Fun, sad, education and inspiring at the same time: a creatively educational and emotional animation

Rating: 9/10 (7 September 2015)

This is probably the only animation that I cried throughout. I cried while watching Up and some of Hayao Miyazaki's animation but this one somehow moved me with some very raw emotions. I was weeping and laughing while being educated/inspired at the same time.
Even when I saw the pre-animation song on Lava I felt like crying because the emotion was so sincere yet sad despite the relaxing Hawaiian style of tune.
The story is mainly about young Riley has to leave her hometown in Minnesota and move to San Francisco with her parents. During this transition she is sad to leave her friends and seems to have a hard time fitting in the new environment. The movie tells us how her emotions helped her deal with this big change in her life and how she can her family cope with the new environment.
I had no idea why I cried but whenever I saw the faded baby pictures and memories I cried. I like how different emotions in each of us are introduced and they all seem to have certain roles. I think it is very educational to see how our brain works – with different emotions taking turns dominating our thinking. Then the memories and experiences get together to form some islands which are our support systems. The movie uses very lively, tangible, and colorful balls/characters to symbolize some very abstract concepts and hard to see nerve systems so it is easy to follow. Watching the memories being sucked in tube and flying around I felt like watching the neutrons dashing within our brain via our nerve system.
While we usually values Joy, Sadness has a reconstructing effects on us too because when we are too sad, we need support and build something positive on our sad memories. That's how we have grown and become what we are today. It is also how we build our support system which hold us up.
I love this movie too much. The five emotions, core memories, the island/personalities and subconscious are really cute and fun. It is almost like going into someone's brain and see how they operate. In fact, everyone has a console like that and it was really fun to see the dinner scene when Riley was upset and Mom notices it and tries to signal to Dad to ask/comfort her. Too many stories to tell from this short scene: that women are more observant and sensitive but man are usually pre-occupied with one single thing at a time. They also have a tendency not to express themselves very well which makes matter worse. The train of thought is interesting too as the emotions goes around to look for Riley's imaginary friend Bing Bong to call for support. But why do we have to let him die? It is so sad.
All in all, the main theme of the story is for us to be more aware of our emotions, be comfortable with them even though they may not make us feel good. Because only when we acknowledge our emotions can we then figure out why we feel that way and how we can deal with it and move on. Also, it is OK to tell others how we feel, it is how we receive support and mutually bond and grow stronger together.
I wish the other emotions play bigger roles in the movie because obviously they - Anger, Fear, and Disgust - protect us in their own ways too. Stay for the end credit which is interesting because it shows everyone's brain and how they help us cope with reality.