Inside Out (2015)

Director: Pete Docter
Story: Ronnie del Carmen and Pete Docter
Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black and Mindy Kaling
Music: Michael Giacchino
Time: 94 minutes
Bottom-line: The “feel good” film of 2015

From the director of one of my favourite animated films, Up, comes another terrific film: Inside Out. In a time where it’s so rare to see proper family films, this one is simple, elegant, moving and made for all ages, especially teenagers. The title refers to the fact that throughout the film you are seeing the outside world from the inside of a person’s head.

How much ever we deny the fact, it is always true that each one of us have a set of “little voices in the head”. Meet Riley, a eleven year old in Minnesota. In her mind’s headquarters are five personifications of her emotions: Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith), Fear (Hader), Disgust (Kaling) and Anger (Black). They take control of her feeling and behaviour using a console. Riley’s five major traits are manifested as five islands, powered by her “long-term memories”. When Riley’s family moves to San Francisco, Riley begins to miss her old home and friends and starts to feel awkward. Joy, as always, tries to keep her in best spirits, but Sadness (in a seemingly deliberate manner) foils with her memory and makes her glum. Following an accident in the headquarters, Joy and Sadness are sucked away into Riley’s “memory storage” and can no longer control her emotions. While the other three personalities try their best to keep Riley happy, they fail miserably. In the course of Joy and Sadness getting back to the base, we see and experience the various emotions of Riley, and in the process realising the role each of these personalities play in our own lives.

The characters 

The idea that all of our emotions and traits can be treated as islands and actual personalities is what impressed me in the first place. I love the way Riley’s feelings create consequences in the headquarters and the islands. The personalities are created beautifully too: each resembling the very emotion they represent! Concepts like “Imagination Land”, the “Train of Thought” and “Memory Dump” are explored in a wonderful manner. The story is beautifully woven and it has such a simple theme too. The vocal work is brilliant. I was amazed the way each artist modifies his/her to voice to sound exactly like their character: Poehler always speaking in a happy mood, Smith speaking in a more or less monotonous depressed done, and not to forget Black having his bursts of temper every now and then.

Riley

The moral the film gives is that it shows its viewers how each human needs a mix of everything – in the beginning Riley is kept happy all the time by Joy, and none of the personalities seem to find any use for Sadness. Yes though all our parents ask us to be happy every time, feeling sad is not wrong; in fact, sometimes it becomes a necessity. Having too many emotions piled up inside but being only happy on the outside is not good; you need to “let it out” when needed. Towards the end Joy and the others (and the viewers) realise the true purpose of Sadness in Riley’s (and possibly their own) life.

Of course, you must watch the film without scrutinising the mistakes with the plot (which could have ended the film in about 40 minutes itself); just understand that sometimes life deliberately makes you take the longer route to teach a lesson. With excellent animation and a wonderful message, get ready with your family to see the world inside out!

My Rating: 4.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98%