Rather surprisingly, it’s been a good couple of years since a Disney Pixar movie graced the big screen with Monsters University, but in summer 2015 they have returned with a very unconventional concept in the mind games madness of Inside Out. It’s a computer animated head mash of a great comedy proportions that sees us getting to know the emotional incarnations behind the main characters in the film to get a glimpse into the inner working of the mind, Pixar-style. That may not be the easiest idea to wrap your noggin around, but if you watch the trailer below all will become clear as the film plays with the concept of how our emotions and thought processes have an impact on how we react in different situations.
Release date
The UK release date was a little behind the US, hitting cinemas in Britain on the 24th July 2015, following on from its premier at the 2015 Cannes International Film Festival on the 18th May. It had a slightly earlier North American release date of the 19th June 2015 and was available in both Real D 3D and 2D screenings. CGI animation usually has a lot of potential for 3D visuals jumping out of the screen, and that’s definitely the case here, so don’t let the lack of action in the trailer below fool you, because Inside Out has a lot more adventure than you might have imagined. Visit our movie release dates page to see what else will be making its way to the big screen over the next year or so.
The good news is that it’s one of two Disney Pixar releases this year with the animation duo also bringing The Good Dinosaur to the big screen in November 2015, making it the first year to feature two movies in their history. Inside Out has a digital download, Blu-ray and DVD release date of the 23rd November 2015, following the US release on the 3rd November. You can also find out more about upcoming CGI releases on our animation page.
Story
The story is the coming of age tale of a girl called Riley, who faces the prospect of new friends, home and school when her dad moves the family to San Francisco for a new job. However, things are made interesting by the insight we get into the emotions swirling around her head as she tries to come to terms with such a massive upheaval as she faces the prospect of her upcoming teenage years starting from scratch, leaving everything she knows back in the Midwest.
Her emotions manifest themselves as little characters called Joy, Anger, Fear, Sadness and Disgust who work together to guide her from the nerve centre that is the Headquarter of her mind through every little decision and situation she faces as she grows up. However, things don’t always go well as her parent have a similar setup as Riley and when Anger and Anger collide there’s a lot of tension to deal with for the little family.
Cast
Inside Out stars sixteen year old newcomer Kaitlin Dias as Riley, along with Diane Lane (Batman vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice) as her mum and Kyle MacLaughlin (Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as her out of touch, sports loving dad. The cast is rounded out by Amy Poehler (Parks And Recreation) as Riley’s dominant emotion Joy, who gets overrun occasionally by Bill Hader (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2) as Fear, Phyllis Smith (Bad Teacher) as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger and Mindy Kaling (Wreck-It Ralph) as Disgust. Richard Kind (Toy Story 3) also joins the cast as Riley’s invisible friend Bing Bong.
Production
The Disney Pixar animation has been directed by Pete Docter (Toy Story) with co-director Ronnie Del Carmen (Finding Nemo), who worked together previously on classics like Monsters University, Up and WALL-E. They are also responsible for coming up with the unconventional story with Docter co-writing the screenplay with Josh Cooley and Meg LeFauve. It’s been produced by Jonas Rivera, whose previous credits include Up, Cars, Monsters Inc., A Bugs Life and Toy Story.
Review
We we’re pretty curious about the prospect of Inside Out with such a left-field concept behind the plot. The trailer below looked pretty funny, but it didn’t exactly blow us away. However, with the comedy might of the cast, animated genius legacy of the directors, writers and producer, and the sheer brilliance of Pixar’s animation behind it, it turned out to be a whole lot of fun with a clever adventure inside Riley’s mind and a lot of emotionally charged elements to keep you on your toes. Read our Inside Out review to find out more ahead of the DVD, Blu-ray and digital download release later in November.
With just under a year to go until Finding Dory plunges us all back under the sea, the inner workings of the mind and a well behaved Apatosaurus called Arlo will be more than enough to keep the Mr Grumpy Gills at bay for the time being.
