The relationship between Pixar’s “Inside Out” and the

Importance of Emotions

MADRID, Anjanelle Cortez

S2070550
Word Count: 1,295

Inside Out takes place in the mind of Riley, who starts off as a happy-go-
lucky 11-year-old. When we are introduced into her mind, we meet her
emotions who control her life at Headquarters -- Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and
Disgust. However, with the sudden news of her move to San Francisco, she is
shattered.

As we learn to realise that Joy is Riley’s primary emotion, this heart-

breaking news brings Riley’s emotions into a stressful situation amongst
themselves as they try to maintain a delighted state for Riley. When Joy and
Sadness set off on a mission to fix an incident involving one of Riley’s core
memories, Anger, Disgust and Fear are left controlling her emotions at
Headquarters.

In the end, we’re faced with the realisation that as Joy tries her hardest to
maintain Riley’s emotions at a constant happy state, Riley is unable to fully
express how she felt with everything happening in her life. When Joy lets
Sadness hold one of Riley’s core memories, she is able to honestly express her
feelings and depict how much she misses her old life in Minnesota.

The movie wraps up by showing an emotion at the Headquarters that

mixes both Joy and Sadness as a memory. Upon seeing this, the emotions
realise that they’ll surely be able to work together as Riley grows and
experiences more in life.
 Pixar’s Inside Out has not only come for kids’ hearts, but for adults’ too.
The story of Riley and how her emotions play a role in her life has put more
emphasis in people on how important it is to acknowledge all our emotions.
This paper will pinpoint 4 ways on how Inside Out depicted the importance of
our emotions; emotions defining our identity, validating every emotion, the 6
components of emotions and lastly, letting out our “negative” emotions for new
“positive” ones.1

Studies show that emotions define our identity (Keltner & Ekman, 2015)
When we link this back to the movie, we are aware that Riley’s personality is
defined by Joy. Hence the reason why Joy is constantly on her toes about
wanting Riley to feel happiness all the time--that’s Joy’s duty to Riley. This also
elucidates the reason why Riley felt emotionless when Joy and Sadness went on
fulfilling their mission to save Riley’s core memories. Since the emotion that
defined Riley was absent, it led to Riley being unable to feel anything. “Guys,
we can’t make Riley feel anything.”, a quote from Fear when the control panel
was not responding to any of Anger, Disgust or Fear’s commands as a way to
fix the situation. For these reasons, Inside Out was able to depict how our
emotions define who we are as a person and how we perceive the world.

Another needed lesson that Inside Out has taught many is reminding us to
validate every emotion rather than constantly re-interpret them into positive
ones. (Klein, n.d.) This can be known as cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive
reappraisal or realistic thinking means identifying negative expectations and to
evaluate them more realistically. (Greeson, Tory Eisenlohr-Moul & Eisenlohr-
Moul, 2014, #)

This concept was depicted beautifully and delicately. When we see Joy,
Sadness and Riley’s imaginary friend, Bing Bong make their way to the Train
1 The words positive and negative are in quotation marks to emphasise that there really are no positive or
negative emotions since every emotion is needed for our development. However, to clarify my point, I shall use
positive and negative as a distinction in between more favourable emotions and not so favourable emotions.
of Thought, the trio are perplexed to see Imagination Land being destroyed.
Moreover, Bing Bong’s wagon is seen being dumped into Riley’s Memory
Dump, where faded memories are present and will soon disappear if completely
forgotten. Bing Bong is filled with sorrow and heartache as he sees his one last
object that connected him to Riley being heedlessly thrown into the pit. Joy
approaches him to try and cheer him up just like she always does in any given
situation. However, this generous act for Bing Bong actually portrays what
cognitive reappraisal is. She is encouraging Bing Bong to re-interpret his loss
and shift his emotions to something positive instead. Though it does seem
reasonable, this approach is not for everybody. Researchers have actually found
that using this approach has increased rather than decreased depression amongst
teenagers.

After Joy’s attempt to console, we see Sadness approach Bing Bong.

When Sadness acknowledges Bing Bong’s feelings by having him open up, we
are made aware of the importance of his wagon. And finally, after expressing
his emotions to Sadness, he breaks down in tears and hugs Sadness. Joy seems
annoyed, thinking that this will only prolong the journey to their destination.
However, once Bing Bong wiped his tears, he was able to feel at ease and
swiftly direct the trio to the Train of Thought. Joy is amazed and asks Sadness
how she was able to console Bing Bong. Sadness said, “I don’t know. He was
sad, so I just listened to what [he said]”. Yet another essential lesson learned
about managing our emotions displayed in such a light-hearted matter. We must
validate and understand why one might feel the way they are feeling, rather than
have them instantly think positive. And with the help of this scene between the
trio, we know that a simple conversation by validating the other’s emotions can
significantly help out with expressing their truest emotions.

Lastly, this remarkable Pixar film has taught us to let out our “negative”
emotions for new “positive” ones.
 In the Pixar-hit movie, we see Riley leaving home in San Francisco in
hopes to get back to Minnesota. As the following scenes play on, we also are
shown the 6 components of the emotion process. The person-environment
relationship is depicted when Sadness took control over Riley whilst on the bus.
Riley was able to assess her circumstances that triggered reality check to get off
the bus. This process is namely known as cognitive appraisal. The subjective
experience of emotion present in Riley was a mixture of being scared and
worried due to the fact that she had been hit with the realisation of her situation.
The internal bodily changes that she was experiencing consisted of her heart
rapidly pounding and shortness of breath. Following the change in her body, her
facial expression showed confusion and anxiousness, showing signs that she
was perplexed. Lastly, when she got home, she was finally able to express her
emotions to her family and her reasoning as to why she wanted to leave.

With the help of these 6 components, we realise that Joy has come to
terms in accepting Sadness. In the following scene where Riley speaks with her
parents, rather than suppressing such “negative” feelings, Joy insists that
Sadness takes control to let out what Riley has been suppressing for quite a
while. As Riley is finally able to express her truest of emotions, her parents
share their same thoughts about how much they miss Minnesota. When the
family comes in for a group hug to console one another, Sadness brings in Joy
to have her command be added onto this memory, to turn this moment into a
heartfelt and loving memory. When we see Riley smile, a memory rolls into
Headquarters that shows a blend of Joy and Sadness. The memory of which Joy
and Sadness combine displays that all our different emotions go hand-in-hand
with one another. Prominently shown throughout the movie, without Sadness,
there would be no Joy.

To conclude, Pixar’s brilliantly made Inside Out has put into a lighter and
simpler perspective on how we as humans should pay more attention to our
emotions, as well as how our emotions define our identity, validating every
emotion rather than constantly re-interpreting them into positive ones and how
the 6 components of emotions. It has put such emphasis on how we ourselves
need to understand what we are feeling. Moreover, how discussion between one
another about our emotions should not be overlooked. Our emotions can and
will always make or break any situation. By understanding, by communicating
and by acknowledging each other’s emotions, it reassures us humans that we are
heard.

Bibliography

Greeson, Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, J., & Eisenlohr-Moul, T. (2014).

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Chronic Pain. In Mindfulness-

Based Treatment Approaches (Second ed.).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/cognitive-reappraisal

Keltner, D., & Ekman, P. (2015, July 3). The Science of ‘Inside Out’. The

New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/opinion/sunday/the-science-of-

inside-out.html

Klein, Y. (n.d.). Five Lessons About Emotions Teens Can Learn from The

Movie Inside Out. Evolve. https://evolvetreatment.com/blog/five-lessons-

inside-out/