Every now and then a film arrives that catches your imagination and makes you see the world through simpler eyes. The latest film from Disney Pixar, Inside Out (co-directed by Pete Doctor & Ronnie del Carman) is such a film. Sometimes the deepest films with the greatest sense of who we are as humans come from animation. We saw this several years ago with Up and now we see it again with Inside Out. Warning spoilers ahead…
We all have voices in our head whether we want to admit or not. These voices are our emotions. They represent our being. When you’re a pre-teen like Riley, these emotions can be very overwhelming and are often referred to as growing pains. When Riley’s dad gets a new job in San Francisco, the family gets uprooted from Minnesota. At first it looks like just another adventure but we’ll soon discover it’s anything but as Riley struggles to adjust to her new surroundings. Like any one of us, Riley is guided by her emotions, Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. Her most predominant emotion is Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) and it’s this emotion that tries to keep Riley in a positive state of mind. But life isn’t always about joy. It’s far more complex than that.
Moving to a new city, new home and a new school can be daunting at any age. Trying to maneuver through a maze of emotions that conflict with one another is also a daunting task that Joy tries her best to do. Unfortunately as human beings, we’re not robots. Our feelings are not defined by any one emotion. When the curious emotion of Sadness touches one of Riley’s core memories that were once filled with joy, is now filled with a sense of sadness. Riley like so many pre-teens begins to lash out at her parents who don’t seem to understand what’s going on with their hockey-loving go-getter of a daughter. All parents should relate to this. As a father of a teenage daughter and another two years away from being one, I most certainly relate. I go through each one in a 15-minute car ride to soccer practice.
The main point of Inside Out is that we need all these emotions. We also need to communicate these emotions with our family and friends. We experience them in one form or another each day of our lives. They are necessary for us to grow. How would we appreciate the joy in our lives without the understanding of sadness? How would we distinguish our likes and dislikes without the emotions of disgust or anger? As for fear, while it can be crippling, it can also keep us from acting out irrationally and doing something we may regret. Riley learns such a lesson in the end when she attempts to runaway back to Minnesota and realizes how much she loves her parents.
There is enough in this amazing Pixar creation for adults and children to divulge in. Parents will most certainly learn more about their own children and kids in general will have a unique way of seeing how they express themselves. With half a year gone, Inside Out has emerged itself as the best animated film of 2015 thus far. Perhaps even one of the best… period.
Directed by: Pete Doctor & Ronnie del Carman
Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Mindy Kaling, Diane Lane & Kyle MacLachlan
PG 94 Min
Inside Out – ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
