Movie review: The charm within Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’

For the past few years, Pixar Animation Studios had been stuck in a rut. The studio once celebrated for its masterstrokes—"Toy Story," "WALL-E," "Ratatouille" and "Up"—had given way to lackluster but marketable franchises like "Cars" and sequels like "Monsters University." Its recent string of films were just so-so. One could be forgiven for thinking that Pixar had lost its footing, especially after company executive John Lasseter focused his attention in revitalizing sister company Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Well, that ends here. Pixar’s latest foray into computer animation is "Inside Out," and it is the studio's return to form. It is an existential tale. It is a buddy comedy. It is bittersweet. It is joyful. It is sad. It is a hodge-podge of stories and concepts that can only be translated into animation by Pixar—a company known for inventive storylines.

The story seems simple on the outside. Riley (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias), the 11-year-old protagonist, and her parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan), relocate to San Francisco after her father gets a new job. The movie delves into how Riley copes with this major moment in her life, which has been tough for her: she has had to leave her old school and her friends and adjust to a foreign environment.

Helping her, or rather coping with her, along the way are five manifestations of her emotions—Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black).

Her emotions live in “Headquarters" inside Riley’s conscious mind. From there, they influence Riley’s actions and behavior. They also manage and store her memories, with the important “core” memories powering five “islands.” Each island reflects an aspect of Riley’s personality (i.e. “family Island" reflects her love for her family, “hockey island” reflects her love for hockey).

When a ruckus causes Joy, Sadness and the core memories to be sucked out of headquarters, Riley’s temperament changes for the worse. Joy and Sadness end up in a storage area of Riley’s long-term memories, an area of the mind that is foreign to them, mirroring Riley’s problem.


The film travels back and forth between Riley’s coping with the move and the emotions’ story of returning to headquarters. The stories happen simultaneously and affect each other in real-time, almost working like the layered dream sequences in "Inception."

Along their journey, Joy and Sadness encounter many characters. They meet Bing Bong (voiced by Richard Kind), Riley’s long-forgotten imaginary friend. They ride the Train of Thought and visit Dream Productions. They face some of Riley’s biggest fears and get trapped in the Memory Dump. If these terms sound or feel familiar, it is because that the filmmakers consulted psychologists when writing the script. If anything, this film makes one think about, well, thinking. What if there are small people controlling my emotions? *gasp*

Chances are that there aren’t. But the beauty of this film is that it lets that idea linger in your mind after the credits roll. It lets you reflect on the emotions you feel and the actions you take based on these emotions. Few films do this. Many are just made for entertainment’s sake.  

The concepts could have had been too big and overshadowed the rest of the film. But director Pete Docter, along with co-director Ronnie del Carmen, manage to make the concepts work for the story. This makes for a film that is relatable even with all the psychological terms flying around.

Poehler and Smith are commendable as Joy and Sadness. Their tandem works because they are polar opposites who need each other. The energetic glow in Poehler complements the eternal gloom in Smith’s voice. One great moment in the film is when the two reminisce about one of Riley’s core memories while on board the Train of Thought—a moment that will eventually lead Joy, and the audience, into the conclusion that sadness (the emotion, not the character), and all the pain it brings, is important.

Docter said that he was inspired to write the story after his pre-teen daughter became reserved like Riley. The film may be a continuation of Docter's reflection on fatherhood, which began in previous Pixar offerings "Monsters, Inc." and "Up." But it is more than that. The film puts emphasis on how emotions can affect one’s relationships—and how sadness can become a way for us to cope with our insecurities and uncertainties. We just do not acknowledge it as such.

That is where the charm of "Inside Out" lies. Not in the outside appearance of computer animation (though the Pixar animators still deserve credit for their trippy and psychological world-building). The film works because its innermost foundations—the story, the characters—remain intact. The way the story puts value on emotions makes the film glow with uniqueness and familiarity. Its concepts may be novel, yet you will leave the cinema feeling that somehow you can relate to Riley. That somehow, you know that joy and sadness are two ends of the same string. And that melancholy is not a bad thing after all.

There really is nothing wrong with this film. Inside or out. — BM, GMA News

"Inside Out" opens in Philippine theaters on August 19.