Inside Out: Pixar's Creative and Emotional Masterpiece is a Disney Classic.

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama

Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen

Writers: Pete Docter (story), Ronaldo Del Carmen (story) (as Ronnie del Carmen)

Stars: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school. — (C) Pixar

Very rarely does a movie come along that dazzles and re-affirms your love for the majestic qualities of movies like Pixar’s Inside Out. I am slightly biased because I describe myself as a “Pixar fanboy.” In fact, my favorite panel discussion I attended at SXSW was about Pixar and Toy Story (and hundreds of people were turned away). The best movies both challenge and entertain. Wildly imaginative and originally creative, Inside Out is an animated masterpiece and one of the best movies from 2015. It does rank among Toy Story 2, The Incredibles, and WALL-E among Pixar’s best. Separately, it is one of the best movies Disney has ever made. We haven’t seen anything quite like this.

Wildly imaginative and originally creative, Inside Out is an animated masterpiece and one of the best movies from 2015.

The strongest element about Inside Out was how inventive is with following through beyond a unique premise but to excel at telling a story. Like Monsters University, director Pete Docter follows through on creating a very detailed and elaborate world as it inspires for the audience. This enchanting expression of powerful memories, genuine emotions and relational interactions was an engaging, truly cinematic, experience. We watch joy, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear work together to operate the complex mind of a child. It is also amusing to watch them interact in the mind of other characters like her mother and father as well as minor characters. A lesson can be learned to not let emotions, especially negative ones, run the control board of your mind. And there is an appropriate time for sadness, too. I don’t want to mention any other scene because audiences need to discover this and be surprised.

Inside Out is also a very important movie for children and even adults to watch together and discuss. We live in a world where people aren’t appropriately handling their emotions and the Internet is fueling negative energy. Inside Out has no intention to be zeitgeist, but in an era of losing control of our emotions, it says a lot about where we are in society and the balance we need. Audiences who experience the real consequences of emotions will understand this (as will people who lost connection with long held ones). Many movies people want or don’t want, but Disney’s Inside Out is a movie we need. Make it a hit, people!