Inside Out

I was pleased this time around that an original film was coming out of Pixar because I think they do better with those kinds of movies. They can be more challenging in their own way than sequels & prequels and when you work hard at something, you have a better chance at success. "Inside Out" is a success and will entertain the whole family. It has some pretty sophisticated themes for a family film just like director Pete Docter's preceding film, "Up". However, this is balanced quite well with humour and creativity. Because of the voice talent, the movie is sort of a combination of Pixar imagination with "Saturday Night Live" and "The Office". I do cry as I watch this movie and while this film might lose some of that dramatic power upon multiple viewings, the Sadness in me would hope that it always remains dramatic. As with "Up", "Inside Out" is becoming a show that I don't want to watch all that much for fear of familiarity taking away from the soulful moments. This is why it is narrowly my favourite film of 2015.

Pixar is known for original ideas that seem too obvious to have been thought up just now. Some examples among many include toys coming to life, talking cars and monsters in a child's closet. As another example, I never thought to wonder if a sequel could be made from "Finding Nemo" but then I heard the announcement for "Finding Dory". It was so simple of an idea for a sequel that it was almost guarenteed to work and I don't know why I didn't think of it. In the past, we have seen on television creative depictions of what goes on inside our bodies. There is the 2001 film "Osmosis Jones" but that movie was a bomb at the box office. With "Inside Out", Pixar was able to apply its creativity and storytelling skills to this premise to great effect. Joy's first shot is quite special. I really felt the drama of a baby's first emotion being created because of the animation. I believe that everyone is born with goodness inside of them and this show supports my belief. You also have a very realistic newborn in this scene. This movie has an introductory story pattern that is the same as many past Pixar films. The screenwriter of “Toy Story 3”, Michael Arndt, explained this pattern once. The protagonist is passionate about something but they have a flaw that stems from that passion. As the story moves forward, there are storm clouds on the horizon. The inciting incident then happens and the nature of it adds insult to injury. The protagonist then faces a choice on how to achieve resolution and they choose the juvenile path (otherwise, there would be no character growth and the story wouldn't be worth telling). Joy will do anything to take care of Riley and but that desire prevents her from sharing Riley equally with the other emotions. Riley's move to San Francisco hints at upcoming troubles but suddenly, Joy and Sadness are sucked out of Headquarters. What makes matters worse for Joy is that she is stuck with a seemingly depressed companion that she can't just leave because Sadness knows the way through Long Term Memory. Joy could put more effort into working with Sadness to get back to HQ but instead, Joy drags Sadness along and doesn't listen to her suggestions. Also, Joy could send the core memories back to headquarters in the same way that the mind workers send ordinary memories there but she won't part ways with the core memories. In the past, Pete Docter's films have been inspired by his own life and "Inside Out" continues this trend. Docter's family moved from Minnesota to Denmark when he was Riley's age. Riley is inspired by Pete's daughter, Ellie, who was also the inspiration and voice for the character of Ellie in "Up". The real Ellie, like her animated counterpart, was peppy and full of life when she was younger. I am guessing that as "Up" neared completion, Docter began to notice that his daughter was no longer the same girl that was on the movie screen. Ellie became shy and withdrawn just like he was in Denmark as a kid. This was the genesis for the main idea for "Inside Out".

