Baymax! is the first television series from Walt Disney Animation Studios, and while it was a success, there was one major thing that made it a missed opportunity.
Walt Disney Animation Studios had a major goal for the release of the Baymax! television show, and while the series achieved that goal, it still hasn’t reached its full potential. Baymax! is the third spin-off series from the Oscar-winning series Big Hero 6 franchise, following Big Hero 6 The Series and Baymax dreams. With the same director and the film’s voice actors on board, including Scott Adsit reprising the lead role, the series was released on Disney+ on June 29.
Baymax! follows the healthcare companion as he helps the people of the town of San Fransokyo, scanning their bodies to check on their health and offering his unique brand of emotional support. The series introduces many new characters, with only short post-credit cameos from Baymax’s best friend Hiro. Each episode’s storylines are simple but still fun and well-executed, paired with its signature beautiful animation style.
Baymax! is the first series in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ line of television productions, which will also include spinoffs from Zootopia, Moana, and a hand drawing The princess and the Frog series. It seems likely that the main goal here was to prove that Disney’s main animation studio could create TV series that matched the same quality of their movies. Baymax! has certainly proven they can do it, but despite the positive reception the series has received so far, there is one thing that makes Baymax! the impression of being a missed opportunity: the episodes are much too short.
The series has six episodes, none of which are longer than 12 minutes. That’s 72 minutes in total for the Baymax! series when the original Big Hero 6 the film was 102 minutes long. For Walt Disney Animation Studios to really cement themselves in the television space, they should have taken advantage of this new format to allow audiences to explore the world of San Fransokyo more and spend more time with it. Big Hero 6Baymax’s adorable robot character. As it stands, the short length of each episode makes the series feel more like a proof of concept than a fully realized series, which is a shame.
Walt Disney Animation Studios have long proven their mastery of the short narrative format, having been releasing shorts for as long as they have been releasing feature films. As wonderful as Baymax! that is, it still feels like a familiar series of shorts rather than a cohesive TV narrative. Ultimately, the success of Baymax! it looks like it comes from the studio playing it safe and sticking to their tried and tested short film format. Hopefully, with the next set of TV series they have prepared, the studio won’t be afraid to try something new with a longer and more satisfying runtime.
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