Movie Review: Inside Out

If you’ve been following the company for a while, one would notice that Disney/Pixar has this knack of personifying various concepts/objects, such as bugs, monsters, cars, children’s toys, etc., in order to use as a conduit for how it presents the theme of whatever movie they use the concept in.  This style of storytelling is not new by any stretch of the imagination, mind you, but the way that Disney presents these stories, with a clever mix of humour and emotions insinuated throughout the dialogue and the plot itself, allows for a refreshing take on the aforementioned storytelling style.

I’m getting ahead of myself.  This isn’t a detailed analysis of how Disney/Pixar performs as a company, but rather how it continues its trend of epitomizing beyond human thought by…..

…..well, epitomizing ACTUAL human thought.

Like….they personified YOUR FEELINGS.

HOW CAN ONE GO DEEPER THAN THAT.

What’s up everyone, my name is Ken from thebuttonsmashers.com and today we are taking an inside look at the latest addition to the Disney/Pixar roster of fantabulous films:  Inside Out.

Story & Characters:

A girl named Riley is born in Minnesota, and within her mind, five manifestations of her emotions—Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger—come to life. The emotions live in Headquarters, Riley’s conscious mind, where they influence Riley’s actions and memories via a control console. Her new memories are housed in colored orbs, which are sent into storage at the end of every waking period. The most important or “core” memories are housed in a hub in Headquarters and power five “islands” that each reflect a different aspect of Riley’s personality. Joy acts as the dominant emotion to keep Riley in a happy state, but she and the others do not understand Sadness’ purpose.

When Riley is 11 years old, her family relocates to San Francisco after her father gets a new job. Joy becomes concerned when Sadness begins touching happy memories, causing them to turn sad, so she tries to keep her isolated. However, on Riley’s first day at her new school, Sadness accidentally makes her cry in front of her class, creating a new, sad core memory. Joy attempts to dispose of the new memory before it reaches the central hub, but she accidentally knocks the other core memories loose in her struggle with Sadness, shutting down the personality islands and making them unstable. Before Joy can put them back, she, Sadness, and the core memories are sucked out of Headquarters through the memory tube leading to the rest of Riley’s mind. They end up in the labyrinthine storage area of Riley’s long-term memories and set out to return to Headquarters.  With Joy and Sadness not in the control room, however, Riley’s emotions, and personalities, undergo a drastic change.

If Stanley Kubrick directed this film, it would be dark, deep, and extremely psychological, looking into the concept of the various representations of the human psyche in an abstract and profound manner.

This is not a Stanley Kubrick film.  However, one can argue that it is, but only with 100% more Disney, and less, well, Stanley Kubrick.

Ok, I’m not making sense again, but let me explain it.

What I’m saying is that Inside Out did an amazing job in representing various concepts connected to how human emotions, memories, and personalities (among other things) are created and how they affect one’s interpersonal relationships in a way that is understandable and easy to interconnect to other aspects of how our mind works, all while having that same fun, colorful, and creative design that Disney/Pixar is known and loved for.

Some people may say that the concept is too complex for young people to truly grasp, and while I may understand their stance, I don’t really 100%-agree on it.  Maybe only 35%.

Why?

Because the main theme of the story, which was that EVERY SINGLE EMOTION that an individual has is valuable and contributes to one’s overall mental and physical well-being and development, was represented beautifully and in a manner that was not shoved down our throats, but told to us soothingly and with love and affection, like how a mother would read a storybook to her child before they go to sleep.

Story-wise, this movie does a great job in terms of pacing.  The plot goes smoothly and there were very little instances of meandering throughout, with a majority of it being a mandatory part of world-building.  The tone of the show was also paced quite well; its serious moments remained serious without any wishwash whatsoever, and likewise the happy and colorful moments aren’t downsided by random foreshadowing.  The characters were also enjoyable to watch on screen and the Emotions do personify their emotions rather well.  Finally, character interactions also brought out the beauty of the story with how well the movie handled it, thus making conflict in the plot all the more real.

In my opinion, creating a story centered around such a complicated concept and simplifying it without removing core elements, all while retaining the fun and colorful style that the company has created its brand on, makes the story for Inside Out not only an enjoyable ride through the brain processes, but also a thoughtful one.

Animation & Sound:

To put it simply, there’s nothing much to say about this movie’s soundtrack, other than it heightens whatever mood or tone a particular scene has.  There’s nothing too notable, but it accomplishes its duties rather well and the music complimented the movie to a T.  From the man who orchestrated the music for other Disney/Pixar movies, such as Up, I really expected nothing less.

