what? 1 "Obake being alive" hint before the finale? The ending felted forced with the legacies thing between Tadashi and Obake. That's something that should've been brought up more than once.

I definitely agree they should've built up to Trina being the final villain more. She just vanishes from the plot in the first half and then suddenly she turns up having orchestrated this big villainous plot off-screen by the season finale. Not to play armchair cartoon critic, but I don't think you should have last-minute plots in a 24-episode season.

I agree, we don't even know their actual names since the names they use were created by Fred.
The first episode of season practically shows us how important they are to the series as they were left out most of time and the focus was one Hiro,Baymax, and Fred.

I had honestly completely forgotten that their names are just nicknames and not their actual names. The show basically treats them like their actual names .

And that's not even getting into the fact that the entire team has gone the whole series without getting individual codenames because their codenames from the comics got turned into their actual names.

If we're talking about drama and tone, then yeah. The first two seasons had some dramatic moments, overarching storylines, and some heavy moments (Obake's suicide, Hiro confronting Callaghan, etc.), but yeah, comedy and wacky situations were always a priority. This was becoming evident near the end of the second season, where we got a lot of Fred focus despite the main story being about the police pursuing Big Hero 6. I guess the mandate of creating shorter episodes due to a shorter season 3 encouraged those priorities. I would've liked at least one more Callaghan scene before season 3's end, but I don't think that's likely with the pure comedy approach of the current season.

I was kind of interested to see Callaghan's daughter again and see how she's coping with what happened to her and her father. Does she resent Krei at all? Were there any physical repercussions? Just think it would've been interesting.

Although speaking of Krei, he sure became a parody of himself .

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

I disagree. Well, at least I think I do, season 3 hasn't premiered here yet. Season 3 would have been the perfect opportunity to give Wasabi 11 minutes of spotlight. They could have shown how he has become a great teacher. Add some goofy story and tadaa, the perfect 11 minute episode. They could have done the same with Go Go and Honey Lemon. But based on your posts, they didn't do anything like that.

The priorities I was talking about were about the focus on Fred and wackier and funnier material. With the shorter episode count, they likely wanted to do shorter episodes to have more stories to tell, and since it's difficult to tell more dramatic stories in just 11 minutes, it meant they can prioritize Fred and comedy even more.

I was kind of interested to see Callaghan's daughter again and see how she's coping with what happened to her and her father. Does she resent Krei at all? Were there any physical repercussions? Just think it would've been interesting.

Although speaking of Krei, he sure became a parody of himself .

Yeah, and I thought the original show was going to build on that. Honestly, I think season 2 sets up stuff that they likely wanted to do for season 3, but weren't able to. Hardlight's return, the first Baymax, Callaghan, etc. Now, all of these things are either ignored or they're given perplexing conclusions, like Hardlight's defeat in his second appearance.

Krei is pretty much another Varrick but not as energetic. On one hand, I can't fault them for wanting to take advantage of Alan Tudyk's comedic talent. On the other hand, I never cared for Varrick in Legend of Korra except for season two, where he was a secondary villain.