Finally another Pixar classic

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2015)

After hitting a rough patch the past couple of years, Pixar was losing momentum. It had to get its act together and fast. With Inside Out, the folks at Pixar have done just that and then some.
Inside Out is about a young girl, Riley. More specifically, it's about the bubbling personalities inside her mind that symbolize various emotions: there's Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust. The occupy the headquarters inside Riley's head where they discuss how they should respond to what Riley's experiencing. Depending on which emotion's running the show, Riley will behave in a certain way. New memories are created all the time and they're shaped like colored balls. Depending on the kind of memory it is, it'll have a different color. If it's a happy memory, it'll be yellow; if it's sad one, blue, etc. Riley and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco, but it's not a pleasant change for Riley. She has trouble adapting to her new home, the new school and so on. Things get out of hand when the two crucial emotions, Joy and Sadness, are accidentally ejected from HQ and launched into the memory database which are shaped like islands, each with its own theme. With Joy and Sadness removed, Riley's demeanor worsens and it's up to Joy and Sadness to rush back to HQ to restore balance.
When you read about the story, you immediately start imagining the possibilities. Pixar could have a field day with a story about a young girl's mind...and they do. Inside Out contains all kinds of wonderful visualizations of the human mind.
However, to broach the topic of the mind is also fraught with danger. It makes sense for a film to set some rules for itself, rules it has to follow. On the other hand, this is the mind we're talking about, where everything's possible. The main issue I had unfortunately involved the central problem of the film: Joy and Sadness are ejected from HQ and have to go back before Riley does something drastic. Why can't Joy and Sadness just, oh I don't know, teleport or 'wish' themselves back into HQ? They're emotions! Oh, I get why Pixar went this route: they wanted to explore more aspects of the mind in a smart and funny way. Therefore, Joy and Sadness have to be ejected from HQ just so they (and we) will stumble upon Imagination Land, the 'train of thought', Riley's long-term memory storage and those personality islands I mentioned earlier. It adds to the variety and I get that. I just feel that applying these physical handicaps to Joy and Sadness makes no sense, since they are, you know, emotions.
This minor (or major, depending on how you look at it) flaw aside, the film's a lot of fun, particularly those involving the complex machinations of the mind. You've got a literal train of thought and the absolutely hilarious scenes involving an assembly producing tight-jeaned imaginary boyfriends who proudly proclaim they would die for Riley. You've got two workers discussing which memories will be removed from storage (which US Presidents are more important to remember). You've got a dark cave symbolizing the subconscious where giant clowns and grandma's vacuum cleaner reside. The list goes on.
There's a key scene towards the end where Sadness plays a huge part. I won't spoil exactly what happens, but let me just say that Sadness plays a positive role in the story's outcome, surprising given her general uselessness and the chance of her accidentally corrupting positive memories. Her presence actually contributes to Riley's emotional well-being. In a world where we're bombarded with messages telling us that 'life is a game', to stay happy and party hardy (Coca Cola commercials spring to mind), it's nice to see Pixar telling kids (and adults) it's okay and healthy to be sad. (I'd add, as long as it doesn't control your life, but that's another story.) In the end, the positives outweigh the inevitable plot holes that arise when dealing with stories about the mind. Pixar (or, more specifically, Pete Docter and his team) has managed to tell a moving tale about the human mind in a way that's both endearing and funny. Part of me hopes Pixar will pull a 'Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight' and produce a sequel with a more mature Riley. Think of the possibilities: there could be new emotions, new interactions between these emotions, the landscape of Riley's mind could change to reflect the new phase of her life, etc. *sighs* If only Pixar accepted fan suggestions...