CATDOLL: "Big Hero 6" concept map appreciation Japan has become the representative of Asian culture

The Disney animated film "Big Hero 6" will be released in mainland China on February 28. The story was originally set in a fictional metropolis called San Fransokyo, which is a fusion of Eastern and Western cultures (San Francisco + Tokyo). According to the latest information from Disney personnel, Disney did not want to limit the design elements of this metropolis to Tokyo, but wanted to expand it to the whole of Asia, so the story was finally set in a future San Francisco with a lot of Asian elements. It is worth mentioning that when the film is released in mainland China, the Chinese subtitles will also be San Francisco, not the old Jingshan that has been promoted before.

Stills from Big Hero 6

This change means that the Asian elements in the film are more diverse and rich, which can be seen from the large number of city concept drawings that have been exposed before the film. Among all the city concept drawings compiled in this article, some became the final pictures, some were not selected as the final pictures, but they influenced the subsequent design direction and inspired new design ideas, and some were completely abandoned due to reasons such as inconsistency with the overall style, and some were bold attempts by concept artists to break through limitations. Now let's take a look at how these colorful concept drawings of different styles built the future San Francisco in the final film, where Eastern and Western cultures merge.

The night view of San Francisco in the future. In the left half of this concept map, we can see billboards with Japanese elements such as "Karate Hall" and "Suzuki Dental". The roof is also an Asian-style tile roof. In the distance, looming in the night is the Golden Gate Bridge, the landmark building of San Francisco.

Daytime view of San Francisco. In order to design the future San Francisco, designers traveled back and forth between San Francisco, Tokyo, and other cities in Japan to collect information. The future San Francisco was built based on the map of San Francisco, and Japanese design elements such as road signs, billboards, and neon lights seen in Tokyo were incorporated into it.

Daytime view of future San Francisco. Similar to the previous concept map, the difference is the content of some billboards. Future San Francisco includes 23 districts, 82,000 buildings, 400,000 trees and countless street lights. In order to integrate the two metropolises of San Francisco and Tokyo, the behind-the-scenes production team took thousands of photos of people, scenery and buildings for reference.

Many of the buildings and landmarks in San Francisco in the film were designed based on scenes in the real city. For example, the coffee shop opened by Hiro's aunt. When the crew was investigating the scene in San Francisco, they took a photo of a coffee shop (as shown in the picture) as a reference.

The film's art director Scott Watanabe drew this concept map based on a photo of a real coffee shop. What is quite different from the real photo is that there is a Japanese lucky cat statue standing on the eaves of the house in the picture, and the Chinese character "cat" is also written on the door curtain.

Compared with the real photos, the road has become more inclined, and cherry trees representing Japanese elements are planted on the roadside.

Concept art of a San Francisco street in the film. This is from the perspective of the Maneki Neko Cafe. The Maneki Neko statue sitting on the eaves can be clearly seen on the left side of the frame.

Disney artists used real-world architecture (right) to design the buildings in Big Hero 6 (left).

Disney artists designed the buildings in Big Hero 6 (right) based on real-world buildings (left). The red text on the right indicates the changes made. For example, the red text at the bottom indicates the increase in the slope of the hill.

The film's art director Scott Watanabe designed the San Francisco business district. Does it feel like Lost in Translation?

The film's art director Scott Watanabe designed the San Francisco business district, with overpasses and crowded shops creating a prosperous and bustling scene.

The commercial district of San Francisco designed by the film's art director. This picture appears foggy, and the giant billboards on the buildings stand out in the fog.

In this early concept art, art director Scott Watanabe depicted San Francisco's business district in great detail, with tall buildings standing in the business district, while the outer areas of the business district were intentionally sketched to highlight the focus of the picture - the business district.

The next four images are some concept drawings of Hiro's neighborhood, also by art director Scott Watanabe, who said they were influenced by San Francisco's hippie district and some older communities from the company era.

The community where Ahong lives.

A corner of Ahong's community.

A corner of Ahong's community.

The next eight pictures are of the industrial area of ​​San Francisco in the film, created by art director Scott Watanabe. The overall tone of these pictures is dark and cold, full of elements such as steel bars, cement, barbed wire, fences, and wires.

The next six concept drawings are from designer Kevin Dart. The Japanese elements in these concept drawings he designed are more obvious. For example, in this concept drawing, the words on the house are directly written "San Frantokyo" (Old Jingshan) - a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo.

This concept map is full of Japanese elements, including women, clothing, banners, plaques, fans and umbrellas, all of which show a strong Japanese style.

Concept illustration in watercolor style.

Dabai hitchhiking? ?

This concept art seems to be a tribute to "Spirited Away".

The most prominent element in this concept image is the colorful lights hanging on the street, which is a highly recognizable Asian element that is more likely to resonate with the audience and is easy to understand.

Early designs for Fred's mansion:

The final design of Fred's mansion

The minor villain Yama was originally going to have a bigger role. He originally had a hideout or "palace" on a mountain. Most of the illegal activities in San Francisco took place on that mountain. The next five concept drawings were all drawn by art director Scott from the perspective of that mountain. He loved exploring the darker side of the city, but he was ultimately unable to do so.

Concept artist Mingjue Helen Chen painted a night scene of San Francisco. The maglev train shuttles between the buildings, which looks very futuristic.