Inside Out

I always have a sense of trepidation when taking the kids out to the cinema. On the one hand I want them to be suitably amused (i.e. bums to the seats and mouths shut for two hours) whilst at the same time I hope to be reasonably entertained myself for the duration. I think that’s why I have enjoyed the Pixar films over the years because they are intelligently written, well-acted, beautifully animated and often take the possibilities of cinema in  new and intriguing directions. At least, that’s what they manage at their best – at the other end of the scale (and let’s face it, I’m talking about the Cars films here) I am at least guaranteed some quiet children and I can easily endure the proceedings with most of my brain-cells intact.

I’ve noticed that the Pixar films seem to be split between what the film-makers themselves want to produce (Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up and possibly Brave fall into this category) and those that are driven by the bean-counters at Disney (any of the sequels, to be honest). I wasn’t sure what to expect with their latest offering, Inside Out, but it seems to fall into the first category: one that Pixar had imagined themselves and it is no coincidence that it is directed and produced by Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera who devised Up.

The premise for Inside Out is examining the workings of the mind of 11-year old Riley, a happy girl from Minnesota whose life is turned upside-down when her family have to relocate to San Francisco due to her father’s job.  The bulk of the film centres on the anthropomorphic manifestations of Riley’s emotions, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger controlling her mind from an engineering style console. This concept actually rang a few bells with me as it is very similar to the Numskulls cartoon that used to appear in the Beezer comic (I’m wondering if someone at Pixar is a fan of Dundonian comic strips).  With Riley’s new experiences causing conflict amongst her emotions the dominant Joy is lost amongst the labyrinthine mind along with Sadness leaving Fear, Anger and Disgust to steer Riley’s personality, causing her to have something of a meltdown in the style of 11 year old children everywhere.

In a way, this is familiar territory for Pixar as the two characters finding their way back home could just as easily be Buzz and Woody from Toy Story or Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo. However, what I found intriguing about Inside Out is that it found a unique way of representing the mind that could only ever really be achieved via animation. The workings of the mind are explored with “personality islands” showing core identities and concepts such as imaginary friends and nightmares explored in unexpected ways. The look and feel of the animation is somewhat atypical as well, falling between the psychedelia of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and the idiosyncratic anime of Studio Ghibli.

This may sound like it is all very high concept and “not really for the kids” but it’s actually far from the case and my children enjoyed it at their own level: from my 7-year old daughter who liked the idea of a person’s mind being a squabbling morass of conflicting characters through to my 13-year old son who appreciated the plot subtleties and the idea that a happy individual is one whose emotions are in balance (he also seemed amused by the portrayal of a teenage boy’s mind on meeting a girl – I didn’t enquire further). As for me, I enjoyed the film greatly and would be happy to watch it again once it's out on DVD - which I suppose is a ringing endorsement for family entertainment.