I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did, but Inside Out captures that animated magic that few studios outside of Pixar can. They’ve made some good to okay movies recently, but Inside Out hit all the marks for me.

Things are going really well for 11-year-old Riley. She’s happy living in Minnesota with her parents. She loves her school, friends, and ice hockey. But when her father gets a new job in San Francisco and uproots the family, her life is turned upside down.

We’re guided through this trying time of Riley’s life with an inside look at her emotions: Fear, Anger, Joy, Sadness and Disgust. A combination of fantastic characters, voice casting, animation and creative storytelling makes this one of the top movies Pixar has made.

I loved all of it, partly because it’s reminiscent of the creative Monsters Inc. In that movie, the world of the monsters let Pixar come up with a wild world and show off their imaginative flair in realizing that world. In Inside Out, they get to go nuts again, but within the human mind. How thoughts go through the mind and are stored. How decisions are made. What makes your personality. The visual look of the real world and Riley’s mind are distinct and beautiful. The designs of the emotions and their animation are brilliant. I first thought that they were mimicking the felt look of the Muppets, but on closer shots you can see that they are made of some kind of bubbling energy (the “hair” looks really awesome too). Their shapes and colors work perfectly with their emotion, the juxtaposition is really subtle, but really striking when they talk together.

For example, Joy and Sadness are the stars of the movie and pulled me in every direction. My favorite scene is with the two talking while they’re riding on the Train of Thought. Sadness is blue and is in the shape of a teardrop (brilliant voice casting with Phyllis Smith) and Joy is yellow and in the shape of a star (the perfect role for Amy Poehler). Joy is constantly trying to prop Sadness up and they have a heart to heart sitting on boxes of facts and opinions. Joy is literally a light source and sitting together, both characters glow. It’s this little visual cue of what’s going on. They co-exist and need each other despite being on opposite sides of the mood chart. They’ve been separated from the other emotions in HQ and while they work together, Joy often dismisses Sadness and tries to do everything. It can’t work that way and that’s what the movie is about.

Inside Out tells a very mature story in a way that everyone can understand. Growing up is hard. Living is hard. It’s impossible to be happy all of the time and that’s OK. Understanding and working through life with every emotion bubbling inside of you is normal. You can’t have the good without the bad and the bad without the good.

Impressed from the start to the end. It’s funny and sad and poignant and amazing to look at. Even the two shorts “Lava” and “Riley’s First Date?” are fantastic. Highly recommended.

Bing Bong forever!