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Pixar’s Inside Out |OT| Quirks in Navigation

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Trey

Member
Lava resonated more emotionally with me than Inside Out did, but it's a competent Pixar film all the same.

Mid tier, 7/10.

Why didn't or couldn't Joy send the core memories back up for recall like those downstairs workers continually sent up the annoying jingle memory?
 
Considering the love and hate expressed for Lava, it was kind of surreal to go hang out with some friends tonight (some of them Hawaiians) who dance hula and play ukulele...and who were practicing the Lava song without having seen the rest of the movie.

my issue is that it reminds me too much of the ukulele version of Somewhere over the Rainbow.
 
8/10. World building needed to be better. The trip back wasn't really cohesive.

Still a great film. The concept was awesome. The different versions of people's emotion was my favorite thing to watch.
 
Lava resonated more emotionally with me than Inside Out did, but it's a competent Pixar film all the same.

Mid tier, 7/10.

Why didn't or couldn't Joy send the core memories back up for recall like those downstairs workers continually sent up the annoying jingle memory?

because it was too convenient for the plot.
 
Saw this movie last night with my friends and it really hit me at various points, though I was totally tearing up every so often.

I spent today talking about the movie with my younger cousin (who also saw the movie yesterday) and due to our age difference (she's in her early 20s while I'm 33) it was fun talking about the movie (and emotions) from our perspectives.

Not sure where I would rank this movie just yet, but it's definitely near the top for me personally.
 

Blizzard

Banned
my issue is that it reminds me too much of the ukulele version of Somewhere over the Rainbow.
I may be mistaken, but I think it's a super common strumming pattern for Hawaiian music, so the rhythm sounds similar.

My girlfriend said this immediately, there really was no reason.
A friend pointed this out in the theater too. The only explanation I've seen suggested was that
Joy was afraid the other emotions would screw up the core memories or something like sadness did, if Joy wasn't personally handling them
.
 

Seesaw15

Member
Just came back from watching it. I would definitely put Inside Out up there with Pete Docter's other Pixar films( Up and Monster) in the way that it had some great idea's and emotional moments but overall it just felt so small and mid tier.
 

Not

Banned
Jeez louise, guys. I have never cried in a movie theater before.

Lava resonated more emotionally with me than Inside Out did, but it's a competent Pixar film all the same.

Mid tier, 7/10.

Damn dude it was the opposite for me.
Lava: cloying and saccharine in a way that didn't feel real, which is super important if you're going to try and make us feel for anthropomorphic volcanoes. Plus, why does the guy volcano just have a mouth and eyes and it's "male" but the gal volcano has to have standard human features of beauty to be recognized as female YADDA YADDA YADDA
 
Lava resonated more emotionally with me than Inside Out did, but it's a competent Pixar film all the same.

Mid tier, 7/10.

Why didn't or couldn't Joy send the core memories back up for recall like those downstairs workers continually sent up the annoying jingle memory?

1. It's not up to Joy what memories are recalled this way. It's up to those two workers who can send memories up willy-nilly. Notice how despite Joy's objections at the memories they were purging, she didn't try to stop them.

2. Even if she did send them, that wouldn't have made a difference. The whole plot arc is the fact that Sadness is the only appropriate emotion for Riley to process what she's going through, but childish Joy is what has been coasting her through life all this time. Joy, Anger, Disgust, and Fear weren't the appropriate emotional responses (which is why none of them could undo the "idea bulb"). Sadness, for once in Riley's life, needed to be the one to take her through an important core memory. Without her Riley would've remained emotionally confused.

edit: to expand on this, during Riley's depressed/blank/confused period, she was trying to find happiness or the "bright side" of her move, suppressing her sad feelings. Metaphorically, Joy assumes responsibility for being "the one to fix it" because up until that point childish glee had been running the whole show. She goes off on a trek to headquarters looking for a way back in the same way Riley's been looking for happiness to get her through this tough time. The ending says that no, generic happiness doesn't solve every emotional problem. Sometimes you just need sadness to take over to properly process what's going on. It was first hinted at when bing bong was sad and Sadness talked to him. At first Joy was like "oh god she'll ruin everything", because Joy had a very childish understanding that "sad=bad", but when bing bong talked it through and felt better, it showed for the first time that maybe she isn't the answer to everything ever.
 

