Inside Out

Not me! I want more of those sweet, delicious spoilers! Thanks lalalei!

I can PM you if you want more.

One thing I found really interesting was a kid in Riley's class who looks just like Sadness. It's not mentioned in the book, but is in the illustrations.

The Protomen enhanced my life.

Happy memories are yellow.

Well, kudos over not taking the old way of making the fearful memories yellow.

'Cause they're the golden times?

I'd make happy memories yellow, but I don't know what green would be.

Peace is the only battle worth waging.

@lalalei: Sure, PM me all the spoilers!!

@lalalei: PM me the spoilers too please

Riley's a hockey fan? Well, I was already enthusiastic about the movie, but now I absolutely have to see it.

x6 What do you have against the Sinestro Corps?

Oh God! Natural light!

PMs have been sent!

The Protomen enhanced my life.

Just obtained the official Junior Movie Novelization. Same with Lego and Big Hero, expect a spoiler free review of the book when I'm finished and a spoiler filled one later.

edited 13th May '15 11:58:03 PM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

That would be most welcome. Oh and cool sig!

Thanks Sijo

Pixar is Back. Those are the first words that came to my mind when I finished the novel adaptation of Pixar's latest film Inside Out. While I enjoyed parts of their last three movies, none of them really hit the same level of brilliance as I knew they were capable of. The studio took a year off to rework story details and plot lines to improve their films, and this film is the definitive payoff. Not since Toy Story 3 has the studio made, for lack of a better word, a film that feels like a PIXAR film.

Oh and when I say "this film feels like a PIXAR film", I'm not just speaking on an emotional level. I'm talking about the level of creativity and ingeniousness at taking a high concept abstract idea (like leaving the last robot alone on earth or a bedroom with Living Toys or an crazy grandpa who escapes modern society through flying on balloons) and somehow making it into a very realistic, believable location and finding an engaging, entertaining story behind all of that abstractness. Inside Out, I am very very pleased to report on, is definitely one of those very HIGH CONCEPT films.

So what's the plot of this mind control film? Without revealing anything, there's only two things I can say about IO. First, the best to describe the central plot is "a self-discovery road trip film". One of those movies Clint Eastwood would make that's not necessarily focused on high adventure, but emotional discovery. I think this is might be the first PIXAR film without an actual or unintentional villain- the only real conflict in the film comes from situations and how the characters themselves react to them. And because of this, the film has much greater freedom to play with the interactions with their characters and their wonderfully creative environment.

Which brings me to my second thing I can really say which is- I am really glad I read the manual before seeing this film. I mean, there's been some definitive times when I've said reading Junior Novelization explains more background than the film does (cough Muppets), but this time specifically I think reading an all encompassing movie novel ahead of time might have saved a few scratched heads in the theaters with this HIGH CONCEPT film. There's a ton of scenes where the book will describe a psychological setting or cognitive science terminology like "Nonobjective Fragmentation" and what an "Abstract Concepts" is, that I sincerely hope the film doesn't spend too much time in exposition land.

Which is not to say the PLOT itself is hard to follow it's just......Well you know how Adventure Time will drop a hint about something in their universe (like the Great Mushroom War or Simon and Marcy's backstory) and won't expand on it until much later on? This movie practically runs on that trope. A film about character's emotions that live inside the brain mind of a young who take control of her reactions to life makes sense in context, but as one of the above posters mentioned there is a high level of Fridge Horror and Fridge Humor that comes from creating a bizarre world. For instance, there's a level of implication that none of the Emotions can really truly feel what the other is feeling (for instance, Sadness cannot process what it means to be Happy, Anger does not understand Disgust, and the only emotion allowed to be happy is Joy who feels it nonstop). This comes back later in the film where, as seen in the trailers, Joy and Sadness are jettisoned from the Headquarters and Anger, Fear and Disgust are left driving the controls and a very funny scene where they each try to replicate what Joy might do and fail miserably (i.e. Disgust doing Joy = Sarcasm).

In terms of characters, I've said this before but Pete Docter is one of the best writers at creating believable character narratives. Each emotion feels fully realized and are incredibly funny to read. Sadness and Joy are the main emotional leads of this picture and a great deal of the film is spent with the two characters trying to understand one another. Yeah, not exactly the most original concept, until you realize that each emotion is directly responsible for their dedicated feeling towards Riley. The best thing I can say about this film is that it gave a detailed reason why Sadness needs to exist that doesn't seem over saturated and having Joy learn the definitive limitations of her power. Like having Joy realize a film where "The dog dies at the end" might not be thought of as a happy ending The rest of the characters (Anger, Fear and Disgust) get their own role in the plot, but for the most part are somewhat lumped together for comedic relief. Which is a little disappointing since they're so interesting characters, but again it was my biggest complaint with Big Hero 6 and the film did fine.

