This Is How You Build a Snowman

When news began to spread that the next Disney animated movie was going to be a collaboration between Disney and Marvel called Big Hero 6, it felt like a nice breather from the Frozen phenomenon. As great as Frozen is, Disney can't coast along on all the money from that forever. Big Hero 6 sounded like it was going to be in a completely different aesthetic from Frozen, with entirely different themes, and in a completely different universe. That's why the first trailer for Big Hero 6 doesn't make any sense — or maybe it makes too much sense.

The trailer features our protagonist, Hiro Hamada, and his attempt to build the kind of robot that Optimus Prime would probably eat for breakfast. Instead, what he gets is a fluffy, marshmallow like giant who chases after a soccer ball he can't seem to bend enough to catch. Hiro doesn't let that discourage him, however, and proceeds to attempt to stuff the marshmallow giant into the robot suit with hilarious results.

Admittedly, when I first caught sight of this giant, fluffy monster, I had an immediate and sudden flashback to Frozen. Sure, Elsa's giant monster — aptly titled Marshmallow in the bonus materials — was a lot more menacing than the one that Hiro creates. It's all in the eyes.

However, it's still strange that of all the ways Disney could choose to promote the movie, they happen to choose a scene that harkens back to Frozen, even if it's just a little bit. However, the way the rest of the scene plays out gives a clue as to why Disney is using this particular marketing ploy. After all, upon seeing his marshmallow giant, Hiro immediately begins to attempt to cover him up with streamlined robot armor as if to say, "We've had quite enough of that. This is a superhero movie now."

His attempt is unsuccessful, but that does give the short clip a great unintentional message. Big Hero 6 is not Frozen, but it's not trying too hard not to be. Both movies fly under the Disney banner and all Disney movies have something in common, whether it's a good message, (usually) unintentional misogyny, or giant marshmallow monsters. The fact that Hiro appears to be what Tony Stark (better known as Iron Man) must have been like as a child is more than enough reason to check this out.

Watch the trailer below.

Images: Disney Animation Studios; Disney Wiki