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The inner workings of the mind are a mysterious thing. No one fully understands our brains and what they are capable of. It is estimated we only use roughly 10-20% of our minds capacity, so that makes me wonder, what is the other 80-90% used for? We may never know. But for now at least, if you would like to take a journey into the mind of an eleven year old girl, then you owe it to yourself to watched “Inside Out”.
The first of two films to be released by animation genius’s Pixar this year (the second is “The Good Dinosaur” which has just been released) this film was a true return to form for the studio who started off with a bang in “Toy Story”, now celebrating its twentieth anniversary – crap, that makes me feel old. They had a steady climb to even higher heights with classics like “Finding Nemo”, “The Incredibles” and “Up”. Then in more recent years, they hit a bit of a lull, making good but not great sequels to former creations (“Cars 2”, “Monsters University”) and a couple of hits and misses, i.e. “Brave” and “”Ratatouille”. “Toy Story 3” was probably the best sequel and close to the best of their films ever released. That is until this year when we were graced with the presence of a special film that is like nothing you’ve ever seen.
When people tell you Inside Out is one of the best and most original movies ever made, not just by Pixar standards, but in the history of movies, they’re not talking it up. Believe the hype. This is a movie everyone will see at one point, and if you haven’ yet, make the time to do so. The levels of creativity ingenuity, intelligence, comedy, heartfelt emotion and brilliant story telling on display here is simply second to none. It’s known that Pixar take their time developing ideas and stories, which results in the predominantly high standard of films they create, and Inside Out now shares the podium with Toy Story in terms of breaking new ground in animation (and films all together) as well as pure, unadulterated imagination.
Okay, you can tell I thought this movie was awesome. You would have seen in the link to this review I recommended you only read this if you have seen it. I know some people who haven’t seen the film will read this, so I opened up the review with that encouraging spiel on the film. Now, if you haven’t seen the film, you might want to stop reading here, because I am going to quote and refer to many scenes and moments in detail, because Inside Out is not just a film I will review and move on from; it is a film that warrants ongoing discussion long after the credits have rolled, and here, I will kick start that conversation with you, dear reader.
As you know, the film takes place almost entirely in the mind of a little girl called Riley. We meet her the moment she is born, and as she opens her eyes for the first time, her mind is awakened. Cue Joy, the emotion that lives in her brain and sees what Riley sees. She’s called Joy because, well, she is just full of Joy. Always happy, positive and upbeat. Joy isn’t alone, as even during her earliest days, Riley displays other emotions, including Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear. The visual representation and characterizations of these emotions is so well done, you are instantly hooked into this film as it moves swiftly into proceedings. The inside of Riley’s mind, and every persons mind for that matter, is like the deck of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek. There is a command console, a large screen which transmits an ongoing live feed of what Riley sees, and many other gadgets and gizmos that are running and responding to Riley’s mind on a constant basis – except for when she’s asleep, and things simply go quiet. The characters go about their business inside Riley’s mind, and explain the inner workings of the girls brain as they go, but this is not done in a way to just inform the audience of the stories perspective or own unique rules. The creativity is worked into the story brilliantly well, with each reveal and clever turn coming at you fast and fun.
Whatever Riley sees, hears or does, the emotions jump in and control her mind via the console. Each of them takes the controls when it is their moment to shine. Anger is visualized in the form of a small, gruff looking man, with a business shirt and tie, and a surly voice that is the embodiment of a stressed out and grumpy, middle-aged working class man – genius. Fear is more or less a nerdy looking teenager, with an uneven voice who reacts to the smallest changes in movement. Disgust is your average teenager girl, who finds disgust in every situation, and is always the first to criticise things just for being gross – eew! Then the two most predominant emotions in Riley’s life at this stage are Joy and Sadness. Joy (voiced to perfection by Amy Poehler) has been at the forefront of Riley’s mind for the first eleven years of her life, and is more or less the leader of the team of fellow feelings. She runs a tight ship, and does everything she can to ensure Riley stays happy. This is controlled by the close supervision and control of Riley’s core memories; the handful of memories for her young life that have gone on to form the aspects of her personality.
These memories come in the shape of small, crystal balls and take on the colour of each emotion; Joy is yellow, Anger is Red, Disgust is Green, Fear is purple and Sadness is blue. Outside of the control room, lies a never ending world where the many other complex parts of the human mind operate in their own way. I could go on and on in describing the visual details of this world, but I won’t waste time with that as you've seen the film (and if you haven’t stop reading this now and go watch the film!). And as you know, Sadness takes centre stage when Riley faces the first major change of her life; her dad being transferred to work, which ships the family from the snowy-white tranquil life of Minnesota State, to the bustling, loud and crazy city life of San Francisco. When things don’t start well, new memories are formed in Riley’s mind, causing the emotions inside her to experience an upheaval of new feelings that they are not used to, throwing all of them off balance. In a desperate bid to keep things as they were, Joy takes charge to save Riley’s core memories, but is swept away into the realm of her mind, along with Sadness, forcing them to find a way back to the control room before Riley’s mind completely changes, and her two most predominant feelings – Joy and Sadness – are lost forever.
