Inside Out

Directed by: Pete Docter
Screenplay by: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley
Story by: Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Produced By: Jonas Rivera
Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan
Music by: Michael Giacchino
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios
Release date: May 18, 2015 (Cannes), June 19, 2015 (United States)
Content: Youth

Plot: Within the mind of a young girl named Riley are the basic emotions that control her actions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Her experiences become memories, stored as coloured orbs, which are sent into long-term memory each night. The aspects of five most important "core memories" within her personality incorporate the form of five floating islands. Joy acts as the leader, and she and the rest of the emotions try to limit Sadness's influence.

At the age of 11, Riley moves from Minnesota to San Francisco for her father's new job. She at first has poor experiences: the new house is cramped and old, her father hardly has any time for her, a local pizza parlour only serves pizza topped with broccoli (which Riley dislikes), and the moving van with their belongings ends up in Texas and will not arrive for weeks. On Riley's first day at her new school, Sadness retroactively turns joyous memories sad, which causes Riley to cry in front of her class and creates a sad core memory. Joy tries to dispose of it by using a vacuum tube but accidentally knocks the other core memories loose during a struggle with Sadness, disabling the personality islands. Joy, Sadness, and the core memories are sucked out of Headquarters.

In Joy and Sadness's absence, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are forced to take control of Riley with disastrous results, distancing Riley from her parents, friends, and hobbies. Because of this, her personality islands gradually crumble and fall into the "Memory Dump", where memories are forgotten. Finally, Anger resolves to return to Minnesota, believing it will restore her happiness.

While navigating the vast long-term memory area, Joy and Sadness encounter Bing Bong, Riley's childhood imaginary friend, who suggests riding the "train of thought" back to Headquarters. The three, after extreme inconvenience caused by the islands' dissolution, eventually catch the train, but it halts when Riley falls asleep, and then it derails entirely with the collapse of another island. Afraid that all the core memories will become sad, Joy abandons Sadness and tries to ride a "recall tube" back to the Headquarters, but the ground below the tube collapses, breaking it and sending Joy and Bing Bong plunging into the Memory Dump. After discovering a sad memory that turned happy in Riley's parents' comfort to her, Joy understands Sadness's purpose: alerting others when Riley is emotionally overwhelmed and needs help. Joy and Bing Bong try to use Bing Bong's old wagon rocket, which gets energy when the rider sings, to escape the Memory Dump, but are unable to fly high enough due to their combined weight. On their last attempt, Bing Bong jumps out to allow Joy to escape as he fades away.

End of Spoilers

Review: This is a particularly good film for young people. It deals with the many emotions that can and do occur during puberty. The film can be watched by both adults and children with the plan to open up and encourage conversations. I especially appreciated the way that sad emotions can be seen as natural and in positive ways. That there will always be a need for a healthy balance of all emotions. One of the films I'm happy to suggest.