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Inside Out Facts & Worksheets

Inside Out is a 2015 American animated coming-of-age film directed by Pixar for Walt Disney Pictures. Inside Out explores Riley’s mind as she adjusts to her family’s migration, with five personified emotions driving her thoughts and behaviors.

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Inside Out is a 2015 American animated coming-of-age film directed by Pixar for Walt Disney Pictures. Inside Out explores Riley’s mind as she adjusts to her family’s migration, with five personified emotions driving her thoughts and behaviors.

See the fact file below for more information about the Film Study, Inside Out or you can download our 22-page Inside Out worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

PLOT

  • Riley, a little girl, is controlled by the following basic emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Riley’s encounters become memories stored as colored orbs in long-term memory each night. 
  • Five floating islands are the components of her personality’s five most crucial core memories. 
  • Joy takes the lead and attempts to minimize Sadness’s power. Joy sees meaning in Fear, Disgust, and Anger but believes Sadness worsens everything.
  • Sadness, one of the emotions in Riley’s thoughts, touches a euphoric memory and somehow turns it sad when Riley moves from Minnesota to a new residence in San Francisco. 
  • Joy, the central emotion, panics and convinces Sadness to return where she can’t affect Riley. This does an excellent job of introducing conflict on multiple levels: Riley’s dissatisfaction with the changes in her life is the leading conflict in the outer story; Joy’s conflict with Sadness is the central interpersonal conflict; and Sadness’ ability to affect established memories catalyzes the plot.
  • Sadness retrospectively hurts good memories on Riley’s first day at her new school, prompting Riley to cry in front of her class and creating a sad core memory. 
  • Joy tries to dispose of this memory with a pneumatic tube, but during a battle with Sadness, she accidentally knocks loose the other core memories, turning off the personality islands. Headquarters is being sucked dry of Joy, Sadness, and essential memories.
  • When Sadness interacts with a core memory, all core memories fall out of their slots. Joy frantically tries to regain them, but she, Sadness, and all the fundamental memories are sucked out of the command center and stranded in Riley’s brain. 
  • Joy and Sadness pursue Riley’s old imaginary friend Bing Bong’s trail to the Train of Thought, which they hope will return them to the command center. They miss the train, however, due to Bing Bong’s unreliability.
  • Sadness consoles Bing Bong, which surprises Joy, who then has her Moment of Truth, in which she learns Sadness is valuable and can help people feel better. This is also a physical turning point for the three of them as they board the train and begin their journey toward the command center.
  • Joy loses Bing Bong and the fundamental memories into the prison of the Subconscious while attempting to wake Riley up (so the Train of Thought can continue). She and Sadness follow Bing Bong there, save him from the frightening clown, and flee.
  • Bing Bong’s resolve to sacrifice himself and stay behind to be forgotten allows Joy to escape the waste. She and Sadness return to the command center to restore the core memories and persuade Riley to return home.
  • Joy and Sadness collaborate to construct a new core memory after Riley returns to her parents. Joy requests that the tech team construct a new dashboard allowing all the emotions to collaborate. Riley has joined the ice hockey squad.

VOICE CAST

PRODUCTION

  • Inside Out was approved for production in October 2009 after filmmaker Pete Docter noticed his daughter Elie becoming quiet and reserved and began to wonder what was going on internally. 
  • Ronnie del Carmen, who had worked as a story supervisor on Finding Nemo (2003) and Up (2009), was invited to join the project as co-director, which he accepted. For accuracy, they took inspiration from their personal lives and experiences. They consulted with psychologists and professionals such as psychologist Paul Ekman and Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Hope, Envy, and Pride were eventually dropped from the storyboard (and Riley’s head) as Pete Docter spent four years going through several script modifications to bring Pixar’s animated success to the big screen.
  • Though the script was rated ambitious and inventive, screenwriter Michael Arndt worked on it for a year before quitting the project in early 2001, and he was credited with supplying new story material. Josh Cooley and Meg LeFauve were recognized as screenwriters alongside Docter for their rewrites.
  • After Docter became concerned about Joy’s discontent, the Inside Out design team investigated more of Riley’s various personality directions. Albert Lozano designed Joy to be tomboyish and naughty. Amy Poehler assisted the team in writing Joy, which depicts a wide variety of satisfaction after overcoming adversity.  
  • It was challenging to balance the film’s tone, for example, viewers’ reactions to Joy’s joyful demeanor while feeling unhappy about the mess Joy manipulates in Riley. Producer Jonas Rivera credited Poehler with establishing these characteristics of Joy’s personality. Eggleston suggested that the film be placed in Riley’s head rather than her brain, and a few sequences regarding the brain were cut.
  • The main characters in Inside Out were cast in August 2013. That year, voice recording began and concluded in 2014. The character designs were revised multiple times before being completed. 
  • Initially, simple forms were devised, such as Anger as a brick, Joy as a star, Sadness as a tear, and Fear as a nerve. Debbie Downer subsequently replaced Sadness’s look. Sadness was going to be dressed in pajamas by Lozano to emphasize her depression.