Not

Banned
Also, pretty cool how
the movie didn't really have a villain, a staple of "internal conflict" or "new setting" stories. All of the emotions were neutral and essentially benevolent; they could just do harm if used incorrectly.
 

Mumei

Member
1. It's not up to Joy what memories are recalled this way. It's up to those two workers who can send memories up willy-nilly. Notice how despite Joy's objections at the memories they were purging, she didn't try to stop them.

2. Even if she did send them, that wouldn't have made a difference. The whole plot arc is the fact that Sadness is the only appropriate emotion for Riley to process what she's going through, but childish Joy is what has been coasting her through life all this time. Joy, Anger, Disgust, and Fear weren't the appropriate emotional responses (which is why none of them could undo the "idea bulb"). Sadness, for once in Riley's life, needed to be the one to take her through an important core memory. Without her Riley would've remained emotionally confused.

edit: to expand on this, during Riley's depressed/blank/confused period, she was trying to find happiness or the "bright side" of her move, suppressing her sad feelings. Metaphorically, Joy assumes responsibility for being "the one to fix it" because up until that point childish glee had been running the whole show. She goes off on a trek to headquarters looking for a way back in the same way Riley's been looking for happiness to get her through this tough time. The ending says that no, generic happiness doesn't solve every emotional problem. Sometimes you just need sadness to take over to properly process what's going on. It was first hinted at when bing bong was sad and Sadness talked to him. At first Joy was like "oh god she'll ruin everything", because Joy had a very childish understanding that "sad=bad", but when bing bong talked it through and felt better, it showed for the first time that maybe she isn't the answer to everything ever.

Great post. I saw it on Friday and absolutely loved it.
 
you should probably spoiler that. but i thought he would be with the whole shortcut thing.
I didn't think he would
but I'm thinking Bing Bong's appearance and history with Riley probably reminded some viewers of the disgruntled Teddy Bear Lotsa(?) from Toy Story 3
. Of course, just my theory.
 

Blizzard

Banned
Well also, about the villain question:

When you first spot Bing-Bong, he's stealing memories for some reason and running away with them. I forget but maybe the movie showed some of these and they were memories of times Riley spent with Bing-Bong? Either way, when he first shows up he's kind of a sketchy character. Why is he stealing/running etc.

I was touched when he died, but I thought Bing-Bong's design was almost creepier than the clown.
 
Great post. I saw it on Friday and absolutely loved it.
Yes, great post.
South Park covered the "without sadness there can be no happiness" very well in an episode involving Butters getting heartbroken. I haven't watched SP for a few years now, but I remember thinking that was one of Trey and Matt's better soliloquies during SP.
 
Guise, I can't stop thinking about this movie.

What's worse, the more I think about it, the better it gets.

Should I go see it again tomorrow instead of Dope or The Tribe?

Halp.
 
With all this about it being sad etc, Would this be good for a almost 5 year old boy? Last thing we need is him coming out of a movie crying. Or is it something that only the adults will catch onto the sadness? If you guys know what I'm saying.
 

The Lamp

Member
Lava resonated more emotionally with me than Inside Out did, but it's a competent Pixar film all the same.

Mid tier, 7/10.

Why didn't or couldn't Joy send the core memories back up for recall like those downstairs workers continually sent up the annoying jingle memory?

Lava was stupid.

These volcanoes somehow sink and rise in and out of the ocean, and when they're incorrectly positioned, they can just fix themselves and fuse through the power of a repetitive melody?

Inside Out was Pixar's best film since Toy Story 3. It was okay. Could have been funnier. But I really liked some of the mature themes it had regarding emotions
like the fact that sometimes being sad is the way to heal, and sometimes emotions aren't binary, they're a mix of different feelings, etc
.

I am a little annoyed that they didn't explain why Sadness basically permanently polluted all the joyful memories she touched. Not sure if that was a commentary on the fact that sadness can literally pollute our memories, or what.

I fucking loved this movie so fucking much.

Two things that I think probably contributed to my enjoying it as much as I did:
1. I'm a parent
2. I'm a writer

To that second point: When I originally heard about the concept for this movie it sounded like a nightmare scenario. Writing a movie about emotions that evokes real emotions in its audience while also being funny and entertaining for audiences of all ages-- no thanks; I can't think of a way to do that without a disastrous outcome.

