Wow, feels like forever since we’ve seen a Pixar movie, especially one with the creative spark that defined its most memorable stories. After a trifecta of mostly eh from 2011 to 2013 (Cars 2 was Cars 2, Brave can go die in a fire, and Monsters University while likable was highly unnecessary), Inside Out breaks that streak with its incredibly creative premise and Pixar’s deft hand in tugging heartstrings. I believe we’re finally back, baby.
So apparently deep in our heads we are manned by a quintet of emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. They help us react to the world around us and in turn maintain important memories as well as keep up the foundations of personality (manifested in various island worlds). In one particular girl, Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), things are awry due to a family move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Unsure of the situation, her emotions (Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Bill Hader, and Mindy Kaling respectively) are at odds with how to make things work. However, before they can do any of that, Sadness (who is always kept at bay by Joy) causes a situation where she and Joy are jettisoned away from where the emotions man Riley’s disposition, along with her most important memories. So now it’s up to them to get back in time before the three remaining emotions, despite their best efforts to aid her, lead Riley to inadvertent self-destruction.
