Great, but not 'Pixar Great'

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2015)

First off, I really enjoyed this film - it's fun, imaginative and clever (and fortunately much better than its sister short 'Lava'). Despite what I say next, I would still recommend watching.
However something was missing from the overall mix. The film begins with a lot of promise - in a few short minutes, the overall scenario is established quickly without swamping you in the technical details of 'Headquarters' and there's clear potential in the set-up: Riley, an eleven year old girl approaching the hinterland between childhood and adolescence, is leaving her old life behind and moving to a new and unfamiliar town.
Unfortunately the plot then starts to meander. Ironically, the biggest casualty of this is Riley herself, whose character and interaction with the real world is quickly lost within the narrative. Aside from her first day at school and a half-baked plot involving her escape from home, she is strangely underused as a character in her own right. It would have been fascinating to see her make new friends and to navigate the pressures of school and a new life in a new city.
Instead, the plot is centred on two primary emotions navigating the unstable terrain between various 'islands' at the back of her brain, assisted by Riley's long forgotten imaginary friend Bing-Bong. Whilst it's a fun plot that, by and large, works well on its own merits, it feels like the product of Disney's heavy hand instead of Pixar's acclaimed nuance. The elephant was, in my opinion, a mistake. There is no present and apparent connection between Riley and Bing-Bong and so the character's metaphorical role in representing Riley's transition to adolescence falls flat. While Andy's separation from Woody and Buzz worked so brilliantly in Toy Story, Riley's separation from Bing-Bong felt... meh. As soon as Joy and Bing-Bong fell into the chasm, it was pretty clear what was going to happen next.
And so the film grinds to a saccharine and predicable conclusion: Joy and Sadness work together in harmony, Riley gets off the bus and returns home and all is well and good again in Headquarters. Great, I loved it, but I can't help but feel that there's a far stronger version of this film somewhere on the writing room floor. A version that manages to successfully combine the real world with the events transpiring in Riley's head, a version where the emotions themselves are more complex figures, and a version that serves as a more confident meditation on the end of childhood.
It's a great film, but unfortunately it falls short of the high standards set during Pixar's 'Golden Era'.
--- Having said all this, I probably should highlight some of the positives for balance.

The animation is nothing short of excellent.

The voice acting is also great.

I loved the brief forays into other people's Headquarters.

The dream studio scenes were fantastic.

The whole film was much better than Lava!

Joy and Sadness were brilliantly crafted as characters, if a little one-dimensional at times.