Inside Out Broke A Pixar Trend (& Changed What Their Movies Could Be)

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Inside Out has since been overshadowed by Pixar's subsequent successes, but it was this 2015 release that actually broke the animation studio out of a stale trend and changed what their movies could be. The majority of Inside Out takes place inside the mind of a young girl named Riley and makes characters out of her primary emotions — Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger. The movie's production team consulted with neurologists and psychologists to best display how Riley's mind would work in order to achieve something completely new for the company.

Pixar's reputation as an animation studio is excellent, as it continually churns out well-crafted and enjoyable shorts and features, reigning in excellent Rotten Tomatoes scores. Although Pixar's movies are watched by audiences of all ages, the studio has primarily focused on content that children can understand and appreciate. Their premises have been fairly simple, often about the importance of friendship — as with Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., among others — because that's an easy topic for children to follow. Pixar could still achieve its signature emotional gut-punches with these simpler stories, but there was room for the studio to push its material further, especially after a run of rehashing their familiar ideas in multiple sequels.

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Inside Out changed what Pixar movies could be by essentially crediting children with more emotional intelligence than was previously considered. The animated feature tackles the complex and intimidating subject of human emotions through the lens of a child, delving into her hobbies, dislikes, and even memories of her childhood imaginary friend, Bing Bong. The