On this week’s Big Hero 6: The Series, the San Fransokyo Insitute of Technology geared up for Rivalry Week, an annual prank war with San Fransokyo Art Institute (SFAI). But what turned into an excursion for Big Hero 6 to steal SFAI’s statue of Lenore Shimamoto led to them discovering a century-old secret, and their first face-to-face confrontation with Obake…
1. Art vs. Science
The episode reveals Honey Lemon is enrolled at SFAI as well as SFIT, something she hides from the rest of the group because of the rivalry, and because of this notion that someone cannot be interested in art and science. It leads to some fun shenanigans where she tries to hide her artwork from the team on campus, only for Go Go to reveal she knows, as Honey Lemon talks in her sleep (boy, I wasn’t expecting a reference to that line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).
As an art student who knows Leonardo da Vinci’s interest in biology was an extension of his figure painting, this notion of STEM students finding art useless is new to me, especially as art relies on technological breakthroughs. I reckon the episode’s writer (Han-Yee Ling) was inspired by the misconception that the humanities are useless, but deemed it too complicated a notion for the show’s audience: after all, a child might understand we need to learn from our past mistakes, but consider paintings boring and dumb.
2. Da Vinci Code
This episode builds on “Failure Mode,” where Shimamoto was first mentioned as being the creator of a painting containing a schematic Obake wanted. In the episode Honey Lemon, Go Go, Hiro and Baymax discover a secret lab in Shimamoto’s house on the SFAI’s grounds, uncovering that she was a scientist as well as an artist. She made a great breakthrough, but before she could tell anyone about it, a Great Catastrophe struck on April 4, 1906.
Firstly, I love the blending of the real San Francisco’s history – the date of the Great Catastrophe is very close to the April 18th date of the actual earthquake – with that of San Fransokyo. Secondly, and more importantly, it’s great to see a woman of color in the role male polymaths that typically occupy in a Dan Brown novel (or Milo Rambaldi in Alias, if that’s a parallel you prefer). I had subconsciously assumed Shimamoto was a man when they were previously mentioned, which demonstrates how important it is to show kids women could be historical visionaries too.
3. Teachers Just Wanna Have Fun
Granville proves to be no party pooper, as she very actively coordinates Big Hero 6’s participation in Rivalry Week. She goes around dressed like a Splinter Cell character, making sure the SFAI doesn’t egg or TP her campus, whereas Wasabi and Fred just get lame camo shirts. It may have been a little predictable that the stern authority figure turns out to want to be on the fun (think Captain Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine), but it was cool hearing Jenifer Lewis cut loose in the recording booth regardless, especially as her storyline will become heavier when her history with Obake comes into focus in the coming weeks. Speaking of whom…
4. Obake Steals the Show
The show is doing a great job of maintaining its slapstick tone while ensuring Obake remains menacing. Early on, he blends with a tour group at Shimamoto’s house, wearing a special pair of glasses that will enable him to find her lab, only for a kid to shove him, causing the glasses to fall and break. Instead of getting flustered, Obake glares at the boy with his glowing face tattoo, undoubtedly terrifying him and the target audience. Later, he steals Shimamoto’s journal from Honey Lemon by posing as a bearded historian: it’s so goofy, but also perfectly manipulative for his character.
When Big Hero 6 confront Obake during the climax, he seals them in booby-trapped replicas of familiar places, where they have 60 seconds to solve his riddles (which are more like puns, just like the episode’s title) providing the way out. I have to say, I think Obake just marked himself as my favorite depiction of the Riddler outside the Batman comics.
Continued below5. Art Theft
I love that the first painting by Honey Lemon we see is in the style of the film, but unfortunately, it turns out it’s a piece of 2014 fan art by an aspiring Filipina animator named Pauline, aka ‘Punziella.’ She had no idea about this, and while Disney may be in their rights to use her artwork given it’s their characters, it’s a shame she wasn’t compensated for her work. Hopefully someone at Disney will see this and put in a good word for her with the higher-ups at Snipple Animation Studios.
Bonus thoughts:
– It was funny seeing Obake in the sunglasses-and-baseball cap combo after Ant-Man and the Wasp made fun of it.
– It’s good to see Baymax is not only waterproof after the damage he received “Muirahara Woods,” but can also squirt water to clean himself.
– Baymax notes Obake’s body temperature is below normal.
– Fred makes a sly reference to Spider-Man’s ‘Clone Saga.’