I read Ed Catmull's book and it touches on the insane difficulty that Pete Docter had putting this story together in a workable fashion. What I just watched, though, did everything it set out to do and made it look easy. I'm absolutely awestruck by how well-written this movie is, to say nothing of the visuals.

yeah I was terrified this movie was going to bite off more than it could chew. Treating emotions as concrete characters isn't a new idea, but it's definitely something hard to pull off without being incredibly cliche' and simplistic. They were in danger of having these binary emotions act inconsistently and ruin the plot, but I think they handled it pretty well.
 
Best Pixar movie in years.

I put it up with the Toy Story trilogy.

Seriously, I felt things about an animated movie I had never felt before...

myemotions_troy.gif
 

Blizzard

Banned
I am a little annoyed that they didn't explain why Sadness basically permanently polluted all the joyful memories she touched. Not sure if that was a commentary on the fact that sadness can literally pollute our memories, or what.
About Sadness:

I think someone suggested that as one grows older, sadness and nostalgia color memories of certain things because you are viewing them from a distant vantage point. They are no longer as simple as they once were.

Of course, maybe it would make more sense for them to be multicolored then, instead of completely blue.
 

The Lamp

Member
About Sadness:

I think someone suggested that as one grows older, sadness and nostalgia color memories of certain things because you are viewing them from a distant vantage point. They are no longer as simple as they once were.

Of course, maybe it would make more sense for them to be multicolored then, instead of completely blue.

Hmm, yeah
it would have made more sense in that case to make multi-colored orbs.

Anyway, I also remember thinking to myself "why the hell is Joy crying?" I mean I know Joy was crying because she was very sad, but that was a moment in which I think Pixar's storytelling with the emotions fell inconsistent. It makes zero sense for Joy (which, in some definitions, means happiness DESPITE circumstances) to be bawling her eyes out and feeling despair. It contradicts the emotion that she is. And they just kind of let it happen and then she gets over it and everyone acts like nothing happened. It was pretty weird to me.
 
Of course, maybe it would make more sense for them to be multicolored then, instead of completely blue.

I thought it was suggested that since sadness and joy can coexist within the same memory as you mature, to see the whole picture you have to "swipe" through the memory and really analyze the situation. Everything gets more complex, same as the control board.
 
With all this about it being sad etc, Would this be good for a almost 5 year old boy? Last thing we need is him coming out of a movie crying. Or is it something that only the adults will catch onto the sadness? If you guys know what I'm saying.
We had 3, 4 and 5yo boys with us and they all seemed to like it. The 3yo was locked in throughout. But I know mileage can vary. This good run was particularly rare for my kids, haha.

Hmm, yeah
it would have made more sense in that case to make multi-colored orbs.

Anyway, I also remember thinking to myself "why the hell is Joy crying?" I mean I know Joy was crying because she was very sad, but that was a moment in which I think Pixar's storytelling with the emotions fell inconsistent. It makes zero sense for Joy (which, in some definitions, means happiness DESPITE circumstances) to be bawling her eyes out and feeling despair. It contradicts the emotion that she is. And they just kind of let it happen and then she gets over it and everyone acts like nothing happened. It was pretty weird to me.
Yeah, the "emotions of the emotions" was why I thought some of the premise was a a bit shaky. In addition, with Joy and Sadness away from HQ, the idea that Riley's life continued while these characters were on a Pixar adventure just became a bit too distracting. It was an enjoyable movie but I think they could have tidied up the rules more. However, I'm sure I will appreciate some aspects of these mechanics if I watch it again.
 
With all this about it being sad etc, Would this be good for a almost 5 year old boy? Last thing we need is him coming out of a movie crying. Or is it something that only the adults will catch onto the sadness? If you guys know what I'm saying.

I went to two showings and each time many of the youngest ones in the audience were restless and getting out of their seat, constantly chatty and occasionally disinterested. The ones that did watch the film didn't really comprehend the complexity of the story or the emotions in it. One 8 or 9-year old kid sitting close to me in the theater said to his mother as the lights were turning on, "Why are you crying, ha ha?".