RECEPTION

  • Inside Out gained critical acclaim and was ranked fourth on numerous critics’ top-ten lists of 2015. Inside Out’s artistry and Docter’s direction were praised by critics, who saw it as a return to form for Pixar. At the 88th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and won Best Animated Feature. 
  • Other nominations include fourteen Annie Awards (ten of which it won), two British Academy Film Awards (one of which it won), three Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (one of which it won), and a Golden Globe Award (which it won). Inside Out was chosen as one of the ten finest films of 2015 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and it also received the National Board of Review’s Finest Animated Film award. 

THEMES

Memory and the Past

  • Inside Out investigates how memories form, how they may alter, how they can be stored as long-term memory, and how, like most of Riley’s piano lessons, completely forgotten. After all, our memories are limited. Riley’s memories are color-coded and emotion-charged. Her Core Memories, however, describe many aspects of her personality. Where we are in our life narrative influences how we recall things. As we become older, happy memories can become tinged with Sadness.

Sadness

  • Sadness, the character, spends most of the film convinced that she is the worst, that she ruins every memory she touches, and that Riley’s life would be immeasurably better if she just vanished forever. Inside Out proves that no emotion, including Sadness, is inherently negative. Understanding our grief opens the door to other, more complicated emotions, such as empathy. No sensation, for example, Joy, should be cherished above or to the exclusion of others (including Sadness).

Change

  • Riley has had to adapt, and change is difficult for her. Riley’s difficulty level is heightened because she is still a child. That suggests she’s not yet very good at controlling her emotions, which makes practicing excellent decision-making difficult. Riley’s vision of the world around her changes when she moves to San Francisco and experiences loss for the first time. 

Inside Out Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Film Study, Inside Out across 22 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Inside Out. Inside Out is a 2015 American animated coming-of-age film directed by Pixar for Walt Disney Pictures. Inside Out explores Riley’s mind as she adjusts to her family’s migration, with five personified emotions driving her thoughts and behaviors.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Film Studies: Inside Out Facts
  2. Emotive Voices
  3. Storyboard
  4. Character Analysis
  5. Going Back and Moving Forward
  6. What is it with emotions?
  7. My Emotions
  8. Analyzing Events
  9. Matching Feelings
  10. Growing Up
  11. Character Design

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main premise of “Inside Out”?

“Inside Out” is an animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The story revolves around an 11-year-old girl named Riley and the emotions that reside in her mind: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. The emotions guide Riley through the challenges of moving to a new city and the complexities of growing up.

Who are the main characters in “Inside Out”?

The main characters are Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger, representing the emotions inside Riley’s mind. Riley herself is the central character, and the film also explores the characters in her external life, such as her family and friends.

What is the significance of the memory orbs in the movie?

In “Inside Out,” memories are depicted as colorful orbs, each representing a specific event in Riley’s life. The orbs play a crucial role in shaping Riley’s personality and emotional well-being. Certain core memories have a profound impact, influencing the

How does the movie explore the importance of emotions?

“Inside Out” explores the idea that all emotions, including sadness, play a vital role in shaping an individual’s identity. The film emphasizes that it’s okay to feel a range of emotions and that they contribute to a person’s overall well-being. The narrative highlights the complexity of emotions and the importance of balance.

What is the significance of the imaginary friend Bing Bong in the movie?

Bing Bong is Riley’s childhood imaginary friend, a whimsical creature resembling a combination of various animals. His character represents the fading of childhood memories as Riley grows older. Bing Bong’s storyline also serves as a poignant exploration of the necessity of letting go of certain aspects of the past to make room for new experiences and emotions.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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