Inside Out

"Riley" is a pleasant little girl living with her parents in Minnesota where she plays ice hockey, has loads of friends and generally, all in her garden is rosey. Her parents decide they need to move to (a rather drab) house in San Francisco, though, and as you might expect this causes some new tensions, especially as their furniture seems to have been lost in transit! Inside her pretty little head, we see her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness personified and vying for control of her personality during this lively time. Joy seems most adept at managing the situation and keeping things on an even keel, but after an inadvertent intervention from sadness, the two find themselves expelled from the control room and having to make their way back from deep within her memories before it all comes crashing down at the hands of those less optimistic sensations left in charge! It's almost as if there is an "X-Factor" judging panel inside everyone's head making decisions and discussing with each other which of their traits ought to prevail as circumstances dictate - and in the main it works well. It ultimately serves to advise that none of these emotions can exist in isolation and that we must learn to take the rough with the smooth, the good with the not so good. The animation is entertaining, some humour amongst the more thought-provoking stuff; a proper "train of thought" and a childhood friend "Bing Bong" whose role in her life is fading as she grows up. I loved the ending - not least because any sequel would have to deal with the big red "puberty" button on their console and a lot of mischief could be had here.