Review of Inside Out (2015) by Matthew O — 22 Jun 2016

For a while, Pixar has not been doing very well recently. Their movies were not the quality that they were used to, they've kind of lost their sense of originality. Disney and DreamWorks were actually making better animated movies, both critically and financially. They had far more interesting and unique stories with a lot of memorable characters, something Pixar hasn't really shown since TOY STORY 3. Which is why I was so excited to see that they were finally making an original movie with a very unique concept, but at the same time very scared. This movie had a lot riding on. There was a very high chance that this may not work. It happened with BRAVE, and it could happen here. But with Pete Docter, known for UP and MONSTERS, INC., getting involved as the director once again, I had really high hopes for this film and I was crossing my fingers for it to possibly become Pixar's big comeback.

For me, saying that this movie is amazing is an understatement. Words cannot describe how much I adore INSIDE OUT. It encapsulates everything that Pixar stands for. Fresh and original ideas, a unique and extremely brilliant story, very relatable and lovable characters, excellent animation, deep and thought-provoking messages, honest emotion, it just seems to have everything that makes a phenomenal film. And the film accomplished all of those aspects like no other Pixar film I've ever seen.

Many people praise this film for its originality, like it's the most original film that Pixar has ever made. At first I was like, "Really?" We've seen the idea of people running the inside of your head many times already, mostly in cartoons and TV shows. But that's not what makes this film unique. The original part is taking that idea and incorporating it to a story that follows a young girl, Riley, who is moving from Minnesota to San Francisco, and it deals with the situations that's going on inside her head about adjusting to a new environment, new house, new school, new friends, and how her personality develops over time. The film mainly focuses on the inside of Riley's mind and shows the characters as five emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. By the time Riley and her family have moved to San Francisco, her emotions begin to stress out and make Riley act differently, which leads to Joy and Sadness getting sucked out of the control center, headquarters, and have to get back to fix Riley's normal emotional state while Joy and Sadness find a way to get along with each other.

From the basis of the story, it sounds like every Pixar movie you've ever seen. Two characters are moved from one place and try to team up and find their way back to that place and once they do there's a big emotional moment that we've come to expect. We've seen this in FINDING NEMO, CARS, WALL-E, and all three TOY STORY movies. So you're probably wondering, "Well, what's so original about that?" When you think hard about it, each of these aspects actually serve a specific purpose. Joy and Sadness are the ones who are separated in order to show how Riley reacts while she lives in a new environment while she's in that period of adolescence where she goes through these mood swings, something that everybody can relate to. We don't feel as happy we were as a young child, especially if you're moving to a new place, which is what Riley is going through. Sadness is meant to be the enabler to let out Riley's feelings, not to make her feel depressed, which is what Joy always thought, explaining why she was antagonistic towards Sadness. Because Sadness is separated from headquarters, Riley can't show her true feelings, she can't explain what's going on. She hides her feelings by being quiet, sassy, and cranky, and that explains why only Anger, Disgust, and Fear take control of her. So even though we've seen this sort of plot in other movies, there is so much more meaning behind it and one of the reasons why this film is so brilliant.

The workings of Riley's mind also shows a lot more meaning. It shows how they store her color-coded memories, how her personality is represented by having each aspect as a different island, how some old memories are always remembered and how some are forgotten forever, where your darkest fears are shown, how dreams are created, how your train of thought works, how your imagination looks, and visually depicting the process of complex ideas when going through abstract thought. That's a lot being shown for just one movie, but it perfectly shows how complex the human mind is. It also leads to some of the most clever and hilarious jokes that Pixar has ever conceived. Like how one song gets stuck in your head and is replayed in your mind over and over again, confusing facts with opinions, pointing out places that gives us déjà vu, the list goes on. The film as a whole actually doesn't have as many laughs as you would think, at least comparing it to other Pixar films. But that's another thing that I love about it. The film focuses more on the story and characters, and the dramatic chain of events that they go through. It makes the funny moments all the more effective.

Man, do I love the animation in this film! The designs on the emotion characters, while very simple, perfectly images what that particular emotion may look like when personified. For instance, take a look at Joy's design: yellow complexion, bluish glow, messy hair, no shoes, cute dress, wide eyes, big smile, I love it! The movements and especially the facial expressions they give to the characters were incredibly expressive and it feels very effective. This is actually another area where the film could've failed at. It could've been so easy to make these characters boring and one-dimensional since they seem to express only one emotion. But it's the emotion of how they make Riley feel, not necessarily how they usually feel. Their personalities are much more fleshed out, which makes them actually relatable along with the writing and character arcs that they're given. And the cast perfectly captures the emotion that each character feels. I mean, talk about absolutely impeccable casting. Let alone, Lewis Black as Anger! You really couldn't have picked better actors to play these characters, all of them did a phenomenal job. When counting all the characters in the film, there is actually no villain, and there didn't need to be. I love it when films do that, just make the overall situation the main obstacle for the main characters. Also, Michael Giacchino once again composes an absolutely beautiful score, and is probably my favorite from him. The music is very reminiscent of the mind. A lot of memorable themes, very playful, and very emotional. It's so nice to listen to.

Like I said before, this film is not all about a fun and humorous adventure with emotions, it's actually a very deep and extremely emotional film, which isn't surprising, it's a film about emotions. It deals with the mental turmoil that Riley goes through, which is something we've all experienced at one point, particularly in our adolescence. It's very interesting how some of the happy memories being recalled from Riley's childhood turns into a sad memory. This brilliantly represents how you were happy about something that loved as a kid, but soon feel sad knowing that you can't do it anymore, whether if you're too old or it's not around anymore or, like in this film, if you moved to another place. And these memories will stay sad forever. This is something that we relate to so much. Riley's personality was created by core memories, which are basically memories that have stuck with her. We can also really relate to this, it represents something that we've always remembered because it helped shape our personalities. In Riley's case for instance, when she scored her first goal in ice hockey, that memory stuck with her and would inspire her to become a hockey player because it has shown to become part of her personality.

