Inside Out | Teen Ink

Inside Out

October 29, 2015
By Timothy_Jacob GOLD, Wilmington, Delaware
Timothy_Jacob GOLD, Wilmington, Delaware
18 articles 1 photo 0 comments

When most people think about feelings, and emotions, you get this picture of a dim lit cubicle laying across a couch, ready to pour your heart out to some therapist. But when I and several other people think of emotions and feelings, we think about the animated comedy “Inside Out”. It was directed by Pete Docter, who has also directed a few childhood favorites such as both Toy Story 1 & 2, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Wall-E, and UP. So it’s no shock that this will soon grow into another great childhood favorite. Pixar most definitely nailed it while looking for a different route that an audience has never seen. And might I add, I applaud them for this difference in movie plot.
  

A little after the Pixar movie UP came out, American producer, Jonas Rivera and Director, Pete Docter met up to think of a movie plot that would be relatable to a number of audiences, yet not seen before. It wasn’t until Docter found the answer in his twelve year old daughter, who went from the upbeat little girl he knew to changing into an emotional young woman. Resulting in Inside Out being based off his one and only question “What was going on in her head?”
   

This movie is centered on a twelve year old girl’s (Riley) five emotions. Joy, who is voiced by Amy Poehler (Mean Girls) is Riley’s subconscious best friend. She will do just about anything to keep Riley happy and smiling. She makes sure that most memories and experiences of Riley’s are untroubled and bliss. Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith (Bad Teacher) is the emotion who clearly makes her very sad, and feel down from time to time. Disgust is the emotion who tells her what food is unacceptable and alerts her of all the unsanitary things around her. Fear is her anxiety emotion. He’s the one who’s very cautious of every move she makes in her everyday life and often very over dramatic out of , well yeah you guessed it, fear. Last, but not least mine and a few others favorite, Anger. The one who manages her temper tantrums, yelling, talking back, and anything you would do out of just being upset.
  

He’s my favorite character because he gets so upset about a situation then the smallest things will just settle him right down. In one of the beginning scenes of the movie, there is a part where Riley’s father is trying to feed her broccoli. Disgust immediately grabs a hold of the control system making Riley say yuck. Her dad then responding she won’t get dessert if she doesn’t finish her veggies. Overhearing all of this Anger rushes to the control system and sends Riley in a full blown temper tantrum. Her dad just switched his approach on how to feed her and did the casual air-plane move, and they’re all like airplanes, okay. It just makes you laugh.
   

Riley who is this happy cheerful young girl with a great family and friends thanks to her emotions and mind gets a sad awakening when she receives the news about her father getting a new job and having to move from her hometown, Minnesota all the way across the country to San Francisco, California. Leaving behind everything she knows, friends, school, and ice-hockey. Even with the sudden change, Joy still tries to make sure Riley can see a bright side of the situation. But this constant trying to make Riley happy is stumped when Sadness starts messing with Riley’s memories. Once a memory that was once blissful is touched by Sadness, it becomes a sad and doleful one. It can’t be changed back by any of the other emotions. On Riley’s first day at her new school she is asked to introduce herself to her class. What started off to be an okay little speech is turned around when Sadness touches the control system and Riley bursts out in a load of tears. This becomes extremely bad because it becomes Riley’s first sad core memory which is a non-forgettable memory that sticks with her. Joy, then outraged tries to fix it and ends up getting her and Sadness sucked into the long term memories tube and placed far from headquarters. Leaving Riley’s only emotions fear, disgust, and anger. The rest of the movie is Joy and Sadness trying to find a way through Riley’s mind to get back to headquarters. There are a handful of lands that revolve around Riley’s personality that they have to try going through, Goofball land, Imagination land, Friendship land, Honesty land, Hockey land, and family land to get back to help Riley. When in the hands of fear, disgust, and anger it’s very hard to see a bright side to any situation.
  

Overall, this was a well-built movie and a must see for all families and people of all age groups. The thought of a bunch of little people controlling our moods and lands based upon our personalities. I believe if Pixar was really going for different they most certainly out did themselves. It’s a relatable topic especially for young pre-teen girls to experience the change in moods after a certain age. If the writers’ wanted, that movie and future others would be a great way to simplify and understand disorders especially for younger audiences. If you haven’t seen this brilliant, comical, and heart-warming movie yet, it’s not too late. It will be out on blue-ray and DVD November third. Don’t miss out!


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