A lot of people have forgotten what makes Pixar so great, including Pixar itself. I’m not talking about the animation studio losing its fan base, which has managed to keep afloat with steady doses of reboots and rush-jobs, because it hasn’t.
Kids don’t know any better than to see the latest cartoon feature pushed out by Disney. It’s the adults that need something out of Pixar right now.
There’s been a sort of genius in Pixar. It’s sad that I need to say it like that genius has at times been lost, but at least I can say that it has been there. As far as I’m concerned, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Up are all classics that I will show to my children, not “good for animated movies” but just “good for movies.” I’ve only named the strongest ones. Up until the 2009 release of Up, it seemed that Pixar could do no wrong. Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Ratatouille, and even Toy Story 2 were near flawless.
Pixar not only invented the first completely computer-animated feature length film but mastered it, fast. Between Toy Story and Up, Pixar grew a beautiful maturity in a design that was formerly only meant for kids. It knew well enough to level with a younger audience with lovable characters and wonderfully creative stories while, even more successfully, cracking into an older one with its subtleness. I’m beaming about it as I write.
Then Cars 2. Then Monsters University, basically “Monsters, Inc. 2.” A couple of others. Bleh. Dry, thin, and ultimately poor. Pixar almost knew they were capable of better, and every moment spent watching these empty pictures was unsettling. And then — Planes. That monstrosity wasn’t technically Pixar, still Disney, but Pixar or not, it was beyond inexcusable. It was disturbing how low the animation technique, once a modern marvel of film, was used to exploit… what, exactly? What was its purpose anymore?
And so, for a long time, Pixar has had nowhere to go but up. Well, maybe not as good as Up, but Inside Out is that long-awaited return of the film formula audiences deserve.
In this new one, directed by Pete Docter, the subject of the story is eleven-year-old Riley. It’s not so much about her as it is about her emotions, personified into cute little critters including the leader Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). These emotions operate Riley’s mind from “Headquarters” to sort out which feelings dominate during the day.
The system works without a hitch until Riley’s family moves, taking their daughter with, from rural Minnesota to urban San Francisco. Stuck in a place without her friends and old school, Riley’s emotions get thrown out of whack. Joy and Sadness accidentally get flung out of Headquarters, and a personality crisis is suddenly at hand without anyone in charge. The two need to weave through Riley’s mind to get back to the control panels and save her from her spiral.
Docter began to create Inside Out when he noticed his own daughter experiencing emotional and mental changes. I’d believe it. It’s the first Pixar movie in a while that actually moves who’s watching it, and I guess that means they needed to include, oh, I don’t know, some realistic human feeling.
It’s almost like these filmmakers have documented their recovery from Pixar’s slump and their deconstruction of the human mind to see what they’ve been missing. They leave nearly nothing untouched. Memories, relationships, hobbies, how Inside Out illustrates all of this is clever while also reminding us it has a heart. Just the concept is a fool-proof plan. What better way to show the fragile manner, and yet the importance, of accepting our emotions by drawing them out as people?
It’s not like they have to work really hard to hit their mark, but the vocal talents also really match up nicely (Lewis Black was an interesting yet surprisingly fitting choice for a family movie). Paired with a script that doesn’t go for cheap laughs, each emotion brings their distinct humor to the table.
I wouldn’t say that Inside Out is exactly a slam dunk in terms of mechanics. There are times where the movie is frantic, where it wouldn’t hurt to slow down a bit. And Joy and Sadness are the featured emotions. The other three work as a single unit and don’t get that much individuality.
But so what? Inside Out is the first Pixar movie since Up that doesn’t let its flaws get the better of it. And it’s excited about itself. It’s got the right to get a little giddy when it has an idea for a story. When the wave of classic Pixar tear-jerkers comes around the last twenty minutes or so, we’re glad it wasn’t that the animators were struggling with the last couple of films they’ve put out. The effortlessness of this film’s effect shows that Pixar has decided to try again.
I’m getting giddy too, Pixar.
