INSIDE OUT 

Posted 6/25/15

INSIDE OUT 

* * * 1/2 (Ambitious Animated Feature)

What! No 5 star rating? 

There is no question that Disney/Pixar’s animated feature is a great accomplishment that should be seen, …

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INSIDE OUT 

Posted

INSIDE OUT 

* * * 1/2 (Ambitious Animated Feature)

What! No 5 star rating? 

There is no question that Disney/Pixar’s animated feature is a great accomplishment that should be seen, especially by tween girls, represented by the main character, 11-year-old Riley, whose life and emotions are uprooted when the family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. 

The movie does an excellent job of representing the five major emotions in Riley’s head and how they affect her feelings and actions. 

Riley is a happy little girl, whose happiness is represented by Joy (voice of Amy Poehler) the bright, blue-eyed cartoon character in her head. 

Moving away from her friends and her beloved sport of hockey causes Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black). 

The story centers around Riley’s difficulties adapting to her new, completely different home. She spends much of her time with her memories, depicted by thousands of plastic balls controlled by the emotions in her head. 

And then there are the “Islands of Personality” that are in danger of being destroyed and swept away into a deep abyss as the five emotions run around the “core memories.”

This may be a bit too much for the younger set to grasp, and parents may have to do some explaining, but the tween girls should get it.

Younger ones may miss some of the one-liners, obviously added to appease the parents. One little girl was scared out of her seat by the ominous clown. We’ve heard of adults who still have a fear of clowns, and this kid is surely on her way.

The funniest line in the movie comes when Riley orders San Francisco style broccoli pizza and Anger screams, “San Francisco. You’ve ruined pizza!” 

The movie turns into a chase movie, as the emotions run around brightly colored objects, abstract art, and are joined by Riley’s imaginary friend, a pink elephant. They lament the lack of stuffed animals in children’s lives these days.

There’s a lot going on in this movie, perhaps too much for most kids to grab a hold of, and this is where parents can help, especially in explaining the effect of emotions on their actions.

So yes, we do recommend seeing the movie with your children, even though it is a bit overly ambitious at times. It may lead to some good family discussions. 

Rated PG.

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