Rating: 5/5

Three-Word Summary: Inside girl’s head

Inside Out is the best Pixar film in several years, which is saying something.

Disney almost exclusively makes good movies, but this one is something special.

The premise is simple: the characters are all emotions in a young girl’s (Riley) head. They face life’s first dilemma as the girl’s family moves to a new city.

Inside her head, memories are represented by small orbs. Each orb is color-coded based on the corresponding emotion. There are also some crucial core memories that drive her personality traits.

Most of the film revolves around the loss of some core memories while Joy and Sadness explore Riley’s long-term memory for them.

What makes Inside Out special is its poignancy in dealing with Riley’s maturation. She endures the typical teenage angst as Anger, Fear and Disgust are left in control of her emotions.

Up until this point, Joy has been the primary driver of her personality, as is typical of children. Sadness has been seemingly pointless and the character understandably feels neglected.

It’s only when Riley (and her emotions) realize the true value of Sadness does she grow as a person. Memories begin mixing more than one emotion. The emotions are able to work more in conjunction with one another, rather than against one another.

It comes as no surprise that the creators of the film consulted extensively with psychologists to get the inter-workings of the brain correct. How the animators portrayed each element (from the subconscious to the imagination) was both interesting and entertaining.

Amazingly, Pixar films are able to tell fresh stories without relying on cliched techniques. For instance, there is no true villain in the movie. The conflict, both internal and external, lies within the maturation of character. Therefore, it is more genuine and relatable to audiences of all ages.

In all, Inside Out is one of the strongest showings from the Disney Pixar team in quite some time. The emotional characters do an outstanding job of tugging at our emotions, especially those of sadness and joy.