"Inside Out" is wonderfully original and incredibly imaginative, but unremarkable in some areas.

Rating: 7/10 (19 June 2015)

The mind is a complicated, confusing, contradictory place. But it's also a unique mix of emotions, memories and thoughts which make each of us who we are. Wouldn't it be interesting to actually see how all that stuff between our ears works? Interesting, but also helpful and even cathartic. And, potentially, a lot of fun too. Those are the ideas behind the animated comedy-drama "Inside Out" (PG, 1:34) from Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures.
Riley Anderson is a human being (well, an animated version of one anyway). More specifically, she's an 11-year-old girl, but that's almost beside the point. Her gender and her age have a lot to do with how her emotions cause her to think, feel and behave, but the movie makes the point that the way her mind actually works is driven by the humanity that she shares with all of us. Her feelings are controlled by the interplay of five main emotions, each personified with their own physical characteristics, their own hue and their own role to play in her life. Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) is a yellowish sprite who keeps Riley's spirits up – and is Riley's ruling emotion. Disgust (Mindy Kaling) is a green, eye-rolling fashionista who protects Riley's social life, Fear (Bill Hader) is purple and nebbish and protects Riley from physical harm, while Anger (Lewis Black) is a stocky, red munchkin who protects Riley from unfairness in her life. Last and least is Sadness (Phyllis Smith), a short, round blue figure in a turtle-neck sweater who doesn't really seem to have a purpose. Somehow, these five work together to achieve balance in Riley's emotional life and help her function on a daily basis.
In living her life, Riley makes memories in the form of glass-like orbs. Most of these memories (each orb literally colored to show which emotion is dominant in that memory) roll down tubes into the massive storeroom of long-term memories. The most important memories, those that really define Riley's life, are core memories which reside in the "control room" of Riley's mind and power her islands of personality. 11-year-old Riley has five such islands – Goofball Island (she is a kid after all), Hockey Island (reflecting her favorite pastime), Honesty Island (her most significant characteristic), Friendship Island and, of course, Family Island. But as a complex human being, that's not quite all there is to it. Her mind has areas for imagination, facts and opinions, abstract thought and dream / nightmare production. She also has a vast abyss for memories that are no longer important and, working in that warehouse-like archive of long-term memories, a couple "Forgetters" who decide which memories to keep and which to discard. Each area of Riley's mind is both necessary and dangerous, but I won't say more because seeing how Pixar has imagined and animated each of these areas is a large part of enjoying this movie.
As great an idea and as wonderfully realized as it is, this movie wouldn't be much without a good story – and this film definitely has one. After we see Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) form many wonderful memories (most of which are contained in orbs colored yellow), she is removed from the place where those memories were created when her parents (Kyle McLachlan and Diane Lane) move the family from Minnesota to San Francisco. A delayed moving van and a tenuous job situation stress out her parents, while the normal adjustments of leaving behind friends and starting in a new school has Riley's emotions working overtime. Tensions rise among the emotions until a struggle between Joy and Sadness result in both – along with many of Riley's core memories – getting sucked into a long tube and out of the control room. As Disgust, Fear and Anger are left to run Riley's mind, Joy and Sadness have to work together in a wild and strange journey through her brain, trying to get back to the control room, before the other three emotions mess things up too much – and before Riley loses her way. As Riley's personality islands begin to crumble into her mind's abyss, Joy and Sadness learn that they each have much to learn about themselves and each other and they have to figure out new ways to work together, for the sake of all concerned. In addition to the inner workings of Riley's mind, we get a glimpse into the minds of each of her parents and minds as diverse as those of a birthday party clown, a bus driver, a pizza maker, a dog and a cat.
As advertised, "Inside Out" is wonderfully original and incredibly imaginative. If you're having trouble picturing all this, try to imagine a colorful, animated combination of "Fantastic Voyage", "Mermaids", "Toy Story", "Being John Malkovich" and "San Andreas". Yeah, it's kind of hard to explain, but trust me, it's quite a sight – and pretty thought-provoking too. Unfortunately, I can't quite turn myself inside out praising the movie. The voice acting is very good, but nothing special. The animation is state-of-the-art but isn't what I would call "remarkable" and is probably not worth the extra couple of bucks for 3-D glasses. The film contains very funny and genuinely touching moments, but they are few and far between. While the filmmakers have clearly put considerable effort into realizing their vision, more effort should have gone into the actual script. The concepts explored are a little cerebral for a kids' movie, while the dialog isn't cerebral enough. In short, the film is hindered a bit by a lackluster script and unremarkable animation and voice work, but deserves high marks for its creativity and, in that department, definitely lives up to its billing. The main emotion that "Inside Out" activated in my mind's control room is Joy and this film will live in my long-term memory for many years to come. "B+"