Big Hero 6 Isn't Frozen For Boys and 7 More Reasons to See It!

Big Hero 6 comes from the deep dark vaults of Marvel. It is the first time since Disney bought Marvel in 2009 that the company has delved beyond popular superheroes like Spider-Man, Hulk, and Iron Man. Though only the characters' names and their superpowers remain true to the comic, it doesn't take long to see that Baymax and Hiro are not anything like Batman and Robin. For one thing, the duo's relationship is more akin to Pumbaa and Timon (from The Lion King) than traditional superhero friendships. They hug (a lot!), they're young (Hiro is 14), they create the technology for themselves, and they show their emotions on their sleeves. Though there is significant tragedy in their lives to propel them into greatness (much like Spider-Man, Batman, and every other superhero before them), these characters don't follow your typical plotlines.

Much has been made of STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) recently, so it's no surprise that Disney picked up on the trend. What is surprising is that they've made it beyond cool. The movie's heroes are a group of so-called technology nerds who are part of a special college engineering program where they turn their technological dreams into reality. Rather than dream about what could be, they actually make it. Throughout the film we see GoGo Tomago develop a bike with magnetic-levitation technology that can also be used as a weapon, and Hiro actually uses a 3D printer to create Baymax's suit of armor. These teenage heroes may be the first animated members of the maker movement.

According to the movie's director, Don Hall, Big Hero 6 is a true love letter to Japan. Set in the futuristic blended metropolis of San Fransokyo, the city is home to San Francisco's famous hills and trolley cars as well as Tokyo's public transportation system and distinguishable cultural identifiers — pufferfish balloons float above the city, the Golden Gate Bridge features traditional torii gates on its highest points, etc. Several of the characters, including Hiro, are of blended heritage, too, though the subject is never really addressed in the film.

Hiro and Baymax may be the face of the film, but GoGo Tomago and Honey Lemon are there for more than toy sales. They're strong (both physically and in temperament) and provide significant power to the flick. GoGo's the rebel of the group with her purple-streaked hair and quiet, Clint Eastwood-like snarls, but she's the brains behind some of the best weapons during the film's epic battle. And Honey Lemon is the antithesis of your typical superhero or rock-star engineer with her determinately girlie outlook on things — all of her creations are pink and purple, but they're beyond powerful, just as she is.

It wouldn't be a Disney film without a few lines thrown in for the adults in the audience, and Big Hero 6 has more than a few of them. When an unexpected plot twist appears about three-quarters of the way through the film, Fred (the "loner" of the group) remarks, "So this is really a revenge story," putting the audience on notice for the remainder of the flick. But perhaps the best line can be found in one of the final scenes, when the movie's heroes appear to be trapped and Hiro reminds them to "use their brains" to get out of the situation — a line more than a few parents have probably uttered to their kids!

If the animation in Big Hero 6 seems more life-like than any other animated film you've ever seen, that's because it is. The film was made with Hyperion, a "global-illumination simulator" that Disney Animation invented to create photo-like quality. That means car chases around town look filmed, not drawn. And scenes that take place high above San Fransokyo feel real enough to touch. It sounds corny, but believe me, you'll forget you're watching an animated movie in a matter of minutes.

The movie's writers are never in-your-face with the variety of diversity in the film, but it's certainly there, and they don't deny it. Many of the main characters are biracial (Hiro is Japanese and white, Honey Lemon is Cuban and Venezuelan, etc.), Wasabi is African-American, and the big man, Baymax, is a robot of no distinguishable origin. It may be the most diverse group of superheroes ever assembled.

In fact, it's not anything just for boys. Yes, Disney's last big movie was Frozen. Yes, Frozen was the highest-grossing animated film of all time. And yes, I'm sure Disney would love another worldwide phenomenon like Frozen, but Big Hero 6 is not a boy version of that film.

First of all, it's not a musical — the only song in the film is a revved-up anthem by Fall Out Boy. So don't expect kids to be belting out the song on YouTube anytime soon. Secondly, princesses and superheroes don't generate the same buzz — the hero in the film is a huggable robot, not a person that little kids will want to imitate. That said, it doesn't need to be Frozen for boys. Superheroes just don't generate the hysteria that princesses do.