HOLLYWOOD: The huge cuddly white robot in "Big Hero 6" -- which hardly could be less like a typical Marvel superhero -- stole viewers' hearts and took home the best animated feature Oscar Sunday.
The movie is Disney's first based on Marvel comic book characters since it bought Marvel Entertainment Inc. in 2009.
Set in fictional San Fransokyo, the Japanese-themed film tells the story of young Hiro Hamada, a robot-obsessed nerd who is devastated when his older brother Tadashi dies in an accident.
Baymax is the inflatable robot Tadashi was working on before his death. He is designed to care for sick humans -- a task he promptly takes on for the depressed teen.
Along with six friends, Hiro and Baymax embark on a dangerous mission to hunt down the thief who stole Hiro's latest creation: tiny microbots that can form themselves into any shape and be controlled telepathically.
Hiro's friends are voiced by a star-studded cast, with Jamie Chung playing GoGo Tamago, Damon Wayans Jr for Wasabi, Genesis Rodriguez for Honey Lemon and T.J. Miller for Fred.
The movie is directed by Don Hall, whose past credits include "Winnie the Pooh," and Chris Williams, who co-directed "Bolt."
It is produced in part by the team that won Disney's first animated film Oscar last year with ice princess blockbuster "Frozen."
The filmmakers submerged themselves in the world of manga, karate and kabuki theater to create "Big Hero 6," and the cast is clearly proud of what they have made.
The film also unashamedly takes the side of tech geeks.
"These kids are not born with any superpowers, they're just born like any normal kid. But they are just very studious and they fall in love with science," Rodriguez said.
"They have very curious minds... so I hope that inspires kids to want to be curious and to want to explore the science and technology and to want to create and invent something new," she said.
The band of diminutive heroes eventually hunts down the evil thief, but not without some plot twists, and plenty of cute action involving the bumbling Baymax, voiced by onetime "30 Rock" star Scott Adsit.
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