The second of this weekend’s Big Hero 6 episodes saw Honey Lemon moving into Go Go’s apartment, and her technology inadvertently creating a supervillain. Beware… Globby!
1. What happened to the frame rate?
It’s a valid question: something felt off from the first shot of Go Go and Fred blankly staring at a piece of molecular gastronomy, their movements felt jerkier and their outlines were thicker. I rewatched the previous episodes to see if the issue was something else, but no, from checking the credits I learned that the excellent work done before was by Snipple Animation Studios, whereas the inferior animation here was by Nørlum.
Still, despite the lack of inbetweening, the characters remain expressive and animated, which I guess is a testament to the show’s strong storyboarding and voice acting.
2. Sweet as…
I said in yesterday’s recap that I like that the show’s giving characters other than Hiro and Baymax their own storylines, and was delighted when I realized this episode was about Honey Lemon and Go Go. I think a cartoon having two female leads is still quite rare (only Teen Titans‘ Raven and Starfire comes to mind right now), and it was great seeing the two of them having a clash over their personalities, rather than a guy.
Honey Lemon is, true to her name, a very sweet person, like some kind of time displaced Disney Princess. She not only resembles Tangled‘s Rapunzel, she has also has that relentlessly cheery optimism, even helping a guy in Go Go’s rough neighborhood get in touch with his feminine side by repainting his bike a glittering pink. Her klutzy, happy-go-lucky nature is quite the change from her concerned outlook in the pilot: contrast her casual apology to her old roommate – who got frozen in an experiment gone wrong – to how bothered she was about turning Yama into a popsicle in that episode.
None of this is actual backstory for Honey, but I won’t be surprised now if we find out in a later episode that her parents were hippies, given her name and her carefree attitude.
3. Wobble before Globby
This episode’s supervillain is Globby, formerly Dibs, who’s basically “What if Don Knotts was a wannabe criminal mastermind who turned into the Parasite from Superman?” Conan O’Brien sidekick Andy Richter plays the part of a thief who’s so incompetent and pathetic, that you can’t help but feel sorry for him. Even after defeating Big Hero 6, he still complains he doesn’t get any respect, and even while making his statement of intent, he initially kidnaps Alistair Krei’s statue instead of the billionaire himself.
4. Who are you again?
I gotta admit I completely forgot about Alistair Krei, voiced by Alan Tudyk, who was the red herring for the villain’s secret identity in the film. It took me a moment to remember who the character was when he reappeared, and it’s interesting he’s still keen on replicating the nanotechnology from the film, indicating he may still become slightly antagonistic towards Big Hero 6. I am finding him a funnier character than in the film, probably because his self-important attitude makes the humor around him feel dryer.
We also get to finally hear Krei’s assistant speak: she’s voiced by Laura Silverman (Sarah’s sister), and she gets the best line in the whole episode, informing Krei on TV after Globby kidnaps him that she’s going home early. It’s like a scene in The Office or Parks and Recreation, she’s so politely honest it’s hysterical.
5. Honey Lemon is no Squirrel Girl
During the climax where Globby holds Krei hostage, Go Go convinces Honey Lemon to tap into her outgoing nature to appeal to the villain’s inner lost boy, despite it having driven a wedge between the two ladies. It’s obviously a variation on the age-old lesson to be yourself and to ignore peer pressure, but I liked it as 1) it resembled how Squirrel Girl will usually try to defeat villains, with words and not violence, in the pages of “Unbeatable Squirrel Girl,” and 2) because Globby realizes he can achieve his self-worth by striving to become the most feared supervillain in the world. Basically kids, people should be left to be themselves, and sometimes those people are just jerks. I say Honey Lemon learned a very valuable lesson today.
Continued belowBonus thoughts:
– Baymax is doing a lovely job of reminding viewers at home of the importance of a good night’s sleep.
– Wasabi asking Fred to calm down basically implies he, and not Baymax, is the Lassie of the group.
– The epic ending of Globby swinging away only to slam into a window is a terrific parody of how Spider-Man films used to end.
