Inside Out

I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart…..it’s simple, really, we’re all emotional for both the positive and the negative…it’s called a balance and it makes us who we are.  Personify those emotions and put a child into a new situation in one of the best cities in the world (San Francisco….love it) and you’ve got your basis for the latest Pixar flick.  It relies on the voice character actors to emit the feelings they’re portraying working as a team in a little girl who’s out of her comfort zone and does so brilliantly.  Amy Poehler is the stand-out among this motley crew as “Joy”.  She finds the good, the happy place from any situation.  On the opposite end, we have “Sadness” voiced by Phyllis Smith, “Anger” - Lewis Black, “Fear” -  Bill Hader, and “Disgust” - Mindy Kaling, all of whom are key to our girl's, Riley’s, healthy emotional state and well-being.  A special shout-out about Richard Kind as “Bing Bong”, I had a friend like you, but his name was Tommy.  The parallels to this writer’s life are spot-on…the dialogue, extremely familiar, and the one-liners, priceless.  I would love to see Riley progress even further in a sequel.  This film gets a heartfelt rating of happy, silly, fluffy, blue, and rainbow aka 4 stars.