Pixar has taught me many things through the years; toys come alive when you aren’t looking, monsters come through your closet to scare you when you’re young, all sea turtles smoke pot, and now all of my actions are controlled by 5 little people living in my head!
Inside Out gives characterization to the emotions inside of our head. There is Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. All of these emotions live inside a little girl’s head named Riley and dictate how she reacts to her everyday life. For all of Riley’s life Joy has been the most prominent emotion and runs the show inside of her brain. Riley’s personality comes from important “core” happy memories that activate depending on the situation. On a basic level Pixar has created a world based on different parts of the brain and the emotions are the people running the show from their headquarters high above the rest. One day the core memories get thrown out into other parts of the brain so Joy and Sadness need to leave the headquarters, save the core memories and return before Riley loses her personality.
This is a very complicated concept but Pixar executes it beautifully! The emotions are all played perfectly and are endlessly entertaining, so much so that these characters are already featured on a float at Disneyland. Without giving too much away, Inside Out is a homerun and could be considered one of the best Pixar movies ever! They have a ton of humor, heartfelt moments, and all of the wonder that we have come to love and expect from Pixar. They create a complicated but seamless world that you not only buy into but also grow to envy by the end of the movie. I think the best praise I can give it is that I felt as an adult that I enjoyed this movie more than the kids sitting next to me.
Pixar, you never stop impressing me and I promise I will try to make it through the next movie without crying…..
My rating: Instant Classic