Riley, Age Zero

Scene of *Inside Out*

And that's just two of them. How well will Riley handle herself when there are five?

## General information

### Description

* The scene with "Do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on inside their head?"
* Introduces Joy and Sadness

### Characters appearing

* Joy (dialogue)
* Sadness (dialogue)
* Riley Andersen (physical, mind)
* Jill Andersen (dialogue)
* Bill Andersen (dialogue)

### GUIOSDb ID

`BABY_RILEY`

*“Do you ever look at someone and wonder, “What is going on inside their head?””*
―Joy opens *Inside Out*
**"Riley, Age Zero"** is the name given to the very first scene of *Inside Out*. As per the name, it features Riley shortly after being born, while her Headquarters were only populated by two emotions: Joy and Sadness.

## In *Inside Out*

After the Disney and Pixar logos fade to black, *Inside Out* opens up with narration from Joy, who reveals that she is a character living inside Riley Andersen's mind. Then, after a fade to white, the first proper shot is that of a newborn Riley, wrapped up in a blanket, as her parents, Jill (our left, Riley's right) and Bill (our right, Riley's left), look over her. The camera then zooms into Riley's head, and thus, her mind is revealed for the first time.

At first, Riley's Headquarters are completely barren. However, a light is quick to emerge from the darkness. This light morphs into a humanoid figure only wearing a lime sundress, who has gold skin, blue eyes and blue hair. The figure, henceforth Joy, then moves to the opposite side of Headquarters, where there is a console with a single button on it, next to a screen showing Riley's point of view, labeled as a "Consciousness Screen" by the screenplay. Curious, Joy presses the button, and that makes Riley giggle. Her father thus comments on how she is a "bundle of joy".

This pushing of the button generates a glowing golden orb emerging at the side of Headquarters. As Joy examines it, it is revealed that it is, in fact, a memory just generated by her. Joy then gleefully returns to the console, pushing its button again and again and relishing in the sight.

All of this, however, is interrupted as Riley begins crying. When looking at the console, Joy sees another figure, shorter than herself, dressed up in a white sweater and jeans, having light blue skin and dark blue hair and eyes, wearing round glasses, who is pushing the button Joy was pushing not too long ago. This figure introduces herself as Sadness, and subsequently, Joy introduces herself. The two then fight for the console, trying to edge each other. Finally, narrating Joy comments that this was only the beginning, and that Headquarters were eventually populated by more emotions.

## In parodies

As the setting of this scene is so far removed from the rest of the movie, it is unlikely to be seen in any parody. However, the very first line by Joy, which was also featured in a trailer for *Inside Out* (though, this time zooming into Jill's mind, as the trailer is primarily built around the Dinner Table Scene), has spawned a meme on its own, in which Jill is shown to be thinking about various viral videos. The duration of the clips necessary makes the meme format suitable for Vine videos, and as such, the meme has gotten popularity around the release of *Inside Out*.

The corresponding episode of *Andersen's Mind* is #2: From the Beginning. The most notable changes from *Inside Out* include the primitive console's button saying "eight" whenever pushed, comparing it and the lackluster "game" introduced in the demonstration of *The Stanley Parable*, and the line "bundle of joy" being replaced with "creative snowflake", as part of a pun on the tracks of the *Inside Out* soundtrack and the *Andersen's Mind OST* series.

## Stage directions

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20151207171801/http://waltdisneystudiosawards.com/downloads/inside-out-screenplay.pdf (official release by Disney, but now removed from the original website)

Capitalization and punctuation is preserved from the original source.

JOY (V.O.)
Do you ever look at someone and wonder, “What is going on inside their head?” Well, I know. I know Riley’s head.
WHITE. FADE IN...
INT. HOSPITAL - DAY
A newborn baby swaddled in a blanket, held by her parents. Push in... and ZOOM IN TO HER HEAD.
INT. HEADQUARTERS
Out of the blackness steps a glowing figure. This is JOY. The room is black except for a bright CONSCIOUSNESS SCREEN.
JOY
Hmm?
In front of Joy is a single large BUTTON. She pushes it.
INT. HOSPITAL - CONTINUOUS
The baby gurgles and wiggles happily.
JOY (V.O.)
And there she was...
INT. HEADQUARTERS - CONTINUOUS
ON THE CONSCIOUSNESS SCREEN:
MOM
Hello, Riley.
DAD
Oh look at you. Aren’t you a little bundle of joy?
A GOLDEN GLOWING SPHERE rolls from behind the screen. It’s a MEMORY of what we just saw: Mom and Dad cooing at Riley.
JOY
Whoa.
Joy rolls the memory on its track, illuminating the room. She turns back to the button and pushes it again.
INT. HOSPITAL - CONTINUOUS
Baby Riley gurgles happily.
JOY (V.O.)
It was amazing. Just Riley and me, forever...
INT. HEADQUARTERS - CONTINUOUS
Baby Riley CRIES.
JOY (V.O.)
...for 33 seconds.
Joy looks to her side. There’s a new, droopy, blue character touching the button.
SADNESS
I’m Sadness.
JOY
Oh, hello. I’m Joy.
Joy tries to muscle past Sadness to press the button.
JOY (CONT’D)
Can I just... if you could... I just want to fix that. Thanks.
The two struggle.
JOY (V.O.)

## Trivia

### Goofs

* Initially, when Riley's parents are seen from behind, Mom is wearing glasses. However, from Joy's perspective on the Consciousness Screen, she doesn't have them.
	+ This troubles anyone intending to use this scene as evidence for/against Riley being adopted, given that Jill would prefer to have glasses to sign adoption papers, but would prefer *not* to have glasses while giving birth.
* As a newborn, Riley is able to see her parents in full color. In actuality, humans are born colorblind, as the eyes' rods and cones don't fully form until about six months.