After the critically acclaimed Toy Story 3, Pixar was on a bit of a down slope with the lazy Cars 2 in 2011, the forgettable Brave in 2012, and the very disappointing Monsters University in 2013. However, after a one year break from releasing a movie, the Pixar we all know and love is truly back with Inside Out.
Inside Out is about an 11 year old girl named Riley who has to move from Minnesota to San Francisco which sends her emotions, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, into chaos. When Joy and Sadness get lost somewhere else in Riley's mind, Fear, Disgust, and Anger must try to do what is best for Riley while Joy and Sadness try to get back to her.
It only makes sense that the movie about emotions has a lot of emotion. There were 2 instances where I cried in this movie and I don't cry in movie a lot. It is, if not more, of a tearjerker than Up was because it is so much easier to relate to things in this movie because not all of us have become old and grumpy yet but all of us have had a childhood. Also, Inside Out is probably Pixar's funniest movie yet. With a voice cast that includes comedians such as Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, and Mindy Kaling, it makes sense that this movie would be funny but I wasn't expecting it to be as funny as it was. There were some moments that were utterly hilarious that I just died when they happened. The humor was very smart like Pixar has always done so some jokes might soar right over some kids' heads (like one about opinions and facts).
The voice cast really knocks it out of the park here. Amy Poehler was phenomenal because a character like Joy, who is always happy, can make you want to punch her in the face, but Poehler brought such a bright and light-hearted fun to it that you couldn't help but love her. Phyllis Smith was also incredible as Sadness. Without giving anything away, her character is very important to the plot and she nails every beat. My personal favorite character was Lewis Black as Anger. As you can tell from the trailers, he is a very funny character and has some of the best lines in the movie. Bill Hader as Fear and Mindy Kaling as Disgust are good too but they don't stand out as much as the other emotions.
One of my favorite bits in the whole movie is when they go into other people's minds (like Riley's Mom and Dad) to see how their emotions work and that also provides some amazing comedy. I can't stress enough how genius this movie is. Director Pete Doctor and Producer Jonas Rivera said in a Q&A after the movie that they planned this movie for 3 years even before they started animating and getting actors because they had to do so much research about the mind and get the story boards just right. This effort shows in the movie's quality because there isn't one plot hole or thing that they don't explain.
There is one scene in the 3rd act that was very reminiscent to Toy Story 3 and it just killed me. It dives into the philosophies of growing up and outgrowing certain things (similar to the Toy Story movies) but instead of it being toys, it is things you have forgotten in your mind. For me, it made me think back to moments in my childhood that I have forgotten about and it made me pretty emotional.
Inside Out is masterfully created movie that has brought Pixar back to its roots. It is one of Pixar's best movies and I don't use this word lightly but I think Inside Out is a classic. It is a perfect movie that will no doubt win the Best Animated Movie Oscar and it would not surprise me if it also gets nominated for Best Picture.
Other Things to Note:
- The screening I went to was presented by the Academy and they said they loved it
- Hayao Miyazaki has seen the movie and loved it
- The Pixar short "Lava" had me crying before the movie even started.
5/5 Stars
Inside Out is a movie that will resonate with me for years to come and will no doubt be deemed a classic. I can't wait for everybody to see it so I can talk to you all about it.