One of the most successful studio pairings in movie history has to be when Disney and Pixar found one another. Time after time, movie after movie, they have proven how amazingly they complement each other by giving the world some of the best and most creative animated films ever made. This year is no different: Inside Out carries on the traditions and themes that have made Disney/Pixar films the best–a film that truly stands out from all the others.
Inside Out follows the story of eleven year old Riley who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Riley and everyone else are guided by their emotions, specifically: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. These personified emotions live in “Headquarters,” the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life.
While Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new way of life, chaos ensues in Headquarters when Sadness accidentally causes herself and Joy to get lost within the rest of Riley’s mind along with her most important, “Core Memories.” This puts Riley’s mind and emotions into turmoil as she finds herself overwhelmed and confused at her inability to feel joy or sadness. Joy and Sadness must then travel throughout Riley’s mind, (including Long Term Memory, Imagination Land, and Dream Productions) put aside their differences and learn to work together to get back to Headquarters before it’s too late for Riley.
Like other fine examples of great story telling by Disney/Pixar, Inside Out’s beauty is its heart. In this movie, the animation is, of course, gorgeous, which is something Disney/Pixar excels at with each movie they come out with. Yet, there are times with animation that if the story doesn’t match the beauty of the art, then it’s just a pretty painting with no soul. Inside Out, however, has enough heart and soul to match any other animated movie.
In addition to heart, the concept behind the movie is brilliant. The thought that these five emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness are the things keeping a person in check–ll working together, (or not in some cases) to keep them living a normal life, is a fun idea. It is so creative that you, as a viewer, want to see more of Riley’s mind as Joy and Sadness move throughout it. You get to see old memories and what happens to them, past imaginary friends, and learn how we remember certain things but can never remember others-it is pure genius.
With each new Disney/Pixar movie the animation continues to get better and better. Inside Riley’s mind the artwork is full of imagination and creativity, but when we leave her mind and travel out into the real world that’s when the animators do their best work. Realistic portrayal of humans is now becoming so good in their computer graphics that it borders on scary. Furthermore, each location Riley goes to looks so real you could swear you were looking at a photograph. At one point, for example, Riley is at a bus station that looks so alive it could almost be described as beautiful–and let’s be honest, bus stations are not generally considered to be beautiful. If this should win anything in the next award season–(and I think it should)–my hope is that the animators are remembered for truly making the movie breathe.
When you add to that the great comedic voices of Amy Poehler as Joy, Bill Hader as Fear, Lewis Black as Anger, Mindy Kaling as Disgust, and Phyllis Smith as Sadness, the movie gets better with each passing scene. Each actor plays off of the other, and they all have such great comic timing in every line that it is clear a great deal of time was put into making sure all these characters made sense and worked well together–if they didn’t, the whole movie might have fallen apart right from the top.
Respect must also be given to the voice talents of their human counterparts with whom they share screen time. Diane Lane as Riley’s Mom, Kyle MacLachlan as Riley’s Dad, and Kaitlyn Dias as Riley are outstanding. Each really brings a reality to their voice acting that is so believable, you’d swear you were hearing yourself as one of the kids or parents. It’s so well done that during one of the more emotional scenes in the movie, their realism will have you pulling out tissues to dry the inevitable tears. Whether crying or laughing, everything this movie has to offer is remarkable.
Three cheers to Disney/Pixar for once again making the unthinkable thinkable. They really do know how to make a movie so full of imagination and pure delight that no matter how bad a day you’re having, their movies can make it better. Inside Out is just that good. It’s pure creativity and joy wrapped up in a giant comedy ball, and full of all the emotions that make us who we are. Kids will love it, adults will enjoy the humor, and all families should see it. In a summer filled with sequels and remakes, it is one of the highlights.