The story of this movie also mirrors the tale of how it was made. Docter felt at one point during production that there was a chance he would be fired because the film's story wasn't working. That seems inconceivable to me that Pixar would do that considering that Docter has an Oscar and directed two blockbusters Pixar films. He thought about taking the wrong path by resigning, assuming that his earlier accomplishments were just lucky breaks. After a long walk on Father's Day 2012, thinking about how much he would miss his friends at Pixar, he came to the realization that emotions connect people with each other. One theme from "Up" is that life itself is an adventure and Docter, on his walk, learned that the most important aspects of life are relationships. He also came up with a purpose for Sadness. This is proof once again of how Pixar was standing apart from other studios at the time. They didn't have dollar signs in their eyes, rather ideas and stories. Funny enough, on Father's Day, June 17, 2012, I was watching "Ratatouille" in preparation to go see "Brave" a few days later. Another year on June 17, I watched "Inside Out" without even realizing it. Before seeing this movie for the first time, I assumed that the movie would take place half of the time in the real world and the other half in Riley's mind. Actually, 2/3rd of the show take place inside the mind. This story has high stakes because Riley is running away from home and losing everything she holds dear: friendship, being a goofball, honesty, hockey and family (most importantly). Plot points are subtly introduced as gags through the story but then come to mean all the difference later on. The process is actually backwards because the filmmakers would come to a plot hole and then the story department uses established elements from earlier in the movie to solve the problem. Other films tend to be too obvious with their plot points and that could be because they use the first idea instead of working hard to find the best one. Who knows except those who made this movie? The end of the movie got me thinking about whether what happened in Riley's mind is similar to what happens in the minds of all children around this age. Are all "islands" replaced by new ones? Do all joyful emotions become lost for a brief period? If you notice, Riley's parents already have updated, larger consols that can be used simultaneously by all the emotions. The trailers for "Inside Out" do spoil part of the climax but only for those really looking. I have seen other animated movies that put their running gags in the trailers and by the time we see the movie, the gag is already old. The running gag for "Inside Out" works so well and is so funny because it was used very sparingly in the marketing. The writers also used the gag at just the right moments in the story. The Pixar Universe continues to expand with "Inside Out". The Pizza Planet delivery truck is seen inside one of the memories as Joy chases Bing Bong. Before we even get to San Francisco, we have cameos of Colette and the birds from "For the Birds". The bumper stickers on one car in San Francisco are from "Cars" and one of Riley's female classmates is wearing a shirt similar to Sid's. Could we be looking at an older Hannah? Did anyone else spot the shoe from "WALL-E" in this movie? Scenes from "Up" can be seen in the memory orbs such as Carl's ties and Paradise Falls. In Imagination Land behind the House of Cards, there are references to "Finding Nemo" and Pixar's subsquent film, "The Good Dinosaur". Now that "The Good Dinosaur" has been released, I am betting that everyone will recognize the stone dinosaurs in one of Riley's memories from the trip to San Francisco. There are many dramatic moments in "Inside Out" but I especially love the scene inside HQ at the end of the movie when Sadness is using the console alone. Joy has already handed over the core memories as if to retire from being Riley's lead emotion. Joy then gives back the core memory from the first day at the new school and slowly begins to turn away. Joy is resigned to let Sadness take the lead on Riley's life and while it may be very hard for Joy, it is what Joy's thinks is best. This really gets me crying. Sadness however understands that Riley needs all her emotions and before Joy can fully turn away, Sadness takes Joy's hand so they can use the console together. The result from Riley's perspective is so powerful thanks to the lack of sound. This is one example why I am biased towards Pixar.

If not a great story, every movie worth seeing must at least have great characters and "Inside Out" has both. I have said it before concerning previous Pixar movies but it is worth repeating that Pixar characters are not created for specific actors. Pixar also doesn't try to think of the most famous names they can to be in their movies. Instead, a character is constructed first and then an actor is sought out who can not only bring the character to life but also add to what the filmmakers have already done. The cast is mostly full of actors from television. The filmmakers would even let many of the cast members contribute to the story and they even did re-writes with Amy Poehler, who voices Joy. The accordion for example was Poehler's idea. The character of Joy is similar to Woody. They both follow the same introductory story pattern but their issues are also comparable. Just as the filmmakers had trouble writing for and creating the character of Woody, Joy presented some parallel difficulties. The end result was quite good and it wasn't until Poehler was cast as Joy that things started to work out in creating this protagonist. Most everyone can see the parallels between "Inside Out" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" but one comparison I wish to mention is that the emotions in Riley's head can express other emotions beside their dominant one. Joy for instance has a very dramatic scene in the Memory Dump and this is Poehler's best scene in the movie because even though she is a comedy actress, she convincingly portrays the needed drama insomuch that I get choked up. I have seen a few animated movies with Amy Poehler's voice before "Inside Out" came along but this is the first time where she really stood out for me. The only other actors that I have seen or heard of before this movie are Bill Hader and Diane Lane. Hader was amazing in the "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" franchise and he is great as Fear also. His best scene was when Fear is on dream duty because he reminds me of a TV critic. Both Poehler and Hader are SNL alumni while Phyllis Smith (Sadness) and Mindy Kaling (Disgust) are from "The Office". The Disney character that most resembles Sadness is Eeyore. You admire Sadness because she is trying to make a difference and find her purpose. Even though she doesn't achieve success until the end, we still root for her throughout the whole film. Kaling began to cry upon looking at production artwork and that is touching. Another such moment concerning the cast happened with Richard Kind. This is the fourth character he has voiced for Pixar but it is his best so far. His character's last line happened to be the last thing he recorded and he shed a tear doing so. Pete Docter doesn't like to use child actors in his movies in favor of using real children. Kaitlyn Dias plays Riley and this is only her third acting role. Docter is also a fan of the Muppets so it's no surprise that he cast Muppeteer Frank Oz in "Monsters, Inc.". Oz and fellow Muppeteer Dave Goelz are the two guards of the subconscious in "Inside Out". Rashida Jones is the voice of the cool girl's emotions and Docter himself is Bill's Anger. I was hoping that John Ratzenberger would have a larger cameo or role but they seem to be getting shorter with every Pixar film.

