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Big Hero 6 is full of geeky references and the characters or their accessories are very close to other movies.
For example: Go Go works on Tron-like-cycle, Fred is Gozilla-style monster. Wasabi has a Halo-style energy sword, etc.
But I couldn't figure out any references for Honey Lemon. I guess the female Pokemon characters had big hand bags and threw balls, but I think I may be trying too hard here... Any other ideas?
Keep in mind that Big Hero 6 is based on a comic franchise of the same name, which started in 1998, so nearly 20 years ago. The character of Honey Lemon is Japanese in the comics, and is good at science and an expert martial artist. Further, while she does use a purse in the comics called the Power Purse, hers:
...contains a series of miniature, artificial, inter-universe wormholes, granting her limited access to an indeterminate number of worlds and dimensions. The unstable, fluctuating nature of the wormholes makes accurate long-term mapping of them difficult. Before deploying in the field, Honey Lemon typically gathers a large arsenal of supplies, shrinks them to microscopic size using a combination of Pym Particles and cutting-edge nanotechnology, and stores them in miniature pocket universes only accessible via the Power Purse's wormholes. As such, she is able to instantaneously retrieve these items from the Power Purse and restore them to their original size while in the field.3
The Power Purse's wormholes also grant access to a number of full-sized, inhabited dimensions. For instance, the Microverse planet of Coronar (homeworld of former Big Hero 6 member Sunpyre) is accessible through the Power Purse. The total number of dimensions accessible via the Power Purse has yet to be determined. Although Honey Lemon can use the Power Purse's wormholes as a method of personal transportation, she only does so in rare instances when her life is in danger, as a trip through the Power Purse is often a very unpleasant experience for carbon-based lifeforms.
As such I wouldn't say any character in particular was designed to represent another franchise specifically, and any such references are likely not entirely intentional. Case in point, the creators of the film said they modeled Go-Go Tomago, for the movie, off of bicycle messengers. Further, while Go-Go Tomago is a skilled motorcyclist and an accomplished racer and stunt driver in the comics, her suit and therefore the powers granted by it have absolutely nothing to do with bikes of any kind or in any way. They may be borrowing familiar ideas and franchises that less comic book inclined audiences may recognize, but in the end there was no direct intention to represent any franchise in particular.
To this extent, my takeaway from the movie, and in particular Honey Lemon as depicted in the film, was more to try and inspire kids to pursue careers in STEM fields. Several companies in STEM fields are trying to diversify their teams, and a big sector they're going after are women, especially given STEM fields are largely seen as being male dominated. The character of Honey Lemon in the film is clearly very "girly", but she's also incredibly smart and a gifted chemist. Given this I felt her character was designed to show girls that you can still be feminine and like "girl things", and at the same time you can be smart and successful as a scientist and/or engineer.
