Review: Inside out (2015) TAKE TWO!!

How have I not written a review for this yet, I actually thought I had included my thoughts on Allie’s review but it seems not.  Being 30 sucks, my memory is shot!! I feel bad repeated a post that we have just done but I couldn't not review this.  However, I am finally putting together my thoughts on this, at the moment they feel like they are going to be a mass mess of mushy feels….

Pixars’s latest offering follows characters that are effectively emotions in peoples head Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Fear (Bill Hader) and Anger (Lewis Black).  It’s mainly focused on Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and the way she copes with moving house, a new school and growing up and how the emotions in her head are effected.  The changes lead Joy and Sadness on an adventure through Riley’s subconscious to get back to ‘HQ’ to stop her from running away from home.

Pixar tried something new and managed to absolutely knock it out of the park.  One of the key things my Dad has always said he loved about Disney/Pixar movies is that they don’t dumb down emotions for children.  In watching a Pixar and even some of the latest Dreamworks movies, the lead characters are actually dealing with real emotions.  This is something I know I said in my Toy Story 3 review and this film has just reiterated it so well.  The film is based on the emotions that Pixar isn’t afraid to shy away from.  There are some really clever ideas in the film that may be a little advanced for the younger audience but great for the parents and big kids like myself.  The idea that the short term memories are sent to ‘long term storage’ when Riley goes to sleep is in keeping with the theory that that is exactly what our brains do when we sleep. 

I thought there was a lot of feels in Toy Story 3 that made me well up and hide my face from my nieces and nephews every time I watched it but this was a whole new level.  I cried like a baby, it was genuinely heart-breaking and moving and you could easily forget you were watching an animation, I was just so caught up in it all.

Finally, I can’t post this review without mentioning the attention to detail.  The full scenes being played out within the memory balls (some of which I have since found out were Easter Eggs) plus how much of the way the brain works has been considered and accounted for inside Riley’s brain!  It’s far too complicated for any small child to understand but the bright colours and engaging characters will certainly keep them entertained, while the adults can ponder the deep and meaningfuls that continuously crop up (is it ok to be sad sometimes?).

Great for kids, even better for adults. Is anyone else a little bit concerned now about The Good Dinosaur between trying to follow this and the two How to Train your Dragon's we've already had, is it dead before it's even out?!