"Big Hero 6" has been a critical and commercial hit for Walt Disney Animation Studios, scoring an Oscar nomination and taking in more than $500 million at the box office.

But the more important number may be the 39,000 hours Disney Animation spent developing the computer program that made the movie possible.

The software, called Hyperion, simulates the physics of light, which can make animated films more lifelike or give them an otherworldly look.

FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2015

It's the latest salvo in a technological arms race among animation houses. One of Disney's rivals, DreamWorks Animation, had a research and development group of about 120 people as of last year among them nearly a dozen former employees of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Disney Animation's sister company, Pixar, has long been a trailblazer, producing the first feature-length computer-animated film, 1995's "Toy Story."

But Hyperion could transform animation.

"It's a major step for them," said Dan Sarto, co-founder and publisher of Animation World Network. "They are only as good as the tools they allow their artists to use."

Computer-animated films are big business: In most years, a handful rank among the top 10 U.S. box-office hits. They can also generate toys, clothes and other products that will produce big profits.

Disney Animation's "Frozen" grossed more than $1 billion and has bolstered profits for several business units of the studio's parent, Burbank-based Walt Disney Co.

Visit link:

Software behind 'Big Hero 6' pushes envelope on computer animation