Today the wife and I decided to catch a showing of Inside Out. We both really enjoy the Pixar movies and despite our kids not being interested anymore, we still like to go and watch them when we can.

Inside Out is the story of a girl’s emotions. Pixar brings to life our emotional state by embodying them in characters that live inside our HQ. Pixar decided to focus on Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust as the primary emotions that control us and help shape us to be who we are. That identity of self is a key component of the plot of the movie because throughout the story our main character, Riley, goes through a really tough time as her family moves her from Minnesota to San Francisco so that the dad can be involved in what appears to be a startup venture.

The rest of the movie revolves around the typical angst that an 11 year old kid goes though when there is major upheaval in their lives. In Inside Out however, the complexity and emotional descent is presented as an adventure through her mind, visiting places such as Imagination Land and Abstract Thought. I won’t spoil more of the plot, but suffice it to say there are hijinks and adventure and the emotions inside Riley have to save her from disconnecting with her feeling entirely.

If we were watching this story only from the outside it actually would look a lot like many other movies where kids have to adjust and learn to live in a new city. Pretty much all the stereotypical plot points around that type of story are present, yet we get to see them from a totally different perspective. This is what makes Inside Out so unique and frankly, so enjoyable to watch. You know that the characterized emotions that you’re watching are simply pieces of a larger puzzle, yet they need to learn to work together and acknowledge the importance of each other. If you’re someone who enjoys a bit of psychology, Inside Out is a personification of self analysis and introspection in a creative form.

The fact that we’re doing a bit of psychoanalysis while watching the story play out doesn’t detract from the fun. The action is crisp and enjoyable, and the visualization of a person’s inner mind is beautiful. There are lots of moments of comedy, and just as many touching moments that will make adults emotional the same way that Toy Story does. Learning to grow up is hard, and learning to adapt to change is hard. Inside Out tackles those topics with creativity, grace and style. I certainly would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of their amazing storytelling.