This week's Tokyo International Film Festival is hot on animation, featuring screenings of the collected works of Hideaki Anno, creator of the epic franchise, "Neon Genesis Evangelion," and 3-D shorts directed by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, producer of "Donkey Kong" and "Super Mario Bros." But the festival's opening animated film is from America — even if Japan is very much on its mind.
The world premiere of "Big Hero 6" (released in Japan as "Baymax") from Disney and Marvel Comics took place in Tokyo on Oct. 23. It will open in theaters in the United States on Nov. 7. Last week, as I swung through Los Angeles, where the film was produced and directed, the pre-release buzz was palpable.
The eponymous hero of the film is a "Hiro" — Hiro Hamada, a half-Japanese, half-Caucasian boy genius with a flair for robotics. Hamada and his robot companion, Baymax, fight evil forces who threaten to destroy their home city — an urban hybrid called "San Fransokyo."
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