Inside Out (2015) Review

Distributors: Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation Studios

Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Richard Kind

Directors: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen

Screenplay: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley

Producer: Jonas Rivera

Running Time: 1hr 34m

Release Date: July 24th 2015 (UK)

Rating: U

There was a time where Disney Pixar was on top of the animation industry with hits such as 'Toy Story', 'Monster's Inc.', 'Finding Nemo', 'The Incredibles', 'Up' and even more. However that changed with 'Cars 2' and while that wasn't exactly bad, it wasn't good by Pixar standards and it was a critical flop. 'Brave' didn't help much nor did 'Monster's University.' So when Pixar's latest film, 'Inside Out' was announced, people were excited yet sceptical. So was it any good. Well not only is this one of Pixar's best but it is also one of its most important films.

What's the story? In every person there are five emotions: Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith), Anger (Black), Fear (Hader) and Disgust (Kaling). The movie follows the emotions of an 11 year old girl called Riley (Dias) as she moves house from a comfortable and happy life to a more alien world of San Francisco. When Joy and Sadness get lost in Riley's long term memory, the other emotions try to keep her stable but they keep failing miserably. So it is up to Joy and Sadness, with the help of Riley's old imaginary friend Bing Bong (Kind), to get back to the headquarters of Riley's mind to help her cope with the change.

What's great about this movie is how cleverly it takes this premise which has been done before in movies such as 'Osmosis Jones.' For example, Riley's memories are placed inside these little orbs whose colour represents the emotions of that memory. So when Riley struggles with her situation, the memories are all anger, fear and disgust. Even the joy memories are turned sad by Sadness which is cleverly represented by Riley looking back at her old life with Sadness. That is clever writing and the movie is full of that.

This is also represented by the dominant emotions. As you've seen from the trailer, we go into the minds of Riley's parents whose dominant emotions are Sadness for the mother and Anger for the father. That could probably represent the fact that they may have forgotten their Joy as they grew up (who is still there just in the background) yet Riley has Joy as her dominant emotion. However, as Riley copes with the change, Sadness becomes just as important as Joy which shows her emotions becoming more complex. Gah! The layers in the movie are so many!

The world of Riley's mind is well realised as well. There's a fantasy world which constantly changes with age, a dream world which is basically a movie studio, a trippy abstract area, a train of thought, the subconscious where her worst fears are and the forgotten wasteland where her memories disappear. These places are put into great use, especially the forgotten wasteland which adds a lot of stake to the main characters as once they disappear, that's it. And that's what's so great about films like these, it's that they're not shying away from reality which is good as the film is about accepting reality, which is represented brilliantly by Bing Bong. Bing Bong is a fun side character with a lot of depth as he is a near-forgotten aspect of Riley's life as she has grown up and has needed him less. He has a great and colourful design and is voiced well by Richard Kind.  

The character designs and animations are great as well with the standouts being the unique designs of the emotions. Sadness is a teardrop, Anger is a fire-spewing box, Fear looks like a nerve, Disgust looks like a stereotypical stroppy teenager and Joy is literally glowing. The way they all move is flowing and unrestricted as well. The humour is also brilliant with a genius running gag about how certain jingles get stuck in your head and some hilarious looks inside other characters' heads. The score by Michael Giacchino is also amazing and haunting at the same time.

The emotions, as you would expect from Pixar, are amazing both in the characters and the tone. Joy is very energetic and Poehler gives her a bubbly personality but at times her energy can be forced (which isn't a criticism, it's the point of the movie) so when she does remember the importance of the other emotions, especially sadness, she calms down and lets them get on with it. Anger provides most of the laughs and Black is pitch perfect in the role. Hader is brilliant as the paranoid Fear who also gets some of the best laughs. Kaling is also great as the concerned yet hard to please Disgust. However the true MVP of the movie is Phyllis Smith as Sadness. Sadness has a genius teardrop design, a lovable pessimistic personality and Smith makes the role all the more funny. However she also provides the film with a message that makes this film important: it's ok to be sad.

And that's what makes the film as amazing as it is. When both Joy and Riley realises this, it's genuinely tear-jerking to the point where anyone who didn't find this emotional has no soul (to put it bluntly). We live in a society that, whilst progressive, is also filled with people who won't admit to their emotions in the fear of making them seem 'uncool.' So it is relieving to see a movie like 'Inside Out' tell them that it's actually ok and not 'uncool' to feel upset. This is what makes this film quintessential viewing to anyone aged 11 and above because they're the ages when people start to think that Sadness isn't 'cool.' 

'Inside Out' proves that Pixar has still got it with lovable characters, amazing animations, both hilarious and tear-jerking moments and a brilliant and important moral. Go and see it immediately to see the true beauty and cleverness of this movie. Sadness is important and I thank this movie for reminding us for that.

'Inside Out' gets 5 memory orbs out of 5.