The voice-acting for this movie was also rather well done, as each and every one of the voices contributed brought out the best in the characters they portrayed, providing the right emotion at the right moments and being not only downright believable, but it also added to the humour of the movie.  Shoutouts go specifically to Amy Poehler (Joy) and Phyllis Smith (Sadness) for portraying their respective characters beeaauutifully.  I kid you not, these two are the definitive voices for their characters, as they compliment not only their specific emotions, but whatever state the character is in.  Everyone else did an amazing job, of course, but I just wanted to highlight these two specifically, as the majority of the movie’s conflict occurs with those two characters.

The animation, however, is something that I personally must give mention of.

Saying that Disney/Pixar makes great animation is about as redundant as stating that Canada has 9 months of winter.

Well…maybe not, but the point still stands:  this animation company makes great-looking stuff, and it is extremely evident with Inside Out.

First off, the colors and their gradations and how they are used and interchanged throughout the movie.  Bright and cheery tones are a Disney/Pixar staple, and Inside Out has a bunch of those to compliment its overall happy tone.  However, when the tone shifts to a much more somber and serious tone, drearier and darker hues are used in place, and the way the contrast between the lighter and darker parts of the movie are interchanged are almost seamless.

As per usual, Pixar does a solid job at building the setting.  From the dusty, urban scenery of San Francisco, to the bright and colorful world of Riley’s mind and all of the many different landmarks, the amount of detail given is astounding, even for a Pixar movie.  By the end of the movie, you would want to explore every nook and cranny of that mind world.

The character designs were magnificent as well, particular the designs of the Emotions.  Each one had a surprising amount of attention to detail in their design (i.e. their “auras”), resulting in further emphasis of their respective emotional state.  There is also a notable difference in the design of the Emotions depending on who the person is, which was actually a nice touch in both a creative and a humorous standpoint.

Needless to say, the animation was something that made the movie all the more enjoyable, as with everything else that Pixar does.

But really, did we expect anything else from a Pixar-animated movie other than stellar?

Afterword:

………yeah this review could’ve been much much longer.

I’ve finished writing up the draft and everything, but part of me felt like I haven’t done this movie any justice at all.  There are MULTIPLE areas that I can talk about within the movie that makes the story so compelling, and these are only on the tip of the proverbial iceberg:

• the relatability of the “adolescent phase”
• the initial fear and excitement of moving into a different place and starting a new life there
• the concept of imaginary friends, that sub-conscious part of the mind where all your fears are “locked up”
• the emotions’ ostracizing of Sadness reflective of how humans label sadness as a negative emotion (when, in reality, it is just as important as all the rest)
• their representation of that area of your mind where abstract concepts are created
• the idea of having core memories
• the concept of tiny people in your head that are responsible for “disposing” memories such as the “important” things that you learned from school

ALL OF THESE FACTORS contribute to world-building, character development, the connections that we form with the main character, and even the humour, which was not childish at all and was quite clever in my opinion.

Add those with the high-quality animation that we’ve come to expect from Pixar and the soundtrack composed by the same person who was responsible for the music for Up,  and you have Inside Out:  not just an fun little story,  but also a genuine lesson that was represented in a manner that was rather compelling and enjoyable, while at the same time retaining that heart and emotion that Disney/Pixar films have adapted as a staple over the years.

Good job Disney/Pixar, you’ve done it again.

Sooooooooooooooooooo, with all that’s said and done taken under consideration and deliberated for an unknown period of time…….

Is Inside Out a Yay? Or a Nay?

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Some people may find it to have a more childish look to it compared to other DIsney/Pixar flicks, but trust me, it has something that anyone can enjoy, and maybe even shed a tear or two.

Or….more than two……..really, it’s ok………

But seriously though, it’s an enjoyable movie with a legitimate lesson that we can all learn from, and real talk it really belongs up there with Disney’s best.  Additionally, a sequel is definitely not too far ahead, seeing as the concept can still be expanded upon (and of course, from how good the movie fared in the blockbusters), and if a sequel does get announced, then I would gladly await for it.

As per usual, leave a comment down below pertaining to your thoughts on this review, on the show itself, or if you would like me to review anything.  And, speaking of liking, give the review a thumbs-up if you enjoyed it.

Aaaaaaand, with that, I bid you all adieu.  This has been Ken, for thebuttonsmashers.com, and I’ll see you guys in the future.

You’re still here?

Yeah I should probably explain myself after promising another review immediately after my Panty and Stocking review.  I was on vacation after that week, and so I was not able to release the review that I was working on at the time.  In addition, I got to watch this movie, and I thought that it was so amazing that I had to make a review out of it.

Of course, I don’t review movies that often as it is different in format from the traditional anime that I review, so if you have any suggestions or even complaints, then kindly leave them on the comments section below.

Thanks again guys, and a new review will be coming soon.  For realsies this time.

Like, legit.

I pinky-promise it.

Until, then, I’ll see you guys in the future.