Inside Out, the latest Disney-Pixar coproduction, feels like a clever educational short stretched to feature length. It has plenty to teach viewers about the workings of the human mind (writers Josh Cooley, Meg LeFauve, and Pete Docter reportedly spent years researching the subject), and it employs an array of imaginative strategies to make those lessons palatable to a wide audience. Most of the film takes place inside the brain of Riley, an 11-year-old girl; the principal characters are anthropomorphized versions of the five emotional states that govern her personality—joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. The story takes place over a few weeks after Riley and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco, focusing on how the emotions respond to various stressors associated with this big change. That challenge turns into a full-fledged adventure when some of Riley’s “core memories” are misplaced during an anxious episode and Joy and Sadness must journey through the brain to recover them. Continue reading >>
Inside Out
PG • 1 hour 35 min • 2015
