NYCC has officially arrived and one of the first panels the Con used to kickoff its four day marathon of geek drooling was Disney’s Big Hero 6 and Tomorrowland. Upon entering the main hall, attendees were treated to a swag bag and an exclusive con poster from a member of Blurppy’s Poster Posse. In the bag we were given a short book about Tomorrowland and a pin, the one you see on the poster which was revealed today at the con (on the left).
First up Big Hero 6. Big Hero 6 wasn’t a movie I was all that excited for, up until yesterday I hadn’t seen the trailer and once I did I became curious. As I sat there during the panel and they showed us never before seen clips from the film, all I could think to myself was that that this will be 2014’s How to Train Your Dragon, just a fun, hopeful movie about channeling your talents for good. It looks like something everyone will eat up and has the potential to be almost as good as The Lego Movie.
Big Hero 6 is a Marvel Disney mash-up, the film is based on the comics but directors John Hall and Chris Williams, both of who were in attendance along with a few cast members, took a different approach. The film is very much an East meets West mash-up of technology, geography and culture. To get a good feel for the film and to see some funny bits I highly recommend checking out the trailer. No point in ruining any cool scenes from the clips they showed but suffice to say this movie looks like it’ll be a blast.
Now for the big one, Tomorrowland, directed by Brad Bird and co-written by Brad Bird, Damon Lindelof, and Jeff Jensen. Bird and Lindelof were in attendance and while they were being coy about everything, they eventually opened up and showed us the first teaser trailer for the film. It gives us enough to understand what the story will be but not enough to fully appreciate the scope of the film. Tomorrowland is described as the Hogwarts for science, which, after what I’ve seen, makes sense. It’s a discovery movie, one that inspires and implants the lead with a vision and encouraging them to pursue their goal. You can check out the first official teaser below to get a better idea.
Bird and Lindelof were soon joined on stage by Britt Robertson, who has the potential to be the next Jennifer Lawrence, Raffey Cassidy, and Hugh Laurie. They each discussed a little bit about their roles but couldn’t reveal much, especially the good guy or bad guy aspects, but we were able to get the gist. Raffey’s character Athena knows karate and is a helpful but snotty character, Robertson is the lead, and Laurie is most likely the bad guy in the film. Then, as Laurie was bashing on George Clooney, none other than the man himself, coming during his honeymoon, walked on stage to a thunderous roar from the audience. Clooney got a bunch of laughs talking about running into Adam West backstage and apologizing to him. This was Clooney’s first Con ever and since he was disappointed by the lack of screen time in the trailer he brought along another clip, which was awesome.
In the clip, Clooney (Frank) and Robertson’s (Casey) characters meet for the first time, but Frank wants nothing to do with Casey and tries to push her away. Eventually, Casey gets inside Frank’s fortress of a farm house but soon the house is under attack by people hunting Casey and her special pin. What we witness is an awesome cinematic spectacle with some very cool technology, effective fight choreography and hinting at what’s to come when the two eventually make their trek to Tomorrowland.
The consensus from the panel is that this is going to be a huge film in terms of scope. We only get a quick glimpse of Tomorrowland in the teaser, but all the actors agreed that we haven’t seen anything yet and to expect great things from this picture. While that’s movie marketing at its finest I’m inclined to believe them, especially since it’s a Brad Bird film.
Big Hero 6 hits theaters this November and Tomorrowland comes out next May.
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