Heres what he had to say…
Lets start with someBack To The Future Part IIIparlance.
Theres a bit in that film where Doc Brown gets the train to absolutely the point of no return.
Where was the eureka moment?
We do a series of screenings every 12 weeks.
There was a point, and quite frankly relatively recently.
February [this year] I knew we had a film.
And then in April, I went ooh, we have a good film.
And then in June, I went oh, this is going to be really interesting.
And its interesting because the way we work, the stories always come late in the game.
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We deal with each film where the theme is a big aspect to it.
I dont think that you start with a theme and end with that film.
You actually find that theme.
So within the structure of this thing we went through many thematic concepts and ideas.
Whats been really great is a lot of them have stuck.
Thats what makes this film so interesting.
Theres a thickness to the broth thats really cool.
Is it coincidence thatBig Hero 6touches on that too?
In a sense isnt that the root of the dramatic structure?
Oedipus is doing that!
I think its fundamental.
We can talk about Chekhov if you want to!
Help yourself, this is a Geek site!
When youre telling a story, the best stories, every character has an arc.
Youve said that you want the character of Baymax to be distinct from other robots on the big screen.
Visually he clearly is.
But how tricky is that tonally?
In the West, robots are generally evil, theyre the Terminator.
In the East, in Japan, robots are kind of the future, and will be helpbots.
In Japan right now, theyre manufacturing companion robots.
So that was one of the things we felt we wanted to do.
It made sense to us that Baymax would come into it in the way that he does.
Baymax is almost as good as the robot inRocky IV.Thats the highest praise I can give him.
[Laughs] You do know your robots.
Each directing team is different.
You infuse yourself as much as you’re gonna wanna infuse yourself.
I have the wrap of being a creative producer.
Theatres your background, isnt it?
But fundamentally it is the directors vision that should be on the screen.
Because it seems to be rooted in talent thats come through Disney in more recent times?
The last 10-15 years, as opposed to the last 30-40 years?
Its amazing when you think that Chris and Don [directors] have been around for 20 years.
Its not like theyre puppies!
Nathan Greno and Byron Howard have probably been around the studio the same amount of time too.
Whereas Glen Keane was being influenced by Frank and Ollie, these guys have been influenced by that generation!
Mark Henn and Glen and whatnot.
That kind of DNA follows through.
I think that was the brilliance of John [Lasseter] when he came to the studio.
One of Johns immediate concerns was he didnt want to make another Pixar.
What he wanted to do was allow the DNA of Disney to thrive.
And thats what he did.
Glen Keane said it really well.
That Pixar is wouldnt it be cool, if?
and Disney is a little bit once upon a time.
And I think thats a neat differentiation.
And I kind of follow up.
In a weird way, it fits withBig Hero 6,that once upon a time.
But you know, I dont quite know when that time is!
Youve mentioned before about the lighting technique breakthroughs youve had onBig Hero 6.
How do you stop, though, the constant evolution of technology from seducing your team?
Technology has driven storytelling from day one in films.
But shouldnt technology be a slave to storytelling?
I dont think its a slave to storytelling at all.
I think it expands your ability.
Its just more tools.
Just as the computer is nothing but a tool.
We started with pencils, then paint, and were doing the same thing.
It gives you sometimes more iterative power.
Initially technology, a lot of times people say thisll save you money.
It doesnt save you money!
What it does is give you is more bites at the apple to make something more visually stunning.
So just reassure us.
Its as ropey as them all!
[Laughs] But we do have good tech support!
Im reading Ed Catmulls book,Creativity Inc,at the moment.
And he talks about the project that Pixar lost,Newt.
That it got so far into production, and they missed it was going wrong.
How do you keep it on track, then?Newt, after all, was regularly screened too.
So how do you and your directors keep on top of a big film like this?
Its interesting because I dont equate this with anything else.
I think each story rests of its own laurels, and on its own ethos.
We are Disney, in a sense.
So if it feels true to you, then your audience will hopefully go for it.
One last thing do you have a favourite Jason Statham film?
You didnt even flinch!
Roy Conli, thank you very much.
Big Hero 6lands in the UK on January 30th 2015.