Some kids will behave better than others, of course. But I really think this is more of a film for the older set.
 

thedan001

Member
Just saw it today, it was fantastic

Made me realize how suppressing emotions can get your insides wonky and is okay to express your feelings every now and then. Bottling it all up does no one good

I was impressed how Pixar pulled off communicating with feelings (Riley and her parents at the end) without it being too cliche'y if you know what I mean
 
Ehhh, it was pretty good and an improvement over the other recent PIXAR offerings, but it’s not top tier.

The PIXAR curse of the first 10 or so minutes being amazing and the middle being ok continues. 7.5/10
 
Good flick but I actually didn't love it. I think mainly because they didn't go far enough to make me feel. The stakes are never really all that high, either "inside or out", and the predictability of everything bummed me out.
 

Trey

Member
1. It's not up to Joy what memories are recalled this way. It's up to those two workers who can send memories up willy-nilly. Notice how despite Joy's objections at the memories they were purging, she didn't try to stop them.

2. Even if she did send them, that wouldn't have made a difference. The whole plot arc is the fact that Sadness is the only appropriate emotion for Riley to process what she's going through, but childish Joy is what has been coasting her through life all this time. Joy, Anger, Disgust, and Fear weren't the appropriate emotional responses (which is why none of them could undo the "idea bulb"). Sadness, for once in Riley's life, needed to be the one to take her through an important core memory. Without her Riley would've remained emotionally confused.

edit: to expand on this, during Riley's depressed/blank/confused period, she was trying to find happiness or the "bright side" of her move, suppressing her sad feelings. Metaphorically, Joy assumes responsibility for being "the one to fix it" because up until that point childish glee had been running the whole show. She goes off on a trek to headquarters looking for a way back in the same way Riley's been looking for happiness to get her through this tough time. The ending says that no, generic happiness doesn't solve every emotional problem. Sometimes you just need sadness to take over to properly process what's going on. It was first hinted at when bing bong was sad and Sadness talked to him. At first Joy was like "oh god she'll ruin everything", because Joy had a very childish understanding that "sad=bad", but when bing bong talked it through and felt better, it showed for the first time that maybe she isn't the answer to everything ever.

1.
The emotions recall memories all the time from headquarters. That's actually their job. And if indeed the emotions aren't allowed to manually recall memories, one of the workers saying something to that effect would have helped a bit. (it would also be a little hard to buy considering the emotions seem to be the upper echelon of the mind, and outrank some custodial level job. But I think it would be better than what we got.

2.
It would have mattered. Those memories power Riley's entire personality. Without them she seemingly couldn't process anything on her own, to the point she couldn't even play hockey. The core memories are shown to be important outside of the emotions' influence, and would have given Riley a base while Joy and Sadness bond trying to get back to HQ or whatever.

I get the intention, but I found the execution lacking.

A friend pointed this out in the theater too. The only explanation I've seen suggested was that
Joy was afraid the other emotions would screw up the core memories or something like sadness did, if Joy wasn't personally handling them
.

I could buy this.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Ehhh, it was pretty good and an improvement over the other recent PIXAR offerings, but it’s not top tier.

The PIXAR curse of the first 10 or so minutes being amazing and the middle being ok continues. 7.5/10

Actually found the first 10 minutes to be extremely weak due to the movie's need to monologue. The ending had the same problem.

A friend pointed this out in the theater too. The only explanation I've seen suggested was that
Joy was afraid the other emotions would screw up the core memories or something like sadness did, if Joy wasn't personally handling them
.

Not the strongest of reasons as Joy was shown to semi-trust the other emotions. Also only Sadness was really 'converting' memories. I would say that's a plothole.
 
This was a safe, cheap, emotionally manipulative movie. The more I think about it, the more pissed off I am. Great clever premise. Ambitious theme. Horrible execution by taking many shortcuts. Mediocre.


