Disney's Heroic Effort Pays Off

This past week, I went to see Big Hero 6 with my kids. I wasn't all that interested to see it at first, since it's about science and robots and has a Marvel Comics element to it. However, one of my friends who has similar tastes in movies posted that she loved it, so I decided to check it out. I'm SO glad I did!

Big Hero 6 is about a boy genius, Hiro, who graduates high school at age 13 and creates robots to use for Bot Fighting tournaments, in an effort to make money. His brother, Tadashi, inspires him to get into San Fransokyo University, which is accomplished by creating a unique contribution to technology. Hiro's efforts are rewarded, but then disaster strikes and everything he created is gone. With the help of Tadashi's health-care robot, Baymax, Hiro finds out that his creation is still in existence, but taken over by an evil villain who is intent on using it for his own purposes. Hiro gathers his friends, along with Baymax, to overtake the villain and get back what is rightfully his.

I loved everything about this movie, from characters, to art design, to music (and not typical Disney show-stoppers, but the songs playing as the action is going on). The story is clever and emotionally driven. There are a lot of action scenes, as well as comedic moments. I was laughing as much as my six-year-old son, if not more. I even cried at times.

I totally loved Baymax as a sidekick. He's funny and not annoying at all. What's amazing is that even without a mouth, he can still convey emotion. He's mainly created as a revolutionary healthcare device. I wish he were around when my son was having ear problems. He could have resolved the issue in no time! I love that he won't go away until Hiro is satisfied with his care. How often do health care professionals even ask that of their patients? It's such a simple question too. There's so much more to Baymax than what he appears to be and the result is incredible. He's definitely the source of most of the humor too.

The main song, "Immortals," is really good and goes well with the action scenes. It's sung by Fall Out Boy, even though I thought it was Adam Lambert until I saw the credits. (Shows how much I mix up rock groups and singers these days.) The marriage of Tokyo and San Francisco was really cool in terms of what they were able to do with scenery. Most of the character voices were not well known, but Maya Rudolph played Hiro's aunt, which I thought was cool. Alan Tudyk, who was the voice of King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph and played Wash on Firefly, also did a voice in this movie. Another fun fact: Scott Adsit, the guy who did Baymax's voice, is from a town near where I grew up.

What worries me is that because this is not a movie about princesses with memorable songs, it will fade into the background. I felt like Wreck-It Ralph did that, and I loved that movie too. I highly encourage everyone to see Big Hero 6 and stay all the way through the end for a special celebrity cameo visit.

All I can tell you for now is that I'm glad I braved the theater experience to see this on the big screen and that my three-year-old princess-obsessed daughter sat better than most of the bigger kids in the theater. She told me she liked it a lot too.

Here's a trailer: