The early talk about Pixar’s newest feature Inside Out is loud, with whispers that it might be a modern classic. While time will determine where it falls on the all-time list, there are some solid reasons why Inside Out is even being considered as one of the best Pixar movies ever. Earlier we got to attend a special screening of the movie, after the credits rolled on Inside Out and for days after, I found myself continually thinking about the movie.
A classic movie is transcendent and can be enjoyed no matter the time period or genre. Furthermore, if it is a really special film, it will stick with you once you walk out of the theater. There are endless stories about people being scared to go into the water after watching Jaws. How many people thought that if they trained a little harder and could upgrade their hockey pads to Kevlar, that they could be Batman after watching The Dark Knight? Or how many secretly acted like they were in The Matrix, while wearing a trench coat and sunglasses? A good movie can change’s an individual’s perspective. Pixar’s latest is one of those types of movies and these are the four reasons you will never forget Inside Out after seeing it:
1) The Characters are Timeless
Pixar has always been able to find the lowest common denominator for the contemporary human experience. As a kid, most of us have imagined a monster being in the closet, or been amazed by how animated a Clown fish looks, or even playing with a Mr. Potato Head. These are all concepts from our collective consciousness, that Pixar is able to target and translate into great movies, such as Monsters INC, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story. However in Inside Out, they take our primal emotions and turn them into living characters.
The characters are simply named Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger. By bringing to life the emotions that every human feels or acts on, they have made a story that will always be relevant. Fifty years from now, we might have flying cars and get our movies downloaded directly into our brains. But we will all still be forced to relate to our conflicting emotions and how they can guide us.
2) It Will Help Parents and Kids Understand Relate to Each Other
The story follows 11 year old Riley who has relocated from Minnesota to California with her family, which affects her overall happiness. The movie tracks her development from birth and how each unique emotion is added during each stage of child development. So the next time a toddler is having a rage full of Anger and Disgust on line at the super-market, we have a new way to understand the language. By the time Riley is a pre-teen, she has a full range of emotions to work with and things get more complex for her and the story. All the while, her parents struggle to understand what is going on inside their kid’s head.
Face it. You will never understand your parents. But Inside Out can help to make sense out of some of their funny ways. Likewise, the next time you stay out too late and your Dad is waiting for you on the other side of the front door. Realize that it is just Fear guiding him because he doesn’t want anything to happen to you. But when Anger takes over…you are on your own.
3) A New Way to Empathize With Others
It is a lot easier to be understand people, once you figure out which emotion is the captain of their mind. (Joy? Disgust? Anger?) Anybody can potentially annoy you. A loud-mouth jerk who likes to win arguments by seeing who can raise their voice the highest. Or the Debbie Downer that always sees the negative in any given challenge or situation, which brings down everybody’s vibe. Even the joyful morning person, that starts their day an hour before the rest of the office or classroom…may simply be a victim of Joy not letting go of the controls. While Inside Out’s story primarily follows what is going on in Riley’s head, it can still be a learning tool to understand those around you. Recognizing that everyone has a command center full of competing emotions, is one of the greatest lessons that Pixar has told on film.
4) It Helps You Understand Yourself
Once you understand how the world of Inside Out works, it just might make it easier to understand your own world! Think about it. Next time you are angrily honking your car horn in traffic, take a look out the side-window and witness the Joy of a sunset. Don’t live in Fear of changes to your favorite comic book characters in their next movie, no one is going to die over it. The mind is something that we don’t fully understand, however Inside Out does make it a little easier to figure out your own emotions and the world around you!
Great movie experiences live on with you after the credits roll and Inside Out is no exception. It is yet to be seen if it will go down as an all-time classic. Regardless, it is deserving of a watch and who knows? It just might change the way that you think about things.
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