‘Inside Out’ is the story of an 11-year-old girl, Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), whose life is uprooted when her father (Kyle MacLachlan) takes a new job in San Francisco. The move turns out to be tougher than she expected goes as expected as she has a hard time adjusting to her new home and school, while still missing her old friends.
Meanwhile inside her mind, the five emotions are running the show in the headquarters: Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger. Together they are responsible for how Riley deals with situations with the proper emotional responses. The move also disrupts life in headquarters as Joy and Sadness have a scuffle and get inadvertently sucked up by one of the long-term memory tube. Now the two go on a bi-polar adventure in a race to help Riley regain her emotions with the help of the worlds greatest friend, BING BONG.
As the father of a 10 year old daughter, this was hitting to close to home. I have found myself thinking about my daughter “why she is acting way to emotional” over spilled milk. Now i know it was Sadness in control. Pixar normally gets me to tear up but ‘Inside Out’ was the first to have me let out an audible cry during the film. My wife and daughter gave me a weird look as the tears rolled down my cheek. My family really enjoyed the film and really rank it high with best of the Pixar films. My only complaint was that it needed more Bing Bong. I feel like ‘Inside Out’ can be on par with Dr. Suess’ “Oh, the places you’ll go!” as a good coming of age story to experience with your kids as they grow older.
The bonus features on the ‘Inside Out’ Blu-ray are so abundant that they needed two discs! We get tons of interviews from a variety of people involved in production of the film. The Bonus features include:
Riley’s First Date? – This was a cute little short, it delves in the command center of Riley’s parents and how they deal with her going on her first date. It’s not the best of the Pixar shorts but it was a fun none the less. I think every down to Earth dad can relate to Riley’s dad and how he handled the situation especially when they found a common bond. Hopefully the next short can be a Bing Bong Prequel.
LAVA (Theatrical Short Film) – When i first saw this short at the theaters before Inside Out, it set me and everyone else up emotionally. I witnessed tears shed and couples embracing each other after the short. Nothing has changed, this short got me good with its catchy tune lovely message.
Story of the Story – A film 4 years in the making, Director Pete Docter talks about the evolution of ‘Inside Out’. The original concept of the films is completely different from what we got as the final product. There was a lot of concepts that went though trial and error including teaming up Joy with all the different motions including Bing Bong to be the main protagonists for the film. Oh Bing Bong.
Paths to Pixar: The Women of Inside Out – My daughter is at a crossroads where she changes her future ambitions everyday. Lately she’s decided she wants to be an artist and animator, asking me recently for an animators table for Christmas. So this was one of my favorites of the bonus features because it helps deliver a strong message for young woman that anything is possible with hard work and determination. This feature follows women that were involved with the making of ‘Inside Out‘ giving anecdotal experiences in achieving there dream careers. Nothing involving Bing Bong here.
https://youtu.be/udo0RATsHfk?list=PL-muvh_380Ia1thiHIsAWSh57vhRKWALT
Mixed Emotions – The filmmakers talk about how they decided which emotions to focus on in the story and how they went about creating each one’s distinct personality and visual identity. Very early on before it was settled on Sadness, Fear and Bing Bong were the top choices. It would have been interesting to see it with Bill Hader taking the lead with Amy Pohler.
Mapping the Mind – The artists take you through the process of designing and creating the look inside of Riley’s mind and how Command Center had evolved. One favorite area that went by the wayside was a sort of shanty town where Bing Bong lead over other imaginary friends.
Our Dads, the Filmmakers – This was a behind the scenes look at the creative process between long time collaborators Pete Docter and Michael Giacchino hosted by their daughter Elie Docter (daughter of director, Pete Docter) and Grace Giacchino (daughter of composer, Michael Giacchino).
Into the Unknown: The Sound of Inside Out – This is a cool look at the process sound designer Ren Klyce. You get a first hand look at some of the objects used in creating the aural world of ‘Inside Out’.
The Misunderstood Art of Animation Film Editing – Learn more about the crucial role of an animation film editor, who helps take the story from its earliest, most exploratory versions, to the final, polished film you see onscreen.
Deleted Scenes – This seemed more of early concepts than an actual deleted scenes.
- Riley Grows Up – In this scene from a version of the film where the primary relationship was between Joy and Fear (then named Freddie), the emotions begin to notice a change in Riley.
- Joy’s Decline – Joy’s struggles to make sense of the limitations on Riley’s behavior that seem to be springing up at every turn.
- Misdirection – Joy and Freddie (Fear) encounter a group of Riley’s “retired” imaginary friends, including an early version of Big Bong.
- Construction – Joy is guided through Riley’s mind by a radical non-conformist, Bing Bong, outraged by the demolition of older areas like Imagination Park.
https://youtu.be/4nXgLEsBFqU
‘Inside Out’ is available now on on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download.