Just when it appears, from the trailers, that Pixar is about to stumble and release an unappealing, generic animated feature not named Cars (sorry, kids), their summer 2015 release turns out to be one of their strongest. Up Academy Award winner Pete Docter goes inside the head of an 11-year-old girl named Riley (v. Kaitlyn Dias) to see what makes her tick. This flick seems tailormade for a new Disney ride à la Epcot’s now defunct Cranium Command.
After her parents (v. Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) move her to San Francisco, Riley goes haywire, as Sadness (v. Phyllis Smith from NBC’s “The Office”) dominates the typically indomitable Joy (v. Amy Poehler). After both get booted out of Headquarters, the duo must find their way back before Anger (v. Lewis Black), Disgust (v. Mindy Kaling) and Fear (v. Bill Hader) lead Riley to do something irreparable. Seriously, Inside Out is amazing. The surefire Academy Award nominee and probable winner of Best Animated Feature creatively sketches what makes us tick and does so for kids and adults equally.
If Inside Out has any flaw, it might be that it is too adult, as it deals with raw emotion, but Up has already proven mature emotions can coexist with the silly gags enjoyed by children.
The voicework is stellar, but it’s the inner space created by Docter and co-writers Josh Cooley and Meg LeFauve that sets Inside Out apart from other really good family films. Rather, this film is really great.
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