Inside Out

This is an unusually insightful film, beautifully rendered. I don’t know what my children saw in it, though Number One Son said that it was the best movie ever, and Little Red wants to see it a third time. I am an emotional movie-watcher, sometimes embarrassingly so, and sure enough I cried at several points.

The development at the end of the film, where the new Core Memories are shown as being multicolored, is brilliant — and all the more so for being understated in how it is revealed. That’s the point behind the story, that growing up destroys those islands within us even as it replaces them with far richer rewards. We don’t get to experience it without cost, though. What a humane and compassionate way to present that truth!

I also appreciated the inclusion of Frank Oz and Dave Goelz voicing minor characters, seeing as the main characters are presented looking very much like muppets—and of course the credit sequence is brilliant.

This is why the best “children’s” productions are the ones that speak to the adults just as much as the youngsters. This is why we watch Pixar films.