Pixar is probably the first animation studio that really made me feel as I was growing up. It’s kind of the in between: on one side Disney who is sacrificing quality for money and on the other Dreamworks with their amazing animations, and real life issues. One you mindlessly watch as a kid: I’ll admit that some oldies still make me a little emotional. The other makes you think about life a lot, and how we all come in different shapes and sizes. Pixar is something else.
Why do we, or at least I, get so emotional during their movies? Because Pixar is about emotions and making you feel something, they concentrate on the characters and truly develop them. And yes, there’s no singing, it feels more natural, and somewhat closer to us, as an audience. So for a studio that produces emotions, what better than to create a movie on actual emotions.
Inside Out is about Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear and Anger who all live in the head of the young Riley. When a core memory is detracted, Joy and Sadness are going to have to team up to bring back their happy little girl.
I saw it at an early screening in Paris, and I’ve rarely seen an entire room full of grown-ups crying that much for an animated feature. Inside Out takes on a unique perception of growing up, and especially becoming a teenager. What makes you feel the way you do. Riley and her family lived a happy life in Minnesota and suddenly they moved away. And the feeling you get when you’re in your early teens and you have to say goodbye to the life you’ve always known and move away, I know it way too well. Inside Out struck a chord with me in this aspect, I felt connected to Riley. But then, being able to see those emotions fight, mingle, or argue in her head, it’s just incredible. The discovery that there’s more to emotions than just the core ones. Nostalgia, loneliness, excitement, helplessness etc. are just as important as the rest, even more as a teenager when you discover and understand those feeling.
The voices are incredible! The pep in Amy Poehler’s Joy or the slow pace of Phyllis Smith’s Sadness made me wish for a Parks and Recreation and The Office special. Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, and Lewis Black, as the infernal trio Fear, Disgust and Anger, taking the wheel when Joy is not around, are hilarious. And it’s full of amazing ideas. The Train of thoughts in an actual train? Awesome! One character touched me in particular: Bing Bong, voiced by Richard Kind. That imaginary friend, the whole metaphor that by forgetting about this part of your early childhood, you lose something, but it also allows you to grow up and go forward. I think you’ll get by now that I was a mess during that whole “we’re trying to get out of the pit” scene.
Inside Out is about life and its ups and downs. There’s days with and days without. We are complicated beings, with thousands of different emotions. Behind the movie, I could also see Disney’s influence. The theme of Family is dominant in all their movies and there is that old will to try to control our emotions by showing us what to feel. But even if they give us direction, I think each and everyone can interpret what they see in many different ways.
So, what makes Inside Out work so well? Probably that fact that this film is a summary of Pixar’s career. All the emotions we’ve felt through their animated features are condensed in one movie. Going from Toy Story to Wall-E, Ratatouille, Up, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo or Monsters, Inc, all those movies touched us in one way or another. I mean, I rewatched Up recently and I ended up bawling uncontrollably for most of the movie, and I’m 20. They touch us because, even if they mostly animate and give a voice to animals or objects that wouldn’t move in real life, they deal with what we could feel every day: The loss of someone dear, the importance of family and friendship, betrayal, happiness and more.
Pixar really did it again, and probably created its best movie to date. Saying that Inside Out is a must-see is an understatement. Everyone, and not just your little ones, should see it!
Rating: 5/5
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