I grew up with Pixar; these stories have followed me my whole life. My parents ensured we never missed a new Pixar release. I loved playing with my Buzz and Woody dolls as a kid, I can quote Billy Crystal’s best jokes in Monster Inc verbatim, and the music of Randy Newman is incredibly nostalgic for me. Seeing Inside Out in theaters was a formative experience. I remember it being a hot summer day, and my family was living in housing on our local military base. My whole family went to see the film at a theater that no longer exists, the tiny theater on base. It was a cheaper option to see the film, so it was full with families of small children. Kids were running up the aisles, and small children constantly had to be taken out of the theater in the depths of fits. As we watched the film, trying to ignore the rambunctious energy of the kids, the depth of emotion swelled between me and my family. I have a distinct memory of my mom looking at me across the aisle, tears glittering in the darkness. By that time I was no stranger to crying in theaters, I remember crying to Toy Story 3 and the last Harry Potter movie before this. But there was something about seeing my own feelings reflected on screen that left a deep feeling in my soul. I started to cry too. 

The story follows Riley, a girl moving for the first time from Minnesota to San Francisco. We watch her animated emotions in her head, with Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger piloting Riley’s reactions and processing these new changes. Despite the fact that we’re looking at the world from one perspective– that of a young, white, American, financially stable, girl– there’s something incredibly universal about the film. The story is a coming of age tale with all the typical markers– change, growing up, loss of innocence. It just breaks it down to its barest bones by focusing on the literal emotions of the protagonist, therefore making it universal. 

One of my favorite things about Greta Gerwig’s filmography is her ability to present sadness beside happiness. Lady Bird does this best, in how it flips from comedy to poignant sadness scene-by-scene. Her writing understands that growing up is painful. Pixar has a particular penchant for tearjerkers. Inside Out is no different, particularly the moment in which “Bing Bong,” Riley’s imaginary friend, sacrifices himself and disappears. It’s a fitting symbol of the death of childhood. But the moment that sticks out to me as the most heartbreaking, is the sequence in which everything goes gray for Riley. She commits to a rash decision out of fear when she catches a bus back to Minnesota. When she returns home to her parents, she breaks down and describes this sadness that has been growing inside of her. The film articulates the idea that life is about sadness beside happiness, one cannot exist without the other. The film presents this idea literally, with Sadness and Joy working in partnership. It’s a particularly astute way of literalizing this idea, and made an impact on me as a teenager.  

The outlining process for this story began in 2010, five years before the film’s release. The screenplay for this film shows that Pixar remains a gold-standard for inventive worldbuilding. This is even despite some very 2010’s jokes, like the Justin Bieber reference. The Emotions also have wonderfully whimsical character design, with Joy’s minimalism a particular stand-out. In recent years, there has been a bit too much of an emphasis on celebrities voicing animated characters, rather than professional voice actors. While Inside Out’s main chorus of Emotions are played primarily by well-known people, the commitment to casting comedians makes the voices of these characters so much more– excuse the pun– animated. Michael Giaccino’s score of simple piano notes and playful melodies is a perfect score for the project. I would argue it remains one of Pixar’s best scores. 
Inside Out made nearly $900 million at the box office, a massive hit for Pixar. The film was not only a box office success, it also remains one of Pixar’s best nine years later. While it is unsurprising the studio decided to make a sequel, I do wonder how the sequel will explore puberty. I hope the filmmakers will take notes from Turning Red (2022), and not shy away from topics like periods. In the same vein, I hope the sequel will take cues from the coming of age hallmark, Are you There God? It’s Me Margaret. In a time when kids are being pushed to grow up faster than ever due to social media and a worsening political ecosystem, I wonder how Pixar will deal with these conflicts. Inside Out succeeds so well as a story due to a complex world and “rules” for the emotions inside Riley, but a simple coming of age story. I hope the sequel builds on this.