Inside Out – “All right! We did not die today, I call that an unqualified success!” — Fear

I love Pixar and Disney movies. The animated characters always seem to find a place in my heart. Whether it’s The Little Mermaid from my childhood or Toy Story, I always find characters that I can relate to.   When Inside Out was first released I was very intrigued to see how a film could create characters from our emotions. I was excited to meet the little voices inside my head. I enjoyed the movie immensely and was surprised at how cleverly they explained our behaviors and the importance of emotions. It is evident that those involved with the films creation studied psychology in the design of each character.

The basic plot is about Riley, a young girl from Minnesota. Her mind contains her five basic emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black). The five emotions run a console in the Headquarters in her mind. All of her memories are stored in colorful balls, which are transported into her long term memory each night. This simple illustration on how short term memory converts to long term memory could be used in psychology classes in the future.

Her five most important happy childhood memories are kept separately and power the islands that create her personality. Joy is the primary leader in the Headquarters and struggles to see the purpose for Sadness. When Riley is 11, she moves to San Francisco. The move is difficult and Riley starts to create sad memories. Once the core memories are impacted the fight and adventure between the emotions internally creates an opportunity for Anger, Fear and Disgust to try and manage Riley’s emotional state. The results are as horrible as you can imagine. Just like in business when a peer or leader respond with anger rather than taking time to consider all options, Riley’s responses are less than optimal. The balance of the emotions is what I saw as the most important lesson.

The characters and dialogue included humor that balanced the lessons very well.

This battle between the emotions seemed to describe adolescence perfectly. The importance of all emotions is highlighted during the movie and is easily relate-able especially as we grow older and naturally have a more emotional complex life.

When the movie ended I was left with mixed emotions. The lessons of finding Joy in Sadness are important to everyone.

He says: Okay, I’ll admit it, I had to walk out to the bathroom and the kitchen a couple times so She didn’t see me cry. Shut up.