Inside Out (2015 film)

Inside Out

 

 

nside Out is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film^[6] produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed and co-written by Pete Docter, co-directed and co-written by Ronnie del Carmen and produced by Jonas Rivera, with music composed by Michael Giacchino. The film is set in the mind of a young girl named Riley Andersen (Kaitlyn Dias), where five personified emotions—Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling)—try to lead her through life as her parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) move the family from Minnesota to San Francisco, California and adjust to a new life there.

Docter first began developing Inside Out in 2009 after noticing changes in his daughter's personality as she grew older. The film's producers consulted numerous psychologists, including Dacher Keltner^[7] from the University of California, Berkeley, who helped revise the story emphasizing the neuropsychological findings that human emotions are mirrored in interpersonal relationships and can be significantly moderated by them.
After premiering at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in May, Inside Out was released on June 19, 2015, accompanied in theaters by a short film, Lava, directed by James Ford Murphy. Inside Out received a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the film's concept, poignant subject matter, musical score, and the vocal performances—particularly for Poehler, Smith, and Richard Kind. The film grossed $90.4 million in its first weekend—the highest opening for an original title.^[8] It has accumulated over $851 million in worldwide box office revenue.^[5] The film, along with The Good Dinosaur, marks the first time that Pixar has released two feature films in the same year.^[9]
Docter first began developing Inside Out in 2009 after noticing changes in his daughter's personality as she grew older. The film's producers consulted numerous psychologists, including Dacher Keltner^[7] from the University of California, Berkeley, who helped revise the story emphasizing the neuropsychological findings that human emotions are mirrored in interpersonal relationships and can be significantly moderated by them.
After premiering at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in May, Inside Out was released on June 19, 2015, accompanied in theaters by a short film, Lava, directed by James Ford Murphy. Inside Out received a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the film's concept, poignant subject matter, musical score, and the vocal performances—particularly for Poehler, Smith, and Richard Kind. The film grossed $90.4 million in its first weekend—the highest opening for an original title.^[8] It has accumulated over $851 million in worldwide box office revenue.^[5] The film, along with The Good Dinosaur, marks the first time that Pixar has released two feature films in the same year.^[9]

Plot

A girl named Riley is born in Minnesota, and within her mind, five personifications of her basic emotions — Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger — come to life. The emotions live in Headquarters, Riley's conscious mind, where they influence Riley's actions and memories via a control console. Her new memories are housed in colored orbs, which are sent into long-term memory at the end of every waking period. The most important memories, known as "core" memories, are housed in a hub in Headquarters and power five "islands", each of which reflects a different aspect of Riley's personality. Joy does everything in her power to keep Riley in a happy state, but since she and the other emotions do not understand Sadness's purpose, they try to keep her from controlling the console.

Casting

The film's voice cast of emotions, Amy Poehler, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, and Phyllis Smith, were first announced in August 2013.^[30] With the release of the film's trailer in December 2014, it was revealed that Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan were cast in the film as Riley's parents.^[15]
Hader, who had previously cameoed in Monsters University, was cast to voice Fear, a role that he felt he "weaseled" his way into by being a "huge fan" of Pixar's filmography.^[31] Hader toured the studio over a week, and also "helped out" in the story room.^[32] He was invited to play Fear by the end of his stay there, but was also asked to contact fellow Saturday Night Live (SNL) veteran Amy Poehler, which the team viewed as perfect for the character of Joy. "They said: 'Would you mind calling Amy? We don't want to call her and have her think we're some weirdo,'" he recalled. He phoned Poehler and explained the story to her, noting that her role would be the driving force in the film.^[32] When the story was pitched to Kaling, she broke down in tears, explaining "I just think it's really beautiful that you guys are making a story that tells kids that it's difficult to grow up and it's OK to be sad about it."^[23]
Smith was chosen by Rivera while he was watching Bad Teacher and saw her in a lunch scene. He called Docter and said "I think we found our Sadness."^[33] As the film contains several veterans of SNL, the film's team spent a week at that program for research on a live television sequence.^[31]
Richard Kind, who had previously starred in A Bug's Life, Toy Story 3, Cars, and Cars 2, portrayed Bing Bong.