Actors use their faces, voices and bodies to convey what their characters are feeling. “Inside Out” takes a more direct approach. This astonishing animated feature from Pixar uses the feelings themselves as comic characters in the tale of Riley, an 11-year-old girl going through the emotional upheaval of moving, with her parents, from the sweet security of her childhood home in Minnesota to an unknowable fate in San Francisco. From one moment to the next, five conflicting emotions—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust—do what they can to dominate Riley’s inner life. As the action played out, my own feelings ranged from... ||||| From The 'Inside Out,' A Lively Look Inside A Young Mind 
 
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 Pixar's Inside Out is the perfect tool for coming to grips with what has happened to Pixar itself. The film's most valuable insight is that it's natural to feel sad about growing up, which is true even when the thing growing up is a movie studio that has shepherded countless childhoods. As of late, the vibrant creative energies that produced WALL-E, Up, and The Incredibles seemed to be fading into the past as the Disney-owned company did the adult thing: capitalize on its brand potential (Cars 2, Monsters University) at the expense of the unfiltered imagination that defined its younger years. So go ahead. Be sad, or angry, or disgusted, or afraid. It's normal. 
 
 When we're lucky, though, sadness can also bring joy, and Inside Out is joyous indeed. Enter 11-year-old Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), who seems to be the film's hero but is in fact the. . . setting. Hold that thought. 
 
 In her early childhood in Minnesota, Riley was living the dream: hyper-attentive parents, good friends, and youth hockey stardom. Now her dad is moving the family to San Francisco, where she knows no one at school, her parents are suddenly too busy for her, and hipster chefs have ruined pizza by slapping broccoli on top. The horrors of adolescence aren't making these changes any easier to stomach, as all survivors of that traumatic era can attest. 
 
 We know how Riley feels. In fact, we know her better than we've known any character in film history. From the beginning, directors Pete Docter (Up) and Ronaldo Del Carmen plunge us inside her mind to meet her emotions firsthand—the true heroes. What do emotions look like? Turns out they look like Disney cartoons: brightly colored sprites with effervescent shimmering skin, as though ready to burst at any moment. There's Joy (Amy Poehler), a Tinkerbell-ish golden girl who only wants to keep her host happy; Sadness (Phyllis Smith), a hunched-over, turtlenecked moaner who seems to turn Riley's memories as blue as she is; and their three coworkers, high-strung Fear (Bill Hader), posh Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black in the role he was born to play), so hotheaded he shoots fire from his noggin when he boils over. They work in "Headquarters," a giant control room (think the Bridge on Star Trek) with buttons and switches to control Riley's actions, and their work produces the girl's hard-earned memories, which take the form of colorful glowing orbs that replay moments on a continuous loop, like GIFs in a snow globe. 
 
 Hang tight, because there's a lot more going on inside Riley's, and this film's, wonderfully warped mind. (Docter's inspiration was his own adolescent daughter's changing emotional state.) Half the fun is the surprise of seeing what turns up, so a spoiler warning is necessary here: The family's big move touches off a round of infighting in Headquarters, as Joy tries to squeeze Sadness out of the picture for what she believes is the good of Riley's health. But her efforts backfire, and the two are launched to the furthest recesses of the girl's headspace, leaving Fear, Disgust, and Anger running the ship. To get back, Joy and Sadness will have to hitch a ride on—what else?—Riley's Train of Thought. 
 
 The pair's odd-couple journey gives us a grand tour of the brain's many wonders. These include the impossibly deep storage facility that keeps and recalls memories and a literal dream theater—a Tinseltown studio backlot where a film crew in Riley's subconscious stages her nighttime entertainments. Each new stop is another masterstroke in visual storytelling, and the film boasts Pixar's most ambitious production designs to date. Though there's a candy-colored vibe to everything, reminiscent of midcentury filmstrips, there's also a darkness bubbling, a sense that maybe Sadness isn't so misplaced in the psyche of this rapidly maturing youth. 
 
 Given how easy it would have been for Joy and Sadness to feel like exhausting caricatures, Poehler and Smith's voice work is all the more remarkable. The stellar actors help turn their feelings into fully realized characters, in ways that may even override their purpose in the story (how can Joy feel sad? Does that make sense?). 
 
 The idea of a collection of separate beings wrestling over control of a human smacks on paper of the early-'90s sitcom Herman's Head, or the Eddie Murphy comedy Meet Dave, in which tiny aliens in Murphy's skull turned his every action into flamboyant performance art. But Docter's team pulls off a seamless fluidity between "real" life and the wild, abstract life of the mind. Even though five distinct personalities are behind the wheel, Riley's actions and reactions never feel anything but human, and she aches and jumps for joy just like everyone. It's this commitment to humanity that makes a seemingly low-stakes climax—Anger's misguided solution to Riley's California woes—pack such an emotional wallop. What's the worst that could happen? How about deep, irreparable rifts in a child's mental health? 
 
