Pixar Animation Studios has been a household favorite since their first film, "Toy Story", was released in 1994. Since then, they have dazzled and engrossed the eyes, minds and souls of millions of viewers with inventive stories ranging from the secret life of the monsters in your closet, to sentient robots, to a rat with aspirations to become a famous chef. Pixar is known for its insanely brilliant film concepts and ideas that draw out moviegoers almost every year since 1994.
In 2015, Pixar released "Inside Out", a story about an 11-year-old girl's life-shattering move from Minnesota to San Francisco. The story was told from the emotions that live in her mind and control her thoughts and feelings. At first glance, this plot sounds a bit ridiculous and far fetched, but, of course, Pixar executed it flawlessly and with such passion and flair that it received praise, love and tears from viewers all over the world.
"Inside Out" received nominations in "Best Writing for an Original Screenplay" as well as "Best Animated Feature Film." These are two very incredible awards to be nominated for, don't get me wrong, but personally, what I feel like "Inside Out" was so much more. I believe that "Inside Out" deserved a nomination for "Best Motion Picture."
"Inside Out" was such an inspirational movie, that expertly crafted a way in which to explain a very important issue to a wide variety of demographics, specifically children. Not only does the film use a lovable cast of characters to playfully give examples to ideas such as the "train of thought," the "subconscious," and how dreams work, "Inside Out" does an amazing job at explaining emotions and how they work.
Of course, children will understand that there aren't really "little people" controlling your thoughts and actions through a control panel in your head. However, it does show children, and adults as well, how emotions are with us through our everyday lives, helping us along. The movie also tackles a very serious issue: depression.
One of the emotions that is spotlighted through the plot is Sadness. Throughout the film, the other emotions learn that Sadness is just as important as every other emotion, maybe even more so. Through the talent of the people down at Pixar, we see how important sadness is in our lives, and how we have to learn to work with our emotions, similar to how Joy and Sadness learned to work together to fix the problems they had originally created. The emotions teach us that no matter what you go through, your emotions will always be there to help you out.
In his acceptance speech for Best Animated Feature, Pete Docter, the director, said, "Anyone out there who's in junior high, high school, working it out, suffering — there are days you're going to feel sad. You're going to feel angry. You're going to feel scared. That's nothing you can choose. But you can make stuff. Make films. Draw. Write. It will make a world of difference."
I believe that because of the importance of this message that "Inside Out" gives us, that it should have been at least nominated for Best Picture, as well as Best Animated Feature, similar to "Up" in 2009. Granted, due to the other very important and fantastic films nominated, it may not have won Best Picture, but I believe the honor of a nomination, at least, is something this amazing film deserved.
