Review: Pixar's "Inside Out"

Image via IMDB

*THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Before getting started on Inside Out, I think it's important to discuss Lava, the short film that came before it. Lava is the beautiful story of a volcano who has spent his entire life alone as he watched many different loving couples all around him. Day after day he sings a beautiful song in which he wishes he also had a partner to love. Not realizing that a female volcano had been listening all along, she finally surfaces through the water and just when it looks that they won't be together, they do. Like most Pixar short films, Lava manages to make us feel happiness, sadness, and everything in between all in under 8 minutes. It is definitely one of the best animated shorts that Pixar has ever done.

With that out of the way, let's discuss Inside Out. For the first time since 2009's Up, Pixar released a truly great and original story. I think it is safe to assume that all of us have, at one point or another, wondered what goes on inside our brains. Why do we feel the things we do? It is a fascinating concept but also one that seemed a bit risky when it came to actually putting it in film. So many things could have gone wrong when dealing with each individual emotion, but the opposite happened, Each of the five emotions (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness) was charming in their own way. They looked almost exactly what you would expect each of them to look. And their voices? Perfectly cast. Not to mention, it was very clever making the distinction between memories and core memories as a way to explain why we do and why we love certain things.

This story does not revolve entirely around this group of characters, however. In order for these emotions to have something to react to, there has to be something big happening on the outside. That's where the humans in the story come into play. After leaving Minnesota for San Francisco, 11-year old Riley struggles to adapt to the new transition. In addition to that, Joy and Sadness disappear along with Riley's core memories and what we have left is two simultaneous story-lines: that of Joy and Sadness' journey back to Headquarters, and that of Riley's struggle to deal with change. 

Inside Out does a wonderful job of showing the importance of family, but surprisingly, that isn't the best message it delivers. Instead, the biggest message that this movie gives is that it's alright to be a little sad from time to time. This story tells us that suppressing our emotions isn't the right thing to do because if we do that then we won't get the help or support that we might need. 
If there is one thing I wish we could have gotten from this film, it is that we could have seen more from Anger, Fear, and Disgust. They seemed to have been used simply as comedic relief, which isn't a terrible thing, I just think that there's so much more you could do with them. Luckily, this film ends with what appears to be an open door for a sequel, and maybe they will be explored more in-depth then. Either way, this movie is fantastic. It is a 8.5/10 for me.