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Now, before I saw this movie, friends were telling me to get ready: it’s going to make you feel all the feels and then some you didn’t think you had. I took these warnings with a grain of salt. Of course it’s going to make you feel – it’s a movie about emotions! Plus, it’s Disney. Who didn’t get teary eyed during Finding Nemo when Dory told Marlin, “And I look at you and I, and I’m home”? You have to be a robot if you didn’t feel your heart pull when first listening to Frozen’s “Do You Want to Build a Snowman.” Needless to say, I thought I was prepared.
I wasn’t.
At the beginning of the movie, I teared up thinking, “Bully for you, Pixar. Got me from the gate.” By the end of the film, Sophia was holding my hand telling me it was okay. Psychoanalysts are definitely using that moment as a case study.
Now, you’d think that I would walk out of the theater and never want to see this film for the rest of my life. Wrong. This is one of the best animated films I have ever seen and one of the best films of this year.
So, while many American movie goers are fluctuating between seeing male strippers, dinosaurs, and overaged robots that look like the former Governor of California, here’s just a couple of reasons why you should see Inside Out immediately (even if you don’t have children).
The Voices Inside Your Head
Amy Poehler is one of my icons. I still watch Parks and Recreation when I have down time, and her book Yes Please has given me a slew of inspirational one liners, not to mention a list of requirements of what I want to ask for when the time comes for me to someday give birth. (Seriously, read her “Birthing Plan”. She’s brilliant.)
So Leslie Knope as Joy? Brilliant Disney. Utterly brilliant.
Throw into the mix Lewis Black as Anger (Total typecasting and it works.), Mindy Kaling as Disgust, and Bill Hader as Fear, and you only could pray that these are the voices in your head rather than what is most likely the voice of your mother or 7th grade Science teacher narrating your thoughts.
But for me, the person who steals the show is The Office’s own Phyllis Smith who voices the emotion that many of us run try to ignore: sadness. Her constant defeated and dejected tone perfectly mimics the emotion, and yet she has some of the best comedic one liners in the movie:
“Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life’s problems.”
The great part of this line? Psychologists say that this is actually true about why we cry. So, during this movie, I completely slowed down pretty much to a stand still.
Everybody Hurts
Lately, Disney has been churning out some whoppers with great messages. Finding Nemo taught all of us that although there may be challenges in your life, you just keep swimming. Frozen showed the power of family. What a difference from the days of Pocahontas, which showed us how to rewrite history and make a 13 year old girl transform into a 25 year old model with an 18 inch waist and size C cup boobs.
100% Accurate. Down to the pet raccoon.
Inside Out has, in my opinion, one of the most powerful messages for our time: it’s okay to feel bad. Let’s face it: we live in a society where there is a quick fix for everything. “Struggle,” “loss,” and “sadness,” are some words that many of us go to great lengths to protect us and those we love from. We are inundated with message after message of be happy, be strong, be confident. But sometimes, life doesn’t work like that. And the movie explores that subject with brilliance and care.
Whether it was Riley struggling to maintain her composure during her first day at her new school (yep, my tears started free falling during that scene) or Joy finally breaking down in the land of lost memories, Inside Out serves as a reminder not just to children, but to adults as well, that life isn’t always filled with happiness and joy and to embrace those feelings. And upon realizing that is when you can move forward.
Bing Bong
Talk to any adult who has already seen this film about what scenes turned them into a pile of tears, and you will most likely get the same answer: Bing Bong.
Disney is notorious in their animated movies for killing off a character early in the story, thus impacting the life of the main character. Usually, it’s a parent. Bambi’s mom? Shot by a hunter. Cinderella? Not only is mom out of the picture but dad married the ultimate nightmare of a stepmother before dying himself. Anna and Elsa’s parents went out Perfect Storm style.
But Inside Out does something totally different: enter Bing Bong.
We’re introduced to Bing Bong, Riley’s imaginative friend who is wondering around Long Term Memory who attempts to help Joy and Sadness return to headquarters in order to “fix” Riley early in the plot. Bing Bong reminds all of us of those imaginative friends that we carelessly but naturally let go of when we started growing up. He’s an amalgam of childhood interests: body made out of cotton candy, trunk of an elephant, tail of a cat, can swim and make noises like a dolphin, and when he cries, his tears are made of candy. Essentially, Bing Bong is a Pink Floyd album put on backwards.
We grow to love Bing Bong, his goofiness and determination to make Riley think of him again. So, when stuck in the land of lost memories with Joy, we all wept to see Bing Bong selflessly sacrifice himself as a fading memory in order to help Joy escape to save Riley, and thus telling her in one of the greatest lines in the movie:
“Take her to the moon for me. Okay?”
This was the moment when my niece looked over at me, attempting but failing miserably to hide my flowing tears, quietly grabbed my hand and kissed it. For me, that is now and forever a core memory. (See the film and you’ll understand.)
Laughter is the Best Medicine
Don’t think for one second that Inside Out is a complete downer. Just like any Disney Pixar film, there are moments that invoke your chuckle and put a smile on your face. And the story moves seamlessly through different emotions, allowing you to safely recover from bawling your eyes out over your giant tub of popcorn that the theater listed as “Economy” size.
It took an animated movie to call out hipster pizza. If that doesn’t deserve the Academy Award, nothing will.
Let’s talk emotions, people! Did you see Inside Out? What did you think? What was the name of your imaginary friend? (Or, for some of you: What is the name of your imaginary friend?)