 Inside Out is only 94 minutes long, but stuffed with enough loving detail for five movies. What about the intricate designs of those "personality islands" formed from Riley's core memories? Or Bing-Bong, the imaginary friend from childhood? The "Abstract Thought" chamber, a treat for animation geeks? Above all, there is the film's stealthy, insightful approach to child psychology and its wonderful distillation of concepts that most filmmakers would never attempt to express in this medium. The movie is unabashed about its sentimentality, because it's teaching us about the raw power of sentiment: This is how memories are formed. Inside Out isn't just a sign of renewed youth from Pixar. It's the reason Pixar exists. 
 
 A note on the preshow: The latest Pixar short is "Lava," a love ballad sung between two volcanoes. Sadly, it's one of the company's weakest short films to date, lacking the clever conceits of classics like "Gerry's Game" and "Night And Day." Your brain will be sending the ukulele theme song up to Headquarters for weeks after, and no, that's not a good thing. ||||| In this image released by Disney-Pixar, the character Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, appears in a scene from "Inside Out." The movie released in theaters on Friday. (Disney-Pixar via AP) 
 
 In this image released by Disney-Pixar, the character Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, appears in a scene from "Inside Out." The movie released in theaters on Friday. (Disney-Pixar via AP) 
 
 Inside Out is the first psychological thriller that's fun for the whole family. Really psychological. And really fun. 
 
 The central characters in Pixar's crazy-inventive animated adventure aren't talking toys, or cars, or monsters. They're emotions: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness, all jockeying for control in the "headquarters" of a pre-teen girl. That is, from the control room in her head. 
 
 Connected to HQ is a vast mindscape: a long-term memory area, "personality islands" built on core experiences, Imagination Land, and sectors dedicated to abstract thinking and the subconscious (it's spooky in there). Depending on where 11-year-old Riley (the voice of Kaitlyn Dias) finds herself, it can look like the inside of a pinball machine, or an amusement park, the set of a splashy Hollywood musical, or a trippy surrealist tableau. 
 
 Riley's parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) are picking up and moving from solid, suburban Minnesota to the decidely urban streets of San Francisco. Dad's got a new job. Mom's on the phone with the movers because their stuff has gone missing. And Riley's facing the dread and uncertainty of a new school in a new city. No friends. No idea where she fits in. 
 
 Luckily, she has Joy (Amy Poehler) running things - a perky, pixie-ish bundle of positivity. But as the pressure and anxiety mounts, Sadness (The Office's Phyllis Smith), a blue, bespectacled blob of woe, begins to exert her influence. When Joy and Sadness go off like Thelma and Louise on an urgent road trip across the byways of Riley's synapses, the ready-to-blow Anger (Lewis Black), the contemptuous Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and the quaking, shaking, bowtie-wearing Fear (Bill Hader) are left to push the buttons and turn the knobs. 
 
 Inside Out is the, um, brainchild of Pete Docter, the Pixar veteran behind the Oscar-winning Up, with its octogenarian hero and heartbreaking montage of a married couple's entire life. Sharing directing duty with Ronnie del Carmen and writing credits with Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley, Docter and his gang have produced another gem, a boldly conceived film that refuses to follow box-office formula and doesn't condescend. 
 
 Are five-year-olds going to get the joke about non-objective fragmentation? Not likely. (Hey, can somebody tell me what that is?) But they're going to get what's going on with Riley, the conflicting feelings ricocheting around in her head. 
 
 And if Inside Out sometimes gets dark and scary (scary corners of the mind, scary corners of San Francisco), it's balanced with just the right mix of wit and whimsy, with a sense of the absurd. 
 
 Pivotal to the plot is an imaginary friend from Riley's toddler days, whom Joy and Sadness encounter while they're trekking through the recesses of their girl's memories. Its name is Bing Bong (the voice of Richard Kind) and it is made of pink cotton candy, with the trunk of an elephant, the tail of a cat and - Bing Bong proudly proclaims - the brains of a dolphin. Bing Bong gets to cry in the movie, and Inside Out gets a laugh when the creature starts to bawl. 
 
 How Docter and company pull off this feat is a testament to the nutty spirit at work - and at play. 
 
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 Inside Out Directed by Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen. With Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, Kaitlyn Dias, Kyle MacLachlan, Amy Poehler. Distributed by Disney/PIXAR. Running time: 1 hours, 42 minutes. Parent's guide: PG (for mild thematic elements and some action). ||||| No American animated studio has been as successful developing films that work on multiple levels as Disney/Pixar. From the beginning, they have been interested in telling stories that equally engage children and adults. Consider Toy Story 3, for example. For kids, it's a lively, funny adventure. For adults, it's a bittersweet meditation on the passage of time. I won't argue that Inside Out is as profound or all-around engaging as Toy Story 3, but the films succeed in many of the same ways. 
 
