Pixar makes amazing movies that totally impact my life, especially Inside Out (1&2). On the surface, they are kids’ movies, but with so much depth. It’s truly impressive how they take complex topics like the brain and make them easy to understand. And these movies give me as a parent a relatable way to talk about the importance of sleep, imagination, how you change mentally as you grow, emotions controlling you, sense of self is separate from your thoughts…..ahhhhhhh the writers behind these two movies are freaking brilliant!!!!!!!!
We just watched Inside Out 2 a few weeks ago and Evie has had an obsession since then. I swear every day she wants to watch “Joy.” Which is fine by me. I have yet to become annoyed with the repeating high piano notes of the theme song. In fact, it still makes me choke up a little. I’m such a softy.
Plus, her watching the show is influencing her to give me great one liners. Like the other morning, she was playing independently with her toys. This does not happen often. I acknowledged that she was doing a great job playing on her own. She said, “Yeah, Joy is really pushing my buttons today.” 🥺❤️
If you’ve seen the movie, you know how sweet this damn comment is.
Not only does Evie have a connection with the movies, Scarlett did as well. After we saw Inside Out 2, I asked her what she thought about it. She said, “it was really relatable.” She saw Riley, going through puberty, having new emotions introduced to her like Anxiety, Ennui, and Embarrassment, and just feeling like she didn’t know who she was as a person. And Scar could relate to that. Like what other cartoon movie speaks to a preteen like this?! Damn brilliant.
I could go on and on and gush about these movies. I have to assume there will be a college course on them at some point if there’s not already. If Taylor Swift has her own course, I think Inside Out should as well. I’d gladly write a 10-page paper on it. But I’m a dork.
[edit – I found this 1 hour discussion on the movie that covers the science behind Inside Out 2. EEEEKKKKK, know that I will be listening to this ASAP. And also found this treasure trove site that has social emotional learning printouts and guides based on the movie. What?! Sorry, fam. We will be doing this. This is what happens when I take time to google things!]
Overall, I think my most favorite line from the second movie is when Sadness tells Joy that Riley wants her. It perfectly shows how we normally just sit back and let our emotions control us, dictating how we feel and what we say. But that’s not the way it has to be. We can control our emotions. We can control Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anxiety, Anger ,etc. They don’t have to sit in Headquarters and push our buttons without our control. We can call them up. We can ask to feel Joy. We can tell Anxiety she’s needs to sit down with a cup of tea and chill TF out.
That one line, “Joy, Riley wants you,” impacted me so hard. GD, Pixar. You rock.
If you’ve seen the movies, let me know your favorite parts. We can geek out together!!!