When I was about four or five, I saw Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for the first time on TV. I can chart that as the beginning of my lifelong love affair with the movies. That movie was the experience that, for the first time in my life, I fell totally under its spell. It was the first time I realized the possibility of cinema, to be totally transported and transfixed by the story and the world I was entering, to be captivated and enthralled. Since then, there have been a few experiences like that for me: Star Wars, The Black Hole, The Dark Crystal, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Breakfast Club, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Matrix, Clerks, Lord of the Rings and Schindler's List to name a few of them. These are movies, that, in my opinion, rank head and shoulders above all the others for their effect on me. I call them my Willy Wonka Experiences, and there aren't many of them. I reserve that title for the movies I cannot rate more highly and would recommend anybody see (age appropriate, of course). After seeing Inside Out from Disney/Pixar, I now add another in this esteemed list.
The story, without giving too much away, is about a normal, happy, eleven-year-old girl named Riley and the five basic emotions in her head: Joy (the leader), Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger. We see how the emotions help run her life and create tangible memories that are filed away. One day, she and her family move to San Francisco. At first, there is the adjustment to her new life that throws the emotions' routine awry. Up to this point, memories are very binary, (only happy, sad, scared, etc). Very quickly, we find that whenever Sadness touches a memory, it turns into a sad one. When she begins to touch the core memories that make up Riley's personality, Joy tries to stop her and she and Sadness get sucked into the inner workings of Riley's brain. Without Joy at the helm to guide Riley, her world quickly begins to fall apart as Disgust, Fear and Anger struggle to keep her on an even keel with little success. Joy and Sadness are trying to get back to the helm as Riley's inner personality begins to fall apart, and along the way, Joy and Sadness realize they need to help each other to help Riley.
This film is a marvel. Those of you that got all angry with me over the DESERVEDLY scathing review I gave to The Lego Movie need to see this film as soon as possible to get a grip on what is great (children's) entertainment. THIS is what I meant that children's movies don't have to be lazy commercials to be good. This movie beautifully illustrates the conflict within even a normal person's mind with the average stresses of everyday life. Many people deservedly praised Up for its beautiful depiction of a love story in less than fifteen minutes that was better than many stories ten times as long. Inside Out doubles down and ups the ante for the entire film.
As a child who moved a lot, I was uprooted from several areas and had to go through the stresses of starting all over again with a new house, school, friends and situation. Every note Riley feels is 100% genuine in this movie. It not only deals with the pressures of new situations, but of growing up, how you and your personality change with having new experiences and meeting new people. A very touching side plot in the movie is what happens when we meet Riley's imaginary friend from her very young days, still there in the recesses of her mind. His final fate one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful aspects of the movie, the necessary discarding of imaginary whimsy, for "older" concerns and realities as our world changes. The very beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes dealt with similar themes, but creator Bill Waterson wisely chose to never have Calvin grow up; to keep that magic whimsy in our minds, to remember the importance of retaining at least some of it, to never become so entrenched in our ways that we stop exploring the beauty of the world around us. This movie is the natural progression of that storyline. And in an age of cynicism about the decency of the nuclear family, this movie anchors itself firmly in the belief that a loving family is what can help weather these storms by giving us a safety net.
The best part for me is the end when Joy realizes that she is not an end to herself. Healthy memories are always a mixture of everything. We cannot reach the heights of joy without experiencing the depths of sadness. Healthy doses of fear, disgust and anger help us push through tough situations to achieve fulfillment. Everything works together in harmony, and as we age and change with life's increasingly complex difficulties, healthy emotions keep us on that even keel. The movie is an amazing realization and depiction of how our brains work, that we are amazingly complex creatures, and that's a good thing.
This movie affected me on a deep, personal level as I have had many of the same experiences Riley has. I laughed, but more importantly, I cried during this film. It resonated on a deep chord within me, on an intensely personal level. I rarely have experienced such writing like this, that hits on such deep, emotional truths that aren't corny manipulations. Of course there is sad music and great composition to sell the emotion, but as I said, it's the writing here that is first and foremost. Riley is all of us, and we care for her because of that. She's not depressed or in a disfunctional, abusive family. She's a normal, little girl trying to make sense of her new, changing world and her place in it. Much has already been made of the stellar cast of voices for this film, but it is those universal truths the story touches on, that make this film so superior. And no CGI dinosaur can ever top the fundamental universality this message has for anyone. So, do yourself a favor and see this picture. I cannot recommend it more highly.
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