I’ve always suspected that the inside of my mind is a vast colorful playground, meticulously if mysteriously organized, full of strange gears and glowing objects, run by quirky characters on principles of logic, order, reason, and whimsy, and fraught with peril. How wonderful to have Pixar confirm my innermost thoughts! It’s like they’re reading my mind…
Pixar’s latest, Inside Out, is an outstanding film.
Brilliant, precise, and imaginative use of animation that dares to go where live action hits the wall (or screen, as the case may be); thoughtful, sensitive insights on human emotion; zany humor; lively relatable characters (both ‘real’ and hmm… should I call them imaginary?); impeccable voice casting; art and visuals that are a pure pleasure trip – all make Inside Out an instant Pixar classic. It’s a terrific film, not just for animation aficionados, and certainly not just for kids (although you are welcome to bring them with you if they really, really beg).
Inside Out is a story that stakes out its territory with a combination of modesty and insane hubris: it all takes place inside the head of Riley, an 11 year old girl. Taking off from that wild concept, they then have the sense to stay within those bounds and tell a (relatively speaking) simple story – which makes the narrative work so well, while presenting their model of how the human brain works. Many bizarre things happen and the environment is an intricately designed feat of the imagination – but the plot line is modest, simple, and speaks directly to the subject in question: the emotions.
“Do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on inside their head?”
Joy, in Inside Out
Pete Doctor and Ronnie Del Carmen ask an essential, timeless, question, perhaps the question that people have been asking ever since we could formulate thoughts. Then they present us with their version of what’s inside: Riley’s mind is run by a team headed by Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) who also serves as the film’s narrator, Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). They respond to events in Riley’s life and manage her memory storage, although, as events transpire, even they are not fully in control of this wacky human machine.
When we meet Riley she has loving parents who have fun with her, good friends, and a place on the hockey team in her home town in Minnesota. Good times. Then the family moves to San Francisco, which is not in itself a bad thing, but it’s change, and change leads to uncertainty, adventure, and danger.
Watching team Riley cope with change and disappointment is both hilarious and poignant, and the film really nails those crucial moments, like the terrifying experience of that first lunch hour at a new school. The family dinner scene, which we’ve all been enjoying in the trailer, is fantastic, and gives us one of the film’s rare peeks into the minds of the other characters. These directors, writers and artists really get the way people feel, not in a generalized, sentimental way, but rather with sharp specificity and keen observation (my Canadian boyfriend says that some tropes may be a bit culture-specific to North Americans, but still enjoyable), and that is what makes this a great movie!
Doctor and Del Carmen delve deep into such delicate, unknown territory as the emotions, creating a film that not only reveals keen observation and understanding, but also offers a critique of certain trends in contemporary Western culture. It’s no coincidence that Joy is in charge, our culture places a very high value on happiness and being happy; many hundreds of books, magazine articles, blog posts, television talk shows and even Ivy League college courses are devoted to the pursuit of happiness. One of the film’s strengths is its courage in going against cultural norms and the insistence on happiness, to try to understand the place of sadness in our lives.
Inside Out
Directed by Pete Docter; Co-director: Ronnie Del Carmen; Screenplay: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Story: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen; Cinematography: Patrick Lin; Editor: Kevin Nolting; Music: Michael Giacchino; Supervising animators: Shawn Krause, Victor Navone; Character supervisor: Sajan Skaria; Effects supervisor: Gary Bruins; Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan.