The story continues to move quickly from here, barely resting for a moment as we the viewers are taken on a journey unlike any other committed to film. Think what you will of the human mind; either you see it as a pulp of mass sitting inside your skull, or a small orb that does stuff occasionally, or perhaps you like to drown out its noise with distractions. Whatever your relationship is with your mind, one thing’s for sure; it is a deeply fascinating and amazing place, which is responsible for everything you’ve experience and felt in your lifetime, and is the mother of creation. Understanding the mind is probably the hardest, yet the most important challenges mankind has ever dared to face. We still know so little about our brains; how they operate, why they work the way they do, and where things go over time. In the case of long term memories, or things you learnt when you a kid that aren’t relevant anymore, Inside Out says they go to a deep, dark place and never return. This is the place Joy and Sadness do everything in their power to avoid, but comes to be the place where the answer to their dilemma will be revealed.
As Riley continues to try and adjust to her new life, minus the emotions of Joy and Sadness, she experiences what can only be best described as depression. Yes, even children can get depressed, and it is usually brought about by a major disruption in their growth and feeling alone or abandoned in some way. Moving from one side of the country to the other, where everything is new and different, no one wants to be her friend, and her parents don’t seem to notice, Riley disengages from everything and everyone around her. While Joy and Sadness try to get back to her, Anger, Disgust and Fear run the show from the command centre, so you get to see what a young child does when all they feel is angry, disgusted and afraid of everything going on around them. She sees no joy in her experience, and it goes beyond sadness, which is where depression lies. It’s a powerful statement made by the filmmakers and not one Pixar has tackled before, so well done to them for tackling a very relevant issues in today’s world, but exploring it within the realm of their animation playground. It makes the topic much more understandable for children and is a great way to get them talking about the notion of feeling depressed or having depression. It shouldn’t be a topic of shame to be swept under the rug, but rather open for discussion and made aware that anyone and everyone can experience it at some point, and that’s okay.
As for the character of Joy, she won’t stand for this and despite the impending doom of their situation as they watch the world of Riley’s mind crumble around them, she tries to stay upbeat. But Joy learns a valuable lesson, that no matter what feeling or emotion you try to cling onto the most, it can’t last forever, and it can only exist if it’s polar opposite is in alignment with it. Huh? What do you mean Brian? I’ll explain. There was a reason Joy and Sadness got lost in Riley’s mind together; they are complete opposites. Joy tries to lift Sadness up when she’s down, and Sadness challenges Joy’s beliefs when she’s too high and elated. Their individual purposes and relationship are a perfect match, and each of them learns from each other. For the first time in her existence, Joy will feel sad, and Sadness will experience happiness, and each of them come to learn that even despite the other three feelings present, it is Joy and Sadness who are jointly responsible for the formation of most of Riley’s core memories. This is not easily accepted by Joy at the start, but once out of her comfort zone, she sees what Sadness is truly capable of, and even the least desirable feeling of them all can also serve a purpose – feeling blue ain’t a bad thing.
The message at the heart of Inside Out is that change is inevitable. Change is hard and will bring with it a feeling that can dominate the experience. It can be hard to feel happiness in the darkest times. It can be easy to feel sad even when things are going good. And there’s nothing wrong with getting angry, feeling afraid or being shocked with disgust either. Every feeling serves a purpose. And the age old question of “Are we in control of our feelings or do they control us?” that’s been pondered for ages is addressed in Inside Out. For the sake of the movie, the feelings inside Riley seem to be controlling her via their console, which is more of a gimmicky thing but also a clever way to portray that each of us has our own set of buttons that get pushed every day. Sometimes we react, without control and the emotions run the show. Other times we can respond, pause and think about what to do next. The first way is easy, the latter is harder, but which one is the right way?
I don’t think there is a right way when it comes to feelings. They are what they are. They surface at odd times. They can be responsible for the biggest choices we make, and as displayed so brilliantly in this film, are responsible for forming the core memories we recall on and define who we are.
I can’t recommend this movie highly enough. Find ninety minutes and watch it, with your family, your children, your friends or even at work if it’s relevant to what you do. Even though it’s a film about thinking more or less, you don’t need to think too much while watching it, as the story is told so well and visualized so brilliantly, you can simply switch off and go along for the ride. And it’s an incredible ride. One you will want to experience time and time again. I know I will.
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