 Inside Out ventures into deep psychological territory, which may make it a hard sell for the littlest of children. The filmmakers (in particular Pete Docter, whose previous animated forays include Monsters Inc. and Up) include plenty of action/adventure set pieces and family-friendly comedy to keep youngsters involved but the main text is arguably the most complex of any Pixar outing. The movie uses anthropomorphized emotions to explore themes about how the entirety of an individual's personality is shaped on a foundation of memories and that regret is a necessary part of awareness. The depth of the subject matter belies that cuteness of the animated creatures populating the screen. The Pixar brain trust venerates veteran Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, and never have they previously come this close to replicating the feel of a Studio Ghibli production. 
 
 The main character is an ordinary girl named Riley (voice of Kaitlyn Dias). She and her mom (Diane Lane) and dad (Kyle MacLachlan) have relocated to the Bay Area for work-related reasons. Riley is sad and depressed - she misses her old house, her friends, her hockey team - pretty much everything. She's trying to stay upbeat but it's hard. Although bits of the story are told from Riley's perspective, the lion's share of the narrative transpires literally within her head. That's where we meet the five emotions that control her moods, organize her memories, and influence her actions: yellow, upbeat Joy (Amy Poehler), blue Sadness (Phyllis Smith), purple Fear (Bill Hader), red Anger (Lewis Black), and green Disgust (Mindy Kaling). When something goes wrong and Joy and Sadness are inadvertently ejected from the "Control Room," we begin perhaps the strangest road trip since Fantastic Voyage: a trek through Riley's subconscious. Along the way, there are some odd encounters, including one with the girl's one-time imaginary friend, Bing Bong (Richard Kind). 
 
 Inside Out takes complex psychological processes and simplifies them in ways that make them relatable and relevant. The film enters deep waters without getting too dark - we are treated to glimpses of the personality deterioration that occurs once Joy and Sadness (and their associated memories) have been removed. She shuts down, becomes uncommunicative, and eventually makes the decision to run away. 
 
 Inside Out has no villain. This is often the case with road trip movies but rarely with animated films, where the desire for black-and-white clarity makes demands upon the screenwriters. Nevertheless, the narrative isn't about defeating a bad guy; instead, it's about a bunch of mismatched creatures attempting to restore balance. 
 
 The art style is un-Pixar-like. Although the "outside" scenes with Riley and her parents are designed with the realism we have become accustomed to in modern animated films, the "inside" material has a fantastical, almost hand-drawn appearance - a shimmery, cartoonish look that Pixar hasn't previously attempted. This not only gives Inside Out its own identity but provides a different appearance in a genre where the look is becoming increasingly generic. (The 3-D, however, is useless - surprisingly, it's as if Pixar really didn't try.) 
 
 In recent years, Pixar has been in a rut, with two mediocre sequels, a year off, and several unspectacular (but entertaining) original productions. To use the cliché, Inside Out represents a "return to form." The open question is how the under-8 crowd will relate to it. This isn't Minions-style high energy hijinks. It requires thought and consideration. Those are unquestionably laudable qualities but are they antithetical to a big box office? One hopes not because Inside Out is the best American-produced animated film we have seen in many summers and deserves to be recognized as such. 
 
 Inside Out (United States, 2015)
– Emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust must strike a balance in the mind of 11-year-old Riley as she adjusts to a new city and school in Disney and Pixar's Inside Out. With a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the flick seems destined to become a classic. Here's what critics are saying: Simply put, the film is "the best one I've seen for a very long time," writes Joe Morgenstern at the Wall Street Journal. He calls it "astonishing" for its "ability to turn an abstract concept—the contending forces of our psyches—into a spectacle that’s as funny, stirring, unpredictable, exciting, and riotously beautiful as it is profound." You'll want to see this one at least twice: "The level of invention is so high, and the density of detail is so great, that it's impossible to absorb everything in a single viewing." This is "a boldly conceived film that refuses to follow box-office formula and doesn't condescend," writes Steven Rea at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Interestingly, he says it's "the first psychological thriller that's fun for the whole family." Yes, it can be dark and scary and absurd, but it also has "just the right mix of wit and whimsy." Pixar's moviemakers have "produced another gem." "Inside Out isn't just a sign of renewed youth from Pixar. It's the reason Pixar exists," writes Andrew Lapin at NPR. There are numerous stops "inside Riley's, and this film's, wonderfully warped mind," but each one "is another masterstroke in visual storytelling, and the film boasts Pixar's most ambitious production designs to date." Amy Poehler as Joy and The Office's Phyllis Smith as Sadness are "stellar," he adds, helping to create a character, Riley, we know "better than we've known any character in film history." And more praise: James Berardinelli says Inside Out "is the best American-produced animated film we have seen in many summers." The scenes inside Riley’s head have an "un-Pixar-like… shimmery, cartoonish look that Pixar hasn't previously attempted," he writes at Reel Views. They help the movie find "its own identity" in a genre that's visually been "increasingly generic." Pixar is finally out of its rut, he says.