Inside Out

Inside Out

By: Taylor Mills, Alex Valenta and Anne McAlister

In the summer of 2015 Disney Pixar released a new movie, Inside Out, that brings the audience’s emotions to life. Aimed towards kids and families, this is a story about an eleven-year old girl, named Riley, faced with some challenges of growing up. She learns how to deal with all of these big life changes through her different emotions. We meet the emotions inside Riley’s head such as Anger, Disgust, Fear, Sadness and Joy. The audience watches as each of these emotions are created and developed as Riley ages. As Riley grows up and makes memories, those memories are stored in colored orbs that are sent to long-term memory each night. Throughout the movie we watch as Riley struggles to deal with her more difficult emotions such as anger during this difficult time in her life. Inside Out is is used as an educational tool to help children to learn about their emotions however, it is difficult for the child to understand the implicit messages and the overall theme of the movie.

There are two separate storylines happening simultaneously in the movie. One in which Riley and her family move from the Midwest to San Francisco; and another in which Riley’s emotions try to guide her through this life-changing event.Younger children would have a tough time connecting the dots between the two plotlines because they are at a lower cognitive developmental stage than older children. This is a concept known as centration in which children are only able to focus on a single striking feature. Young children will have a difficult time understanding that the two plotlines are intertwined and influencing each other. This Pixar movie is focused around an individual’s development of emotions from a young age into adolescence and the teen years. The movie showcases how the emotions are stuck in their ways and refuse to allow multiple emotions to be felt simultaneously. However, the audience learns at the end that the key to living a prosperous life with continuous self-growth is to allow one’s emotions to balance each other out and work together. The creators of Inside Out found a way to educate its audience by incorporating aspects of human processing, real life situations, and feelings into a funny and charming children’s movie. 

In conclusion, although it is an educational tool to help children to learn about their emotions, Inside Out is a difficult movie for children to understand when it comes to the implicit messages within the movie in addition to the overall theme of the movie. While it may be challenging for a young child to grasp the moral lesson, this movie has an overall positive tone and will have positive effects on a child. There are no instances of violence or inappropriate behavior, therefore, this movie is appropriate for all age ranges. Children may watch this movie without the guidance of an adult and will not be negatively affected by the content. This movie teaches children how to deal with their emotions by making each emotion; joy, sadness, fear, anger and disgust, come to life. Parents can play a major role in allowing children to learn from this movie. By watching this movie with their kids and engaging them in dialogue about the attitudes and behaviors of the characters, parents can help their children to learn adult concepts at a young age. This film’s lighthearted and goofy nature will be entertaining to children of all ages. Not only is this a movie for children to learn from, it is one that parents and adults can enjoy as well. Overall, the lessons learned from this movie will be beneficial to children of all ages and genders. Whether they have experienced similar distress or not, children will gain the capacity to deal with difficult situations in their future. The important takeaway from this movie is to not suppress any emotions and to allow the emotions to shape your future experiences. For example, the emotions in Headquarters were determined to not let Riley feel sadness, however, the audience understands by the end that sadness is what led Riley to greater relationships and happier memories. In creating Inside Out, Pixar touched upon the topic of emotions and dealing with real life experiences. This unique movie is a step in the right direction for a child to learn about life and themselves as well as the production industry to create motion pictures that are educational and entertaining for all.