Inside Out is Pixar’s return to glory. At least, I assume it is. I didn’t see Cars 2 or Brave, and while I enjoyed Monsters University, I had forgotten that it was a movie. That’s generally not a good sign.
But I loved Inside Out. It’s creative storytelling at its best. I laughed, I cried, and I thought about stuff.
(minor spoilers follow)
My favorite part of the movie–other than the running joke about the jingle that gets stuck in your head–is the role of Sadness, the voice of which was perfectly cast (it’s Phyllis from the office).
Early on in the movie, you can’t help but wonder why Sadness is even there. Why not just be happy all the time? Happiness is doing a great job running the show. I love all the early scenes that show the creation of the mind and the various lands and emotions.
But Sadness seems out of place. I knew early on that she had to serve a role, but I really couldn’t figure out what it would be. This wonderment extended outside of the context of the movie, which is another sign of a great film.
Even better, when Sadness’ role becomes more apparent, it isn’t a single scene or epiphany. It’s a compilation of 4 or 5 things that made me really appreciate Sadness (the character) and actual, real sadness. I won’t spoil those things here.
Inside Out is a beautiful movie, and I’d highly recommend it. I’d also love to hear your thoughts if you’ve seen it.
Where does it fit on my Pixar list? Here are all the Pixar movies I’ve seen, in order from favorite to least favorite (“least favorite” is relative, as even Cars is a pretty solid movie):
- The Incredibles
- Monsters, Inc
- Toy Story
- Inside Out
- WALL-E
- Up
- Ratatouille
- Finding Nemo
- Toy Story 3
- A Bug’s Life
- Toy Story 2
- Monsters University
- Cars
Its value to me was how beautifully it illustrated the fact we all know to be true – but have trouble accepting when we need to most: is that happiness cannot exist without sadness. And, that ignoring sad feelings/ times and loss is impossible and without acknowledgement of them, we can’t move on to being happy again.
Adrian: Well said–I completely agree with that sentiment.
Seen it over the weekend. Didn’t love it like everybody else.