While the premise of “Inside Out,” this summer’s latest animated movie, was original, this is one of the unusual cases where the concept slightly overshadows the film itself.
Research that dates back to the 1980s suggests girls ages 11 to 17 are more attuned to emotions than others, so the writers made an unusual choice to focus on a female as their main character. Thus, the story follows 11 year old Riley and her five emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, who live in a section of her brain cleverly named “Headquarters.” Riley’s personality islands, such as hockey, friendship, and family, are attached to marble-shaped “core memories,” which depict pivotal moments in Riley’s life. All these memories are happy until Sadness begins turning the previously yellow orbs a gloomy blue and Riley literally loses her marbles.
The entire movie is centered on how Riley’s inside life mirrors her outside. Riley and her family are moving from snowy Minnesota to stormy San Francisco. Meanwhile, Joy and Sadness, an unlikely pair, are attempting to find their way back to Headquarters together. This leaves Anger, Fear, and Disgust in control of Riley’s responses to her environment, giving Riley a quick temper and a different personality. This reflection, which is also captured in the movie’s title, is what makes the transition between inside and outside very smooth.
The dark storyline is lightened by humor from the five emotions. Sadness pokes fun at her own unhappiness: “Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life’s problems.” Anger is disappointed in the bay area’s attempt at healthy junk food: “Congratulations San Francisco! You’ve ruined pizza!” Viewers even get a glance into the minds of Riley’s mother, whose emotions are seated around a half circle desk like the hosts of The View, and her father, whose emotions are too busy watching sports to pay attention.
However, while “Inside Out” boasts an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 98 percent, it does not completely live up to the expectations of the extremely unique idea. With the plethora of characters and locations, both inside and outside Riley’s brain, the movie does not follow a straight path and almost overwhelms, attempting to do too much in its short time slot.
The movie also poses the question of only being controlled by five emotions, most likely for the sake of simplicity. However, older viewers understand there is much more to life than happiness, sadness, anger, fear, or disgust, and the movie offers no explanation for where these other feelings come from.
Yet, “Inside Out” ultimately delivers a simple yet poignant message about the balance in human emotion: one needs sadness in order to feel happy. The movie’s true brilliance lies in its ability to embed this realization between bouts of fiery laughter and nostalgic moments, so the audience doesn’t know it’s learned a lesson until the movie is over.
At its core, “Inside Out” is a coming of age film. Director Pete Docter garnered inspiration from his young daughter, who, like Riley, reached a moment in her life when she learned that happiness is not forever. Teenagers will be able to relate to Riley’s newfound difficulty in managing her feelings, and the movie certainly transports the older audience to a time when growing up was a challenge.
Although the movie’s plot is somewhat weak, Pixar’s classic ability of adapting its message of accepting sadness and presenting it in a new way to appeal to all ages is what makes “Inside Out” worthy of being ranked among Pixar’s best.
