A Beautiful Animated Movie That Will Baffle Children

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2015)

Pixar is very good at creating universes, and some of its entries are wonders to behold. I can't imagine animation without "The Incredibles" exhilarating characters and adventures, the bittersweet characters in "Up", and "Finding Nemo" is pure magic. Here is "Inside-Out" a very grown up movie that looks very cute and is certainly appeal to children, only to end up frustrating many in that audience as the mysteries of the mind are painstakingly portrayed in colorful detail. It's a film to admire but one that demands a lot from the audience regarding what age one might be. One thing is for sure, kids under the ages of six are bound to ask plenty of questions if they're mature enough. Otherwise, prepare to have chaos in the auditorium, as I experienced during my show.
Tbe film is extremely analytical, very adult in its content and delivery. There is a very lengthy introduction, explaining to us what we are dealing with. Oh, yes, the emotions are shown as these very cute "beings" that live inside our heads, controlling our thoughts, actions, and emotions. They also have a very interesting way of classifying our memories and experiences, and the film tries really hard to drive the point through.
If one somehow manages to shut our audio receptors, to appreciate the wondrous animation, we have plenty to dazzle us visually, and unlike "Toy Story" where tears were earned naturally, making us almost feel like we were watching real life performances, we saw the power of great story telling. In here, the film struggles between being an complex depiction of how our emotions originate and their effects on our lives, and we deal with so many symbols, it is difficult to really appreciate each of them. Oh yes, that childhood toy is a fantastic piece of animation, and I love its voice, but I can't put aside the film, which never stops feeling like an essay instead of a story, of a film, of a piece of movie magic that can both entertain and be intelligent. This one demands to be appreciated.
One big problem with the film is that the cutesy aspect of the film grows tired pretty quickly, as we are very little to balance all the crisis everyone seems to be going through. I felt like everyone of the characters was eventually going to end up on the psychologist couch by the end of the film. I don't think I saw or heard anyone laughing at anything in the film. Oh yes, there was vocal acknowledgment of an event, but it was always an emotional burden.
I would be very interested to see how this film plays through its theatrical run, and how it is appreciated in its later stages in home entertainment. Will it earn the love of the other Pixar films or be deemed just a cute animation experiment? It remains to be seen. There will be nominations at the end of the year, most likely in the writing and technical categories. We can already see how the great vocal talent will be dismissed again, and there might not be enough emotional buy in to go all the way to a Best Picture candidate. There is no Beast here, and the family angle here is almost secondary to the antics of the animation and the complexity of the subject matter.