Walt Disney Features rolled into New York Comic Con with Big Hero 6 and Tomorrowland. The Nerdist Chris Hardwick played host to cast and crew from both movies, with directors Don Hall and Chris Williams; producer Roy Conli; and cast members Jamie Chung (Go Go Tomago), Genesis Rodriguez (Honey Lemon), and T.J. Miller (Fred), with Ryan Potter (Hiro Hamada) and Scott Adsit (Baymax) joining them afterwards.
The bulk of the panel was taken up by several clips of the movie, which look terrific. The first one introduced the movie’s hero, Hiro Hamada, as his older brother Tadashi brings him to the lab where he does his research along with the rest of the soon-to-be-heroes. The second clip featured the scene that figured prominently in the second trailer, as Baymax’s batteries run low and he acts drunk, tripping on his own feet and calling the cat a “hairy baby.” The third clip showed Hiro’s first attempt at upgrading Baymax to a combat model, which was different from the footage shown in the first trailer, and ended with Hiro taking Baymax to pursue the mysterious, kabuki-masked villain. The next clip was an extraordinarily exciting chase sequence, as the gang’s compact car tries to outrace the masked villain and his wave of nanobots. The last clip shown was a sizzle reel, which has since been released on YouTube:
For the rest, you’ll have to wait until November 7, when the movie is released.
Next, Hardwick brought out Tomorrowland director Brad Bird and producer Damon Lindelof, along with actors Britt Robertson (who plays lead Casey Newton), Raffey Cassidy (Athena), and Hugh Laurie (David Nix). Unfortunately, after screening the trailer, the panel was more an exercise in avoidance, as everyone studiously avoided talking about the movie to avoid ruining the surprises in store.
However, the panel was treated to a surprise appearance by George Clooney (Frank Walker), who appeared just as Hugh Laurie began joking about how awful Clooney was to work with. Clooney was a genial presence on the panel, quipping about how he ended up taking his newly wedded wife to a comic con for their honeymoon, and how this was the first comic con he had attended after the disaster that was Batman and Robin. A second clip was screened, as Casey bulldozes her way into Frank Walker’s house, only to be attacked by a mysterious gang with futuristic weapons. The clip ended as they made their escape. Tomorrowland certainly has an impeccable pedigree, and the footage shown was definitely intriguing.
For the record, I also took multiple photos of the panelists, and of the one or two dozen of Clooney, the only bad ones were when he was blinking or I blew focus. He is one seriously good looking man who photographs really, really well.
Big Hero 6 opens on November 7, 2014. Tomorrowland is coming May 22, 2015. We leave you with extra photos of the extraordinarily photogenic people who were at the panel. Many more extras are at Flickr account.
BIG HERO 6
TOMORROWLAND
Hugh Laurie and George Clooney? Two good looking dudes who were having lots of fun.