Yes, this movie is about a yellow girl's woman's adventure to get back into a big tower. It's also
a moral about how sadness is essential and that losing joy and wonder is an integral part of growing up
(doh a movie can be about more than one thing). finally it's also about a girl coming to terms with her family moving to a new city. The problem is none of these strands are combined well together. In particular Joy & Sadness adventure was just a waste. for example

I feel theyre all combined perfectly. The whole journey back to the tower is a representation of Riley surpressing her emotions to try and
stay happy for her father, when all she really feels is anger, fear, and disgust. She becomes depressed and forgets who she is (the core memories crumbling one by one), and by the time she runs away (after losing her train of thought), she cant feel anything (the control board freezing up) Eventually she realizes she needs sadness in order for joy to come back into her life. Im pretty sure it was explained at the beginning how sadness always has an urge to touch memories. It wasnt just shoehorned in then so joy could find her.
As for the rest, I agree the tube was a plot hole and the dream boy tower kind of not working very well with the rest of the subconscious analogy but they werent enough to ruin the rest of the movie for me.
 

Afrodium

Banned
I think I'm seeing a pattern in people's enjoyment of the film based on how whether or not they're interpreting it literally or metaphorically. For example, when Riley flubs her hockey tryout, does it occur because her memory balls went down a tube, or because she's a scared little girl in a new place who's emotions are ruled by fear, and anger? I think the film resonates more with those interpreting the film along the latter.
 
Best Pixar movie in years.

I put it up with the Toy Story trilogy.

Seriously, I felt things about an animated movie I had never felt before...

myemotions_troy.gif
Seriously.

The people around me were a wreck during most of the movie. I haven't seen that happen since UP and I have seen virtually every major animated release since that one.
 
Joy's journey (& Sadness) back to the tower was not a representation of Riley suppressing her emotions. You're confusing cause and effect here. Their absence was what caused Riley to behave as she did. Nothing during Joy's journey through the mind represented/reflected/affected what Riley was going through (apart from the nightmare). Did Joy/Sadness almost destruction in the abstraction chamber affect Riley? Nope. Did Joy's multiple attempts to power the Bing bong's broom back up to long term library connect back Riley? Nope. Joy's journey was a scenic showoff for the animation team to display ideas about the brain...

It was shoehorned that Sadness was polluting memories in the library. Joy and the other emotions expressed surprised that Sadness was able to change the core memories and Joy couldn't turn them back. It was never really explained why Sadness was able to change those memories and then why she was also able to change random long term memories that led Joy back to her.



I'm not sure what you mean by that. Riley's literal story is fine. If we didn't see inside her head it would be a simple story but serviceable. But Riley's story isn't the main one, Joy's is. Joy's story is supposed to be what's driving Riley's a that metaphor is poorly done.

No, Im pretty sure you're the one confusing it. Everything that happened was a metaphor for what riley was going through. The islands crashing represented her losing parts of who she was (which is why they fell at specific times), like you said the nightmare, the train of thought crashing down when she left to run away, the control room freezing up when riley couldnt feel emotions anymore, obviously fear/ disgust/joy/sadness/anger represent her emotions. Joy and sadness are nothing more than emotions in rileys head. Riley was the actual story. The 'pointless' journey was just a genius metaphor describing how she was feeling in detail. Sure some things like the abstraction chamber or joy using a tower of rileys imaginary boyfriends werent really a part of the metaphor but it doesnt mean the overall story wasnt one.


Im pretty sure sadness touching memories just means that Riley is feeling sad when she thinks about them now. Hence when sadness touched all the core memories at the end riley was feeling sad when thinking about all the memories she had in Minnesota, a place that is no longer her home.

I think I'm seeing a pattern in people's enjoyment of the film based on how whether or not they're interpreting it literally or metaphorically. For example, when Riley flubs her hockey tryout, does it occur because her memory balls went down a tube, or because she's a scared little girl in a new place who's emotions are ruled by fear, and anger? I think the film resonates more with those interpreting the film along the latter.

Yeah, really. This is rileys story and the people inside her head are just there to describe it.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Yeah, really. This is rileys story and the people inside her head are just there to describe it.
Actually, according to the art director, Riley is "the set" while Joy and Sadness are the main protagonists, you're right that it's a metaphor tho.
 
Actually, according to the art director, Riley is "the set" while Joy and Sadness are the main protagonists, you're right that it's a metaphor tho.

It's both, it's not just one or the other.

Yeah I guess it is more of both. Riley is what actually is happening and joy/sadness are the main protagonists in the metaphor since they represent the main conflict in emotions within riley at the time. What I meant was that riley, while not necessarily being the main character, is the actual story. Like her emotions literally are the story and a metaphor is used to describe them.
 
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