T-J-Miller — Cuban-American Lifestyle & Food Blog — My Big Fat Cuban Family: A Cuban-American Blog

A few weeks ago Eric and I had the good fortune to enjoy a pre-screening of the newest Disney Animation film, Big Hero 6.

Because we live a few area codes away from Burbank, where the Walt Disney Animation Studio is located, we turned it into a Road Trip/Date Night.

First of all, let me say that I had no preconception of the movie, nor did I quite get the extent of the plot from watching the trailers. I knew it was about a young braniac teen named Hiro and a big, fluffy, inflatable robot named Baymax.

Truthfully, I couldn't conceive how they could construct a compelling story around these two unlikely "heroes."

As soon as the story begins to unfold in the streets of San Fransokyo, every one of my emotions was immediately engaged.

The animation (this goes without saying) was beautiful detailed amazing.

This is my entire problem with this film: I don't have enough superlatives to describe the beauty, the action, the complexity of the characters.

And the roller coaster of emotions? I went from laughing out loud to feeling fearful to crying (yes, real tears!) to laughing again to oh-no-how-will-they-get-out-of-this-alive tension. I ran the gamut from empathy to fear to tenderness, all between serious belly laughs.

Also, Creepiest Villain Ever in a Disney Movie? Check.

For the Love of Shorts

As is usual with Disney Animation, they add a wonderful short before the movie. In this case, it was called "Feast," and I feel I have to mention it here because it's one of the most beautiful animation shorts I've ever seen.

Produced by Kristina Reed who also produced 2012’s Oscar®-winning short “Paperman," "Feast" treats us to the growth and evolution of adorable pupply, Winston and his love of all things edible. I seriously fell in love.

For the Love of Fred

Everyone will have their favorite characters in any film. In Big Hero 6 my personal favorite was Fred, voiced by T.J. Miller, who has the greatest character reveal in any movie - ever. (Working on my superlatives.)

"I've been trying to get Honey to develop a formula to turn me into a fire-breathing lizard, but she says that's "not science." ~ Fred

The Date Night Thing

I confess that I've seen Big Hero 6 twice now. Once with Eric on our Road Trip/Date Night and again with friends (who happen to be adults) Dan and Haylee.

(By way of explanation: I had RSVP'd to see the film again with my kids, but they bailed at the last minute because they have their own lives and all, but that's not important right now.)

All of us (grown-ups) agreed on the epicness (<--is that a word?) of the movie. And that no, it's not just for kids.

Marvel Gets Disneyfied

For you Marvel nerds, who probably already know that this story started as an obscure Marvel comic, you also know that, like in all good Marvel films, it is mandatory to stay all the way through the credits. In this case, there's a wonderful Marvel-meets-Disney-meets-Stan-Lee type moment. DO NOT MISS IT.

Thank you, Disney Animation. You've done it again. I'm thinking I need to create a movie rating system for when I do these reviews:

"I give Big Hero 6 TEN pastelitos!" (Shut up. I know.)

Big Hero 6 opens in theaters everywhere today, Friday, November 7, 2014.

Last year I had the privilege of attending an event at the Disney Animation Studio and I was overwhelmed by pretty much everything I saw and experienced. That was for Frozen.

You would think, then, that I would not be very impressed with the idea of going back again to attend a press junket for Walt Disney Animation Studios' newest project Big Hero 6.

You would be wrong.

I was super-out-of-my-skin excited to receive the invitation to do a meet and greet and round table interviews with the producer, directors, and voice cast. And, of course, I got to visit the Walt Disney Animation Studios once again. (Pinch me.)

The makings of a Disney animated film are intense and complex. I was quite surprised to learn that the voice talent had not actually met or worked together while the film was in production. They record their own dialogue in a sound booth and then it's pieced together later. I suppose that's one of those fun facts that everyone knows but I didn't get the full impact of how that works until this day.

The film is set in the not-too-distant future in the fictional city of San Fransokyo. It's super detailed using an entirely new rendering tool called Hyperion, created for this project by the Walt Disney Animation Studios tech team. You've never seen anything like this on the screen before.

Just as they had done during the making of Frozen, the entire 2nd floor of the Animation Studio (seriously, pinch me) was redesigned to give the feel of actually being in "San Fransokyo."

The entire place was set up to enhance the creative experience for all the people working on the film.

Guys, this is the environment the animators and production staff get to work in. I may or may not have been a bit jealous.

Even the coffee bar in the studio was designed to resemble a faux sushi bar. It seriously doesn't get any better than this.

We met the cast in pairs. Starting with Damon Wayans Jr. (voice of Wasabi) and T.J. Miller (voice of Fred). Their excitement to be involved in this project was obvious to all of us.

T.J.'s character, Fred, also happened to be my favorite. Please appreciate that he is carrying his Fred action figure in his pocket. That is all. (Love!)

Scott Adsit gives voice to the inflatable healing robot, Baymax. It was great fun to have him actually "do" the voice for us. He mastered the balance of creating a perfectly soothing, and at once perfectly robotic voice.

The young super-brainiac, Hiro Hamada is voiced by young Ryan Potter.

Ryan's enthusiam and excitement was palpable as he shared what it was like to create authentic emotions and wonder as he lent his voice to the title character.

The girls in the cast, Jamie Chung (voice of Gogo Tomago) and Genesis Rodriguez (voice of Honey Lemon) round out the 6 heroes.

I appreciated that they portrayed such smart, strong and still feminine characters. In real life, Genesis actually was on the robotics team in high school., but that's not important right now. They are a perfect balance to the nerdy nuttiness of the boys.

Everyone we spoke to was visibly pumped to have been a part of Big Hero 6. When you see the film (which I promise to tell you all about in a few days) you'll understand why.

As I write this, I realize it sounds clunky and fangirly. I know. It's just that I am still quite overwhelmed and distracted by the fact that I actually got to hang (again!) at the Walt Disney Animation Studios with such talented people in such an inspiring place.

In the meantime, just enjoy the trailer while I slip back into my fangirl daydreams.