Venturing into the mind of an 11-year-old girl is a risky move by Pixar; it's also a brilliant one. Original and smart as well as funny and moving, this is the kind of material we expect from the animation studio that gave us Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Up.
Emotions are at the forefront of this story, with most of the action happening inside the head of happy, young girl Riley (Kaitlyn Dias). Here five characters who represent different emotions - Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith) Fear (Hader), Disgust (Kaling) and Anger (Black) - float nervously around the headquarters' console hoping Joy, who is mostly in charge of Riley's state of mind, keeps everything running smoothly.
When Riley moves from the Midwest to San Francisco with her parents (voiced by Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan), her life gets turned upside down. Fear identifies the many things that could go wrong when starting a new school in a new city, and Sadness, who has until now been mostly a bit-player, can't stop herself turning Riley's happy memories into sad ones.
When Sadness accidentally sends herself, Joy, and Riley's core memories to long-term memory, Riley ends up in emotional turmoil as Fear, Anger and Disgust are left running the show. Joy and Sadness, along with the help of Riley's imaginary friend Bing Bong, must find their way back to headquarters before Riley does something drastic.
Inside Out mixes the challenging concept of journeying through the mind, along with the familiar plot of characters needing to find a way home. Some of the material may go over the head of younger kids, but they will still able to relate to Riley's loneliness, and enjoy Joy and Sadness's colourful and humorous adventure.
