At its Cannes premiere in May this year, it received Inside Out, Disney-Pixar's new production, received a standing ovation. With this animated film about 11-year-old Riley's emotions, Pixar had outdone itself, was mostly the opinion.
Soon, on 18 November, the DVD of Inside Out will be released. Naturally, Disney wants to take a moment to highlight that, so there is an opportunity for telephone interviews. We call producer Jonas Rivera. We already know that the film got great reviews, but can parents understand their children better now?
As we know, director Pete Docter came up with the idea when he watched his daughter grow up and wondered what was going on inside her. In Inside Out, Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness are real characters at the controls in Riley's head in a control room. When Riley moves to San Francisco and has to get very used to it, the five cannot agree on the right approach, threatening to turn the girl from a happy child into a rebellious one.
Easier said than done
Emotions as protagonists, the brain as a kind of amusement park, wasn't that too silly, we ask Rivera.
'It was indeed easier said than done. We were very excited about the idea because it was cut out for animation, but as soon as we started working on it, we found out that it was both a blessing and a curse. It was great because it had so many possibilities in it, and difficult because we had to completely reinvent everything. Emotions as real persons had not been done before as far as I know. My seven-year-old daughter had to be able to understand it, but it also had to be worthwhile for adults. It was a four-year challenge of writing and rewriting.'
'We wanted it to be playful and funny, because we do sit in a child's head. For the colours and shapes, we took inspiration from Disneyland as well as the synapses and DNA ladders in the brain. We didn't want to make it too esoteric or intellectual, but not too childish either.'
Something that can happen to any child
'We were really bowled over by all the positive reactions we got. Especially those from parents meant a lot to us. The film is also about parenthood, about what it's like to watch your child grow up, about that helpless feeling that can overwhelm you. I can assure you that after making Inside Out have the impression that I understand my own children better now.'
'We emphatically made Riley an ordinary girl. It had to remain very recognisable. The pent-up emotions in the film are a reaction to something that can happen to any child. Like a move. They are not matters of life and death. The most dangerous thing is when Riley decides to run away from home.'
Emotion lesson for autistic children
'Beforehand, we did a lot of research and talked to scientists, psychologists and doctors. From the e-mails and phone calls we later received from that side, we were surprised to find that they were Inside Out can use in their work with children.'
'What was also interesting was that we got several responses from doctors and parents who informed that the film can help children with autism discuss their emotions. We just wanted to make entertaining entertainment with a bit of depth, but we didn't expect this.'
Anger and sadness are there for a reason
In the film, Joy tries to lord it over the other emotions. Sadness in particular does not get any chance from her at first, with (almost) disastrous consequences. Being sad is also important, and it can move other people to come to her rescue.
'We so often tell our children things like "you shouldn't be angry, you shouldn't be sad", but those emotions are there for a reason. There is a reason why we are angry or sad, or dislike something. These are not negative emotions. Anger tells you something about injustice or that something is not fair. In a small child, a tantrum may well be misplaced, but in adults just as well. The bottom line is that anger is telling you something.'
We wanted to protect our children too much
'While making the film, Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen (the directors, LB) and I discovered that we were trying to protect our own children far too much from unpleasant things. To take one example, when our dog died, I couldn't tell my little three-year-old daughter. That is, when I told her and saw how startled she was, I quickly changed my tune. "No way, the dog has gone to doggie heaven, and he likes it there very much." OK, you can do something like that when she's only three or four, but as children get older you shouldn't keep doing that.'
'Many parents struggle with that. You just tend to protect your child. In the film, it's Joy who tries to keep Riley happy at all costs, as it were, on our behalf, but you can't always do that. An overly protective upbringing is not good. Children also need to have other experiences and learn to cross the street by themselves. For parents, this is difficult. That, too, is something the film shows.'
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