Advancing technology with each film is another goal of Pixar. John Lasseter didn't contribute to this film as much as past shows that came out of the studio because he was busy at the time rebuilding Walt Disney Feature Animation. He did make one important contribution though. The skin of the emotions is a made of particle energy, not flesh. This idea was deemed too expensive to create but Lasseter supported it. As with the amount of crowd shots in "A Bug's Life", he felt this was worth the money. I agree. The first four Pixar films had what I like to call "wow moments" during the climax and ever since, I have tried to identify one for each subsequent Pixar film. I define a "wow moment" as a point in the movie (not necessarily at the end anymore) where the characters or the story pauses in order to take in the complexity or beauty of what is happening. There are many candidate scenes in "Inside Out" but I choose Bing Bong's "short cut" in 3D. Even the sound design and music become symbolic of what happens as the characters try to make it through the short cut. One decision I applaud the filmmakers on is the use of color during the runaway. The tones are dialed way down to symbolize Riley's loss of emotion. The filmmakers at Pixar also put a lot of study and research into their movies. They visited with psychologists among so many things including a week long research visit to the SNL studio. As a result, SNL also inspires the story itself in that you have different people trying to put on a live production. I didn't take too much notice of Michael Giacchino's musical score the first time I saw "Inside Out" but that is a compliment in this case. He and Docter want the music the have a subconscious effect only. Giacchino did such a good job at supporting the story and creating emotion that you didn't notice his work all that much the first time around. Since then, I have come to see that this is a unique musical score with powerful themes. Ronnie del Carmen is the co-director of "Inside Out" and he also helped create the story. Some of his past works before coming to Pixar include the TV show "Freakazoid!" and movies for DreamWorks such as "The Prince of Egypt" & "The Road to El Dorado". The first time I took notice of his name was while watching "Dug's Special Mission", which he wrote and directed. His first Pixar film was "Finding Nemo" where he was a story supervisor.

We deal with some heavy issues during "Inside Out" such as the loss of innocence. One film theory I have developed about the story is that what we see go on in Riley's mind thoughout the film is not really happening but rather a metaphor for Riley's emotional turmoil. After moving to San Francisco, she tries to be the same happy, goofy girl that her parents expect her to be but this isn't working. She is also suppressing her sadness. Joy isn't trying to get back to HQ; Riley is actually trying to find any way she can to be happy by going through her imagination and dreams with no success. After cutting ties with Meg, Riley looks to her long-lost imaginary friend for help in being joyful again but this doesn't work either. Only by letting go of her past can Riley find a new normal. Despite this heavy stuff in the plot, I think the show will still entertain kids. There is a lot they can relate to in this movie. There is also that important balance between heart and humor that Pixar is known for. You laugh hard and cry hard. The cast members really do their part in creating originality. In my opinion, "Inside Out" easily won the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. The screenplay was even nominated for an Academy Award. I truly hope that Pete Docter never doubts himself enough to ever think about leaving Pixar again and from what I have heard, he is working on a new film.

4.5 Stars out of 5