Hiro wants nothing to do with the robot as he’s a reminder of Tadashi, but Baymax is determined to help. He realizes that Tadashi’s major problem is not physical but mental/emotional. He downloads an enormous database on mental health treatment then begins offering ways to help. Mental health is so often played for laughs or blown off in Hollywood treatments. But here, Baymax treats Hiro’s grief and depression as medical conditions requiring his attention and treatment. When Hiro declines his offers of assistance, Baymax, like Tadashi who programmed him, changes his approach; he begins asking questions. Mental health professionals and people who suffer from depression can tell you that that approach is often the better one.
As a result, we get a movie with a serious emotional core as Baymax focuses on trying to help Hiro feel better and deal with his rage once he finds out more about Tadashi’s death. The movie doesn’t shy away from boys showing emotion, either. Hiro’s grief over his brother’s loss is one of the most emotionally powerful moments in the film.