OVP: Inside Out (2015)

Film: Inside Out (2015)
Stars: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Richard Kind
Director: Pete Docter
Oscar History: 2 nominations/1 win (Best Animated Feature*, Original Screenplay)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

Pixar has been on the naughty list lately, hasn't it?  Honestly since Toy Story 3 has anyone really been excited about the crew over there?  Cars 2, Monsters University, even Brave hasn't aged marvelously (though it's a strong picture that, had it come out in 2006, we'd all be a lot kinder to).  Plus, the new news seems like a list of disappoinments: constant sequels (including the vomit-inducing Toy Story 4) and persistent threats from studios like Laika over who should actually be wearing the Cartoon Crown. As a result, something like Inside Out, inventive, original, and shiny was bound to stand-out, but I'll admit here I was leery.  After drowning in bad movies, perhaps a taste of the old Pixar was going to make us think we were doused in Dom Perignon, rather than just tasting a solid merlot.  The hyperbole for this film was reaching a fever pitch when I saw the film's reviews (Kris Tapley over at In Contention called it the finest Pixar film ever made, which feels a bit much even if it is-wait a few weeks buddy).  Still, I went in ready to be surprised and delighted, and for the most part I was.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film follows five emotions in the mind of one little girl named Riley: Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith), Anger (Black), Disgust (Kaling), and Fear (Hader).  Joy and Sadness throw Riley's world into disarray when they accidentally are sucked out of Headquarters and brought into long-term memory, leaving Anger, Disgust, and Fear to try and control Riley, which is pretty much a recipe for any young girl's teen years, and things turn out exactly how you would expect.  The film follows Joy and Sadness as they bound through Riley's mind alongside her former imaginary friend Bing Bong (Kind), and they learn to appreciate one another and what they bring to Riley's world.

The film's best attributes, and it has a lot of them, are all surrounding the world-creating.  Few films have done that so well-every corner of Riley's mind feels like a new jewel to uncover, whether we're in Imagination Land or on the Train of Thought, this is inventive and creative Pixar, a vintage look at a new world reminiscent of Monsters Inc.  The movie really deserves a nomination for Art Direction, which I doubt would happen (animated films never seem to be cited outside of the sound tech categories), but I think you're going to be hard-pressed to find a more fascinatingly complete world-view in a movie this year.

The world is also complete because we have six instantly lovable characters in the five emotions and Bing Bong.  Pixar's casing prowess (where it towers over pretty much every other studio) shows here in a way not felt since Finding Nemo.  We have the ideally cast Amy Poehler, who is just beloved enough right now for everyone to adore her (ala Ellen) but not quite overexposed yet (like, admittedly, Ellen a few years after Nemo).  The rest of the cast is also ideal, with Bill Hader's nervous vocals joining Mindy Kaling's dismissive alto to Lewis Black's constant passion.  Best of all is Phyllis Smith, most known for playing Phyllis on The Office, who is marvelous as Sadness, a character who doesn't quite get herself and just has a hint of the goth to make her funny, while always being very relatable.  Honestly-there's not a false note in Smith's work, and while I know the Annie Awards don't usually shine to Pixar, it'd be a damn shame if she didn't get a nomination for Best Vocal Work this year.  These six characters all feel very cohesive and work well in the world-they don't feel like added characters just to sell Happy Meals, but instead feel authentic to the story-you actually want to collect them all, not out of OCD but out of liking each one.

The film's faults are few (while Tapley was wrong to call this the best Pixar movie, it's definitely the best Pixar film since Up, and possibly even since WALL-E), but they're there.  The movie occasionally ventures into the cute and cloying with the minds of the parents, for example (going for cheap stereotypical jokes and having all of the emotions in their heads be the same gender, despite Riley being a conglomerate of male and female), and the film's darker edges get a bit glossed over in the final, happy ending.  Overall though, this is a serious step in the right direction for Pixar-a creative endeavor that actually feels like something we'd be proud to watch during Pixar's heyday, rather than just a rescue from a downward spiral.

Those are my thoughts-what are yours?  What did you think of Pixar's latest film?  And where does it rank on the studio's list of movies?  Share in the comments!