Thrashbrown v. Mouse House, Round 9

Inside Out (2015)

The Story:

Inside 11-year-old Riley Anderson's head, the emotions of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger help her react to her experiences and learn how to live. When a mishap strands Joy and Sadness far away in the banks of long-term memories, they must team with Riley's forgotten imaginary friend, Bing Bong, to make their way back to Headquarters and help Riley avert a disaster.

Has Thrashbrowns seen this? Why or why not?

I'm not the biggest Pixar fan and I don't think their track record is nearly as stellar as most people I know do. Still, I did think the trailer for this flick looked interesting. So, no I haven't seen it, but more because I haven't gotten around to it until now than outright disinterest in seeing it.

The Good:

This movie is so visually inventive. The way the inner workings of memory and how the different feelings operate is imaginative yet easy to understand. The different islands that make up Riley's Riley's personality wonderfully full of quirky details. The voice work, especially from Amy Poehler as Joy and Phyllis Smith as Sadness, is excellent. And the ending is a great dose of the happy-sads, my favorite emotion to get from a movie.

The Bad:

For my money, this flick was lacking in humor. I laughed out loud a couple of times, but most of the jokes here were mildly amusing and I'm used to more giggles from a Pixar flick. And the musical score was extremely annoying in a couple of the more dramatic scenes.

Most Annoying Disney-ism:

Maybe it's more of a Pixar-ism, but it sure seems like a sense of loss is a crutch Pixar likes to lean on an awful lot. Bringing back something you miss was central to Toy Story, Coco, and even Onward. Here, we literally see Riley's past disintegrate as she forgets her memories. It's a potent emotional idea, but I'm starting to think Pixar needs to find other emotional soil to farm and let the sense-of-loss territory to lie fallow for a while. It's getting a little stale.

Does Thrashbrowns get why people love this so much?

Yeah, I do. It deals that ideas that anyone can relate to. In fact, losing your past as you forget your memories get more and more relevant as you age. How can one not be moved by that?

Did Thrashbrowns like it?

Well, it definitely wasn't as fun as I was expecting. But it had some great stuff in it and I was moved. And I think the message of why sadness is so important is a message that's needed. It kinda wrecked me and I'll be thinking about how much of myself that I've lost through forgetting my memories, but I did enjoy it.

Up Next:

 Football season's over, but I still haven't seen Remember the Titans. So that'll work.