The wildly anticipated animated film, Big Hero 6, will finally hit theaters next week in the U.S. As with pretty much every Walt Disney animated film as of late, there is so much promotion and hype that precedes the film that you have to wonder if it’s really great or are people just talking about it so much because the film promotion is everywhere thanks to the monster Disney marketing machine? No matter which way you look at, advertisement is in full swing in the final week leading up to the U.S. release, and undoubtedly there will be a sizable turnout given that it is a Disney film and the characters are loosely based on a Marvel comic (even if no really heard of the comic before now). Sounds like a winner already, right? Maybe.
Early Critic Reception
So far, of the few sites that have reviewed Big Hero 6, the reviews seem exceptionally positive. Now, it is still early, but at this point you would be hard press to find someone willing to say anything bad about this movie. Granted, it is a kid movie, and critics generally lax on the mean-spiritedness when reviewing kid movies, but yet few dare to say anything remotely mean about this movie. On the Rotten Tomatoes website, I could only find one comment about Big Hero 6 that wasn’t complimentary and it was about the soundtrack, not the animation or the plot of the movie; basically no one wanted to say anything bad about Disney. I usually don’t care what critics say, I see whatever movie I feel like, but I have to say, I’m kind of becoming annoyed with the overwhelming praise of this movie. If anyone out there thinks the same way, they may be more inclined to skip it as well.
The Influence of Marvel
Although Marvel and Disney have officially joined forces, it wasn’t until Big Hero 6 that we saw the two conglomerates join forces on the big screen with an animated version of one of Marvel’s creations. Not that long ago, Disney and Marvel each did their own thing, irrespective of each other. Marvel focused on live action superhero movies and Disney with family and animated films, predominantly. Now, with Big Hero 6, Disney is animating a Marvel creation, which will only increase its likelihood of success, thanks to the hugely popular Marvel comics and superhero franchises. Basically, at this point, anything Marvel means a success, even it is a movie based on an obscure Marvel comic.
The Givens
Two things pretty much guarantee another box office smash for Disney with Big Hero 6: the kid factor and the timing factor. Kids will pretty much see anything, especially when they are young. So, with the right marketing, as we all know Disney has the resources to make happen, kids will be a serious driving force for ticket sales over the coming weeks for this movie. Add to this, the fact that the holidays are right around the corner. With time off from work and school, kids and adults will be lining up at the theaters to see just about anything, even if it is a terrible movie. Not that Big Hero 6 is a terrible movie (it hasn’t even come out yet), but if it were, it would still likely perform well since it is being released just a few weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday. That is, of course unless the holidays don’t help this movie and it gets buried under upcoming holiday releases.
Right now, the prospects for success for Big Hero 6 are looking pretty good. Positive critic reception, a winning team up with Marvel and givens like the fact that it is an animated film targeted to kids being released just weeks before the holiday season kicks off, pretty much guarantees that. But what if all of these factors don’t contribute to a box office hit, as slim a chance as it may be, it could happen. Not to worry though, in that instance, Disney would probably more than make up for it in DVD sales. We shall see.