Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Kyle MacLachlan, Paula Poundstone, Bobby Moynihan, Paula Pell, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Josh Cooley, Flea, John Ratzenburger, Carlos Alazraqui, Peter Sagal, Rasida Jones, Lori Alan, John Cygan, Sherry Lynn, Laraine Newman, Paris Van Dyke.

You know where you are with Pixar. No matter how old you are, no matter your level in interest in cinema, even for the most impatient of observers, it has to be concluded at the end of every film that Pixar delivers to the world, the fun and moral standing of the film is enough to have the toughest cynic floundering for words in which to offer discouragement; Pixar basically rules when it comes the animation world.

Such sweeping statements of the regal nature normally wouldn’t past most lips but with only the Minions/Despicable Me franchise seemingly able to bridge the gap between Pixar and other makers of the animated pleasure, namely the Disney corporation, Pixar’s role is likely to go unchallenged for many years to come; not such a sweeping general statement when their latest film, Inside Out, is placed into the same bracket of Toy Story, Ratatouille and Wall-E, a film which surpasses all expectations and takes the emotions of an adult into the realms of the thoughtful imaginative child.

Emotions are at the core of Inside Out, the emotions that guide and bind us to others and our own sense of worth in a world that is not ours to command or shape, especially when young. We are victims, even slaves to our emotions and our emotional well-being when younger and the film plays on this, in Pixar’s own indomitable fashion, and delivers a thoughtful, well considered and laid out piece of imaginative excellence which really grasps what it means to be young and torn away from everything you love and know when you are at that delicate stage of life, the pre-teen and the onset of puberty.

In films such as Inside Out, the animators are the true heroes of the film, their structure of the writer’s thoughts being carried far beyond what words can sometimes convey but it is the actors and voice artists who bring each personality to life and in Amy Poehler and Lewis Black, as Joy and Anger respectively, those emotions and personalities are captured to their very core, Amy Poehler especially brings the kind of sparkle and thrill to the part that used to live so well in the hearts of Disney.

Inside Out proves that Pixar, once considered the new upstart on the block, is the place to go when you want a film of colourful depth and feeling placed at your cinematic table, an animated must see.

Ian D. Hall