And because Riley's emotions are losing control of her mind as they move to a new place, we see her personality literally crumbling. It's actually really sad seeing this happen. For one thing, we know these were big parts of her life that she was able to develop when she was little, and seeing all of it break apart shows that she may not able to be a part of it anymore. And another thing, it's what happens to everyone, we completely understand how she feels. She loses the funny side of her personality (Goofball Island), which would make her feel different about her friends and not get along with them (Friendship Island), and not being socially interactive with others would have her getting more frustrated at hockey and end up quitting it altogether (Hockey Island). Now she has nothing left in her life to enjoy, which would cause her to do bad and irresponsible things (Honesty Island), and has resulted to almost running away from her family (Family Island). With all of these dramatic events going on, you can really sympathize with Riley. We relate to her a lot and you want her to be okay.

But the thing that really makes me love this film is how brilliantly they tell the moral of the story, that life changes and you're going to have to let go of the things you loved as a child, and it's okay to be sad about it. Throughout the film, Joy has not been getting along with Sadness because she thinks that she has no purpose but to make Riley feel depressed and that all we need in life is happiness. We've grown to think the same way, we always want to feel happy and never feel sad. But the film shows that you shouldn't feel too happy, and not to overlook the moments that are supposed to make you feel sad. Joy understands the importance of Sadness by knowing how one happy memory was once a sad memory, realizing that the sad moments makes you fully appreciate and feel the happy moments. (SPOILER ALERT): When Bing Bong, Riley's imaginary friend, makes his selfless sacrifice to be forgotten, it wasn't a meaningless sacrifice like you would usually see. He realizes that Joy is more important to Riley than himself. It also shows that Riley is changing, she's letting go of the things from her childhood. That's going to help keep her mentally healthy. With that sort of meaning attached to those scenes, it makes it all the more emotional, and I was trying to fight back the tears in my eyes.

And when Joy and Sadness finally return to the headquarters, Joy turns to Sadness to help get the idea of running away out of Riley's head because Joy learned that only Sadness can make Riley feel and sympathize with herself, which makes her wisely return back to her parents. Now that Sadness is back, she is able to make Riley let out her feelings by crying. She then tells her parents that she really misses all the things she loved in Minnesota and wants to go back. She also tells them that she knows they don't want her to feel sad and pleads not to be mad at her. Her mother told her earlier that her father is under a lot of pressure, but if she can try to stay happy, it would help relieve the stress that he's feeling about the new job. They understand how Riley feels because they relate to her, they too miss Minnesota. This is a great message for parents, telling them to always be there for your child when they are feeling this way, do what you can do to comfort them. The parents console her by embracing each other where Riley lets herself cry. Then she takes a deep breath and smiles, relieving all the stress that she felt. Which ends up creating a new core memory that's a mixture of both Joy and Sadness and develops a brand new Family Island. Showing that they can create memories with a mixture of emotions signifies that Riley is growing up by having a more emotionally complex mind. Oh man, that scene felt so, so genuine. I have to admit, I cried. Not just getting watery-eyed, but actually shedding tears, bawling my eyes out. Believe me, I almost NEVER cry in a movie. I'm not ashamed to admit that I did, this scene really got me. I felt so much for Riley in this moment that it makes me want to give her a hug. I relate to her so much, I've had a lot of similar experiences that she went through and I understand how she feels, it's tough growing up.

I really don't want to point out any flaws with the film, but I'll try. The only thing I can think of is that, with the level of brilliance that this film had, maybe the ways of how Joy and Sadness got separated from headquarters and how they got back was a little too easy. They probably could've thought of a smarter way. But even saying that is too harsh. This is about as close to a perfect movie as I can imagine.

Watching this film, I feel like I'm bettered as a person. This movie came out at a perfect time for me. I was going through a ton of pressure in high school and going through a lot of emotional turmoil. I wanted to keep it to myself, I didn't want anyone else to worry. But this movie told me that this is a part of life. Growing up is a tough time for everyone, and you're just going to have to accept it. If you feel stressed about anything, let people know how you feel. They'll console you for it. There were a couple of times during my junior year of high school where I was feeling so stressed out that I had to let my emotions out and explain to my parents what was going on. I gave myself a few minutes to just cry, and I felt so much better afterwards. It was just like what happened to Riley in that scene I was talking about.

I thought that TOY STORY 3 or maybe THE INCREDIBLES would be my favorite Pixar film for a while. But after seeing the level of brilliance, how many risks they took, and how much I can relate to it, INSIDE OUT has got to be my absolute favorite Pixar film and has become one of my favorite films... period! Probably in my top 10! I know that's a huge statement to make, but that's how much I love this film, that's how much it effected me. And it just makes me so happy seeing that it is one of Pixar's biggest hits and a lot of people really seem to love it as well as I do. I want to personally thank Pete Docter for making this film. The film gave me everything I wanted to see with this idea and more. It has one of the most brilliantly written scripts I've ever seen in a movie, I adored every single character, especially Riley, the animation was unbelievably well done, and it gave me a story that I can look back on and really relate to. INSIDE OUT will always hold a place in my heart. It's so good to have you back, Pixar!

Grade: A+.