(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) This one is a master class in basic human psychology told in the most entertaining fashion.
Director - Pete Docter
Voice Cast - Amy Poehler Bill Hader Mindy Kaling Lewis Black Phyllis Smith Kaitlyn Dias Diane Lane Kyle MacLachlan
Pixar has a penchant for creating worlds beyond the wildest imagination of most people. The studio that gave us animation classics such as the Toy Story series Up and Wall-E continues this trend with Inside Out where the wide new world they create is not somewhere out there but inside the human brain. This one is a master class in basic human psychology told in the most entertaining fashion.
Inside Out is the story of an 11 year old girl named Riley but the real players are her emotions with the main events happening inside her brain. We are introduced to the lead emotion Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) when baby Riley opens her eyes and sees her parents for the first time and smiles. And in the next second arrives Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith). Though Joy really doesn't understand the newcomer's role she accommodates her.
As Riley grows up we are introduced to other key emotions Anger (Lewis Black) Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Fear (Bill Hader). Joy leads the group and makes sure that Riley continues to lead a happy life with her parents in her home at Minnesota. Joy handles the control centre in the 'head quarters' which is the primary memory centre. She makes sure that Riley's memory centre is full of happy moments and carefully stores the rest in the long-term memory bay. She has also created four 'happy' memory islands that are activated when Riley engages in activities that make her the happiest.
Everything runs smoothly until Riley is 11. That's when the family moves to San Francisco to build a new life. The change is overwhelming for the little girl and to Joy's horror things start getting out of control. Suddenly Sadness starts tingeing Riley's happy memories with gloom and all of Joy's efforts to bring back the cheer fail. And in a freak accident both Joy and Sadness end up being thrown out of the 'head quaÂÂrters' into the long-term memory bay leaving Fear Disgust and Anger in a lurch. The rest of the film deals with how Joy tries to get back to the 'head quarters' and in the process understands the real role of Sadness and other emotions in Riley's life.
Though owned by Disney Pixar has managed to stand apart from the former with its feature-length creations right from the start. They are known for developing and successfully executing ideas that entertain children and engage adults at the same time.
Pete Docter is Pixar's man with the golden touch and continues his string of successes with Inside Out. The writer-director helmed Monster Inc (2001) and Up (2009) both huge critical and commercial successes and he has upped the stakes with the latest. Handling a plot as complex as this is no child's play and Docter had the uphill task of not forgetting his key audience – children. Full credit goes to him for writing a story that is funny and adventurous with the right dose of drama explaining the true nature of our emotions along the way.
The voice cast members led by the very talented Amy have done a great job here. The Saturday Night Live alum was well supported by Phyllis Mindy Black and Hader.
The animation team of Pixar has always been the leaders in the field and they continue to prove their worth. The literal train of thought the labyrinthine long-term memory bay and the dream factory are just few examples of the wonderful world created by these artists.
The studio took a risk with Inside Out as the plot is rather complicated for children and will need their parents to explain what really happens in the film. But the colourful visuals and the adventurous settings will keep the little ones entertained for sure while the adults will have the satisfaction of having spent time on quality cinema.
Movie trivia
The writers considered up to 27 different emotions but settled on five (Joy Sadness Disgust Fear and Anger) to make it less complicated. Some of the major emotions that ended up being cut are Surprise Pride and Trust.
According to director Pete Docter each emotion is based on a shape: Joy is based on a star Sadness is a teardrop Anger is a fire brick Fear is a raw nerve and Disgust is broccoli. He however noted that he likes broccoli.
Inside Out had a small crew with only 45 animators about half the size of previous films by Pixar.
Ratings: ***<
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.