Inside Out
Director: Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
Writer: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley
Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Oz, Flea, Rashida Jones
Seen on: 5.6.2023
[Here’s my first review.]

Plot:
Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and her parents (Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan) have to move to San Francisco. Being uprooted that way causes quite some chaos inside Riley, where Joy (Amy Poehler) desperately tries to keep Riley happy. But Sadness (Phyllis Smith) keeps messing things up and who needs sadness anyway? In her attempt to make things right, Joy and Sadness find themselves a long way from the command center, where Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) are left to try to keep things together, to keep Riley together. But that’s not so easily done.

I haven’t seen Inside Out since it came out, but I remember it being utterly charming – and it still is. Taking a psychological concept nad making it both understandable and an entertaining film is quite an achievement – one that the film absolutely manages.

I remembered a lot of things about the film, but not in any real detail, so it was very nice to revisit it almost 10 years later, and to re-discover those details, especially how the film translates psychological theory into cinematic language. The representation of the emotions are fun and also pretty accurate, making a lot of sense and breaking things down in a way that is even accessible to children, which is extremely nice.

Watching the effect this has on Riley, and the way the move impacts her on such a fundamental level stood out to me this time, probably more so than during the first watch. We maybe tend to think that a move is not that big of a deal for children – they are moving with their parents after all (well, in this case, not always, obviously), and what’s more important for them than their parents? But the film makes very obvious that it isn’t quite that easy.

Riley’s resulting devastation was completely apparent and very touching. I was also completely wrapped up in the plot around her childhood imaginary friend – I loved how this apparently forgotten childhood memory turns out to be a very big resource for Riley. And I also had to shed a tear or two.

The animation is also really nice – and feels less streamlined than a lot of animation nowadays, although we can already see the current rather standardized trend in character design in the film. At least the emotions got a bit more range than that. In any case, it’s an enjoyable, touching, insightful and funny film that still holds up. And that’s wonderful.

Summarizing: excellent.