As we get closer to the end of the year and the inevitable barrage of “Best of 2015” lists, one film sure to make a consistent showing is Disney/Pixar’s brilliant Inside Out. Just as the greatest of the Pixar films were in the years of their release, Inside Out is one of, if not the most, original and thoughtful films of 2015. Inside Out is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD and comes packed with an impressive collection of special features.
As a film buff, I’m always excited to see special features and commentaries that immerse viewers in the filmmaking process. Inside Out takes viewers into the human mind, a place so familiar yet complex, you can’t help but wonder how the filmmakers were able to come up with the physical and visual representations of this world. How does one decide the best ways to actually show the complexities of human emotion? There are more than five features included on the films Blu-ray that set out to answer that very question.
In Story of the Story, