Inside Out from Disney-Pixar
Category: Movies
Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness are emotions we all have. In the newest animated film from Disney-Pixar, Inside Out, audiences will understand these emotions much better as they are treated to the inner workings of the human brain, in a fun, clever way.
Riley is a fun-loving little girl. Joy (Amy Poehler) tries to keep Riley happy all the time. Sadness (Phyllis Smith) tries to remain positive but she just can’t shake the melancholy feelings. Disgust (Mindy Kaling) is opinionated and obstinate. Fear (Bill Hader) is always looking out for potential problems for Riley. And Anger (Lewis Black) explodes when things go awry.
These five emotions must deal with Riley’s changing life when her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Riley is on the cusp of puberty, a time in everyone’s life that is filled with conflict. The conflict inside Riley’s is front and center when Joy and Sadness get sucked out of “headquarters” into the depths of her brain. While these two try to get back to where they can be in control, the other three emotions are doing their best to keep Riley in check, but they just can’t do the job.
Joy and Sadness run into Riley’s old imaginary friend, Bing Bong, who was cast aside when the little girl didn’t need him any more. To say there are emotional scenes in the film would be putting it mildly, and that’s not referring only to the five emotions. There are plenty of occasions in which audiences will feel deeply for Riley and others, including Bing Bong, who desperately wants to become part of Riley’s life again.
While this is a cute film, very young audience members won’t understand the situations and references. This story is best suited for ages 10 and above.
Besides seeing Riley’s emotions try to keep her life in check, it’s entertaining to see how the emotions in Riley’s mother’s and father’s heads react to Riley’s current status of frustration and unhappiness.
Some fun things to look for when you see the movie are the background memories on shelves inside or outside of Headquarters are shots from the “Married Life” scene in the film Up, as Riley and her parents trek to San Francisco they come across birds on a telephone wire from production the short film “For the Birds,” the globe in the Riley’s classroom has been used in all the Toy Story films, and some of the background city cars of San Francisco have bumper stickers from Cars. Pixar always puts references to some of their other films in each one of their movies.
Inside Out is rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action.
Before the film the new animated short, “Lava”, is shown. It is really a fun little story set to music about a volcano that is lonely and wants someone to “lava.” Occurring over millions of years, the volcano is about to give up when a new volcano bursts from the ocean. To say this is inventive doesn’t do it justice. It is sweet and adorable.
“Lava” is rated G.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
Follow her on Twitter
Like her on Facebook