Pixar is back being the best
Depending on how you look at it, Pixar's "Inside Out" is either a return to form for the animation studio or proof they never lost that form in the first place.
Either way, "Inside Out" is another must-see gem for children, grown adults and especially parents.
Count me as someone who thinks Pixar has maintained a near-perfect track record, even as some of the studio's more recent efforts were dismissed by critics. "Brave," while uneven, resonates in its depiction of a fractured mother-daughter relationship. "Monsters University" is an energetic romp about college life with a sneaky message about how the effort and hard work can't always trump innate limitations.
Even "Cars 2" plays its spy-spoof premise to maximum potential. Any other animation studio releases "Cars 2" and it's considered a success. Mater is annoying, though.
The greatness of "Inside Out," however, is unmistakable. The story is rooted in the complex inner workings of the brain but presented simply enough for children to follow. Five personified emotions - Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust - live inside the mind of a young girl, Riley. These emotions help shape Riley's memories and manage life's simple and complex upheavals.
The movie focuses on Joy (voice of Amy Poehler) trying to maintain Riley's sunny disposition as the girl moves with her parents from Minnesota (Go Twins!) to San Francisco for her father's new job. We see Riley's day-to-day struggles adjusting to city life while also following Joy and Sadness ("The Office" alum Phyllis Smith) on a sorta brain road trip back to Riley's central control console, or "Headquarters."
Riley's inner world includes a dream studio managed like a movie studio backlot, an imagination hub of wondrous treats and boyfriend building machines, and vast corridors of long-term memory, where workers manage, organize and delete inessential orbs of memories.
While this visualization of the mind is consistently clever, it never steers the story away from Riley's emotional first days in San Francisco or the struggle Joy and Sadness have to regain control of the central console. Joy would prefer a world without the influence of Sadness, but she learns to appreciate the perspective of her depressive companion.
The comedic presence of Poehler and Smith, as well as Lewis Black, Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling as sharp personifications of Anger, Fear and Disgust, respectively, is essential to balancing out the emotional wallop of "Inside Out's" third act. The final minutes are devastatingly powerful - basically Pixar working at the level of those first 10 minutes in "Up." It presents a simple-but-resonant depiction of how sadness can enhance a person's core being and how emotions can compliment each other.
Parents be warned: There will be sobbing.
As an avid supporter of Pixar, there isn't much point in trying to rank "Inside Out" alongside its predecessors. Their best films stand as individual achievements - each worthy of being called the studio's masterwork. "Inside Out" belongs in that conversation.
The "epic" conclusion of 'Jurassic' June
"Inside Out" is the first Pixar film in two years. Last summer's scheduled Pixar entry, "The Good Dinosaur," went through a major story overhaul and was delayed until this November.
Behind-the-scenes upheaval is common for Pixar, and in most cases drastic measures have resulted in creative success. At one point, "Toy Story 2" was a lame, straight-to-video cash grab, and without Brad Bird rescuing it, "Ratatouille" would have been as forgettable as an "Ice Age" sequel.
With the massive success of "Jurassic World" this month, Disney and Pixar are probably happy to ride its dinosaur coattails into the holiday movie season. Still, "The Good Dinosaur" is apparently radically different than what was initially announced and includes an almost complete voice cast overhaul.
The story concept remains the same: What if the meteor that took out the dinosaurs missed Earth and the beasts lived alongside early humans? Fun premise, but "The Good Dinosaur" will need an actual story with dynamic characters to reach the level of creativity and power of "Inside Out."
Just to be safe, Pixar better call Chris Pratt. There's still time for him to record the voice of a raptor-taming caveman.
Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.