Inside Out

"I say we lock ourselves in our room and use that one swear word we know. It's a good one!"

Riley Anderson (Dias) is 11 years old.  She loves her family and friends and hockey.  Her emotions are controlled sunny optimist Joy (Poehler), broccoli hater Disgust (Kaling), perpetually annoyed Anger (Black), nervous Fear (Hader), and gloomy Sadness (Smith).  When Riley's Dad (MacLachlan) gets a new job in San Francisco, the family packs up and leaves their home in Minnesota.

With everything in upheaval, the emotions disagree on how to navigate their new surroundings.  After Riley cries in class, she makes a new sad core memory.  Joy tries to get rid of the memory and she and Sadness are sucked out of headquarters.  Can Joy and Sadness find their way back to headquarters before the other three destroy everything?


Another hit for Pixar!  The creators of Pixar's Up, Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen, teamed up again to co-write and co-direct this film.  They brought in psychologists to consult about emotions.

Pixar is known for making strong films, that have beautiful and dynamic visuals alongside a range of emotions.  This film is the perfect concept to tie all of that together.  The film took four years to come together and went through many different versions before settling on the final product.  The story is easy to follow and blends humor and emotional moments.  There is so much to take in as Joy and Sadness travel through Riley's brain, and it is an interesting ride.

Pixar always find the right people to breathe life into the characters.  Lewis Black is the obvious choice for Anger, and the animators incorporated aspects of his stand-up into the character.  Amy Poehler excels at portraying confident and enthusiastic characters (see TV's Parks and Recreation) and is the perfect choice for Joy.  Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling are always good, and both are exceptional here and Phyllis Smith brings a lot of depth to Sadness.  Richard Kind is endearing as Bing Bong, and Pixar favorite/regular John Ratzenberger has a small part towards the end.  Muppet performers Frank Oz and Dave Goelz play characters Dave and Frank respectively in a brief cameo.

It is a cute movie (make sure you have tissues nearby) and sure to nab at least an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film.  Make sure you stick around during the credits.  The DVD also features the short film Riley's First Date? that features the characters from the film (specifically the emotions of Riley's parents).  You can also find the short film on YouTube.

Inside Out (2015) 94 minutes
Director: Pete Docter & Ronnie Del Carmen
Starring: Amy Poehler as Joy
Phyllis Smith as Sadness
Bill Hader as Fear
Lewis Black as Anger
Mindy Kaling as Disgust
Richard Kind as Bing Bong
Kaitlyn Dias as Riley Andersen
Diane Lane as Mom
Kyle MacLachlan as Dad