Anyway, to end a review, as someone who majored in Cognitive Science and really enjoys PIXAR's films, I am very excited to see how this film transcends. For all these new movies talking about AI and what it means to be intelligent, this is the most creative I've seen with the concept.

edited 14th May '15 10:10:34 AM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

Pal, you just read a book, that doesnt mean the movie is up to par with it. Dont jump the gun. To be fair other Pixar Movies were pretty much like the books but still.

Discord: Waido X 255#1372 If you cant contact me on TV Tropes do it here.

the level of creativity and ingeniousness at taking a high concept abstract idea (like leaving the last robot alone on earth or a bedroom with Living Toys or an crazy grandpa who escapes modern society through flying on balloons) and somehow making it into a very realistic, believable location and finding an engaging, entertaining story behind all of that abstractness.

Mattonymy, you perfectly *nailed* why Pixar (used to be) so great. And it's WONDERFUL to hear they are returning to form! Thanks, and looking forth to actual spoilers from you!

Junior Novels, especially with family films, are directly lifted from the film's screenplay. They're literally the next closest thing to the original script.

@Sijo Thanks! It will be up soon, I'm just gestation the story.

edited 14th May '15 11:19:13 PM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

Well, I hope the script is masterfully portrayed on the film. I know it will, but its too soon to be sure.

Discord: Waido X 255#1372 If you cant contact me on TV Tropes do it here.

I think this is might be the first PIXAR film without an actual or unintentional villain.

There have been several Pixar films with that quality. Finding Nemo didn't have a single definite villain, just a variety of non-malicious hazards. I don't think Cars had an antagonist either - Chick Hicks was peripheral, more a foil for Lightning's character development than a real villain. Monsters University definitely had no villain - Dean Hardscrabble was tough, but fair (Mike is not frightening, for all his hard work, and Sully really was a lazy bum), and the opposing team were more just jerks than villains. Ratatouille also had no villain.

I'm glad to hear Pixar seems to be back on track, although I worry this film is more the exception than the rule going forward as many of Pixar's upcoming films are sequels (Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, a rumoured Toy Story 4). That isn't always bad - I thought Toy Story 3 was a bad idea at first, and ended up loving it - but I'd like to see more originality from them. On the up-side, Pixar has been bleeding over into Disney, with Wreck It Ralph feeling more like a Pixar premise than a Disney one.

Definitely looking forward to Inside Out.

edited 15th May '15 10:02:42 PM by Galadriel

Ratatouille definitely had a villain: Chef Skinner. Finding Nemo had an unintentional villain in Darla too.

edited 15th May '15 11:14:04 PM by Tuckerscreator

I counted the P. Sherman in that regard as being "unintentional villain", since while he wasn't actually of malicious intent, his actions directly in kidnapping Nemo served as the crux of the dilemma in the film. Chick Hicks is completely a villain in the same regard as Sebulba is a villain. A malicious cheat who will throw others into the line of fire in order to win (as demonstrated by the Piston Cup race). Monsters University had a definite antagonistic villain (Johnny Worthington) who basically existed to make the OK's life miserable. Dean Hardscrabble, while not exactly a villain, was more of an Inspector Javert.

When I say Inside Out has no villain, I mean in the same regards as how Winnie The Pooh (the two canon films) or Kikis Delivery Service has no villain.

edited 16th May '15 1:07:17 AM by Mattonymy

You are displaying abnormally high compulsions to over-analyze works of fiction and media. Diagnosis: TV Tropes Addiction.

I thought the bees were the villains of Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree

And then what was it, Tigger vs. Rabbit?

But Sebulba wasn't the main villain of Phantom Menace; the Trade Federation/Sidious/Darth Maul were.

So you're saying that in Inside Out, not only is the main conflict not with a villain, there is literally nobody in the story who plays an antagonistic role.

Interesting.

edited 16th May '15 11:07:37 AM by Galadriel

@Mattonymy: That's great to hear! Sounds like Pixar is back in top form.

Mike is not frightening, for all his hard work

I still have a very hard time believing no child would ever find a freaking giant eyeball with a wide mouth on legs appearing in their darkened room at midnight NOT pants-wetting terrifying.

I mean, come on. I'd crap myself, and I'm 36.

Other than Hopper and Syndrome, none of Pixar's villains, not even the 'intentional' ones, are very charismatic or even have a powerful screen presence (yes, I'm counting Lotso as well). Funny, since this is a field where the Disney Animated Canon excels.

So, I guess those rumors about an old imaginary friend of Riley's being the villain were false, then? Does that character even show up at all in any capacity?

edited 16th May '15 7:49:07 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

Syndrome was kind of memorable. And had a fitting death.