Years ago audiences thought Pixar could do no wrong when it came to making quality animated films.

However, following the success of Up and Toy Story 3, Pixar has struggled to make creative and impactful products. They have made somewhat mediocre or forgettable movies for the last couple of years, while their owner, Disney, has stepped up their CG animation with hits like Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen.

With all that has gone on in the last couple of years it’s no surprise that Inside Out received a little bit of skepticism from some fans upon its announcement. Pixar has disappointed audiences before so what can stop them from doing so again?

Does Inside Out break Pixar’s mediocre streak with its joy and emotional center, or should you fear how angry you’ll be after feeling more disgust and sadness from this?

The movie focuses on the emotions contained within the head of a girl named Riley, a Minnesotan hockey player who recently moved to San Francisco. The team consists of Anger, Disgust, Fear, Sadness, and the upbeat leader, Joy.

Up until this point in Riley’s life, everything seems to have been going well for both the team and the body they operate. However, the recent change of scenery proves to be too much for Riley.  She misses her friends and hobbies in Minnesota, and it doesn’t help when Sadness starts affecting some of her memories.

It leads to Joy, Sadness, and Riley’s core memories being separated from the control room and onto one of the islands that represents different personalities and values that define Riley.

The rest of the team tries to operate Riley’s emotional state with little success as it falls apart without Joy or Sadness to help them through this difficult time for Riley. Joy and Sadness ally themselves with Riley’s long forgotten imaginary friend Bing Bong in hopes of making it back in time to save Riley.

The plot itself is like Toy Story and Wreck-It Ralph but with emotions instead of video games or toys. A simple concept, but like those films, it approaches this concept with great creativity.

Inside Out doesn’t go for a full body adventure like Osmosis Jones, but its focus on the brain has enough potential to last for the whole movie.
Exploring the world of Riley’s head made the movie’s charm, as we get to see how her memories work, how it affects her life, and how her dreams are essentially the equivalent to movies for real people.

Some of my favorite comedic moments are when we witness the inside of the heads for other people, like Riley’s parents, and see what they’re thinking and how their emotions operate (granted it is a bit strange how the emotions in the other people’s heads look like the person they’re controlling while Riley’s emotions have no connection to her in terms of appearance).

The film is colorful and gorgeous as Pixar keeps improving the animation quality with every installment, and the voice actors they chose, such as Amy Pohler for Joy and Lewis Black for Anger, brought their A-Game to give their characters a large sense of personality.

Where the movie truly shines is some of the morals it addresses. Using Riley’s failure to adapt to a new life when moving was a smart way to put her emotions at true conflict, as their new boundaries reflect the ones Riley is experiencing. It addresses the sadly true situation of how people lose some of the things they love when they grow up, even at a young age as Riley.

The movie does highlight Sadness as being the odd one out of the group, as the other emotions didn’t want to Riley to be sad a lot, but later the film highlights Sadness’ importance for Riley’s well-being. Needless to say you’ll be seeing Sadness more in the movie and in your own head during the last portion of Inside Out.

If I did have some criticism, it’s for some questionable aspects of how the world works. For example, the way some of the memories are handled brings up a bit of a plot hole regarding Riley’s core memories. I also wish we got to see the reactions of Riley’s parents more. I know the movie is supposed to be from Riley’s perspective, but I’d like to see how the emotions contrast in a more experienced body with the situations given. But given that it’s an animated children’s movie I understand the choice because of the film’s short running time.

Needless to say, Inside Out was a breath of fresh air for Pixar films.

With its creative concept, talented voice actors, animation, and emotional themes, this is one of Pixar’s best since Up and Toy Story 3.

After November’s The Good Dinosaur, Pixar plans to go on another sequel barrage with Finding Dory, Toy Story 4, Incredibles 2, and Cars 3. I’ll be excited for each of those installments (except for Cars 3) because Pixar has shown with Inside Out that they’ve still got what it takes to be the kings of animation once again.