Inside Out (2015)

If you look at Pixar’s history, the animation studio has released some amazing movies including Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Up, Ratatouille and WALL-E. People were always excited about new Pixar movies, because they weren’t only very original and moving stories but also because the animation was more beautiful with each movie. They have released some movies which weren’t as big a success critically as they might have hoped (the Cars movies immediately come to mind) and last year they didn’t even release a movie, something they did every year since 2006. Pixar now returns with Inside Out. Are they back on top or does the film disappoint?

The concept of the movie is extremely original as it visualizes the emotions within the mind of a girl named Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) as characters. Those emotions are Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black) who control how Riley react from the moment she is born. Within a short time frame, in which you see Riley grow from baby to teenager, Pixar succeeds in setting up the concept on how these emotions work within the brain, what core memories are (which form personality) and how all memories are stored.

Even though all emotions play a role in deciding what Riley does, it is Joy who’s mainly responsible for the person she is. When her parents decide to move to San Francisco a change seems to take place in her mind as Sadness can’t seem to control herself which eventually results in the core memories being removed from the core and taken to long-term memory. Joy and Sadness go after them to restore them it is up to the three remaining emotions to make decisions, which result in some serious personality changes.

The end result is a movie which works on so many levels. It manages to juggle what is going on in Riley’s life with what is going on in her head and Pixar deals with how memories are lost, how dreams are made and changes in the brain. The credits show that the studio has worked together with a brain institute and you can feel the fact that it is based on science. Visually it stuns on many levels, with the contrast between the “brain” and “real” world adds a lot of weight to what happens. As this movie deals with emotions, let me tell you how this movie made me feel.

First of all it is a hilarious movie as the way the emotions fight with each other and make decisions has been executed so expertly that it is a joy to watch and it sometimes even shows what is going on in the heads of other characters. It is full of little details you might miss on your first viewing, making you immediately want to watch it again. Secondly I like the way how they show how the brain changes as you grow. I have kids who are teenagers, but also one who is three and there were so many recognisable moments and reactions by Riley, that I strongly related to them and felt a bit sad knowing that the character traits of the youngest one might change (which of course is inevitable) as she gets older.

Pixar also has realised the depiction of what is going on inside the brain with a lot of imagination. Memories are stored as balls which can be picked up and replayed (one of the running gags including a commercial was hilarious) and the management of those looks amazing. As Joy and Sadness walk through the mind, they visits dark corners, imaginative places but also abstract ones. Inside Out really is an extreme joy to watch and a brilliant movie. It’s a story that will make you feel those five emotions, look differently at how people react to things and have you leave the cinema with a huge smile on your face. Pixar is back with a brilliant movie which is among their best.