by Ben Hargreaves
Peter Docter (Toys Story, Monsters, Inc.) the director and co-writer of Pixar’s Inside Out, reportedly drew on his own experience as a parent trying to understand the changes that his daughter underwent as she approached adolescence during the conception of the film. The film focuses upon Riley, an 11-year-old girl struggling to adjust to the changes that come with growing older, which is only made more difficult by a family move away from her hometown. The difficulties she faces is brilliantly realised by the introduction of emotions as guiding forces, and characters, within the “Headquarters” of Riley’s mind.
Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler (Mean Girls), is the first emotion introduced to the viewer, with the birth of Riley, while more emotions are introduced as Riley develops as a child. The main plot is the attempt by Joy and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) to return core memories to Headquarters after having accidently being dumped in long-term memories. If this sounds complicated for a film objectively aimed at children that’s because, in many ways, it is. The key to the brilliance of the film, and Pixar as a whole, is the ability to aim successfully to entertain both adults and children. People of all ages will be swept along with Joy and Sadness’s desperate attempts to return to headquarters yet there is plenty of depth to be found in the film’s depiction of the interplay between different emotions.
It is unlikely that many will leave their viewing of the film without taking something away to add to their own understanding of people. Pixar beautifully obscures the division between positive and negative emotions to indicate that even sadness has a role to play in our development. Riley’s parents aren’t able to protect her from the difficulties that come with the changes of growing up and will struggle to fully understand what the issues are. However, the film suggests that difficulty and unhappiness is sometimes what people need to develop, a lesson that should resonate with parents that view the film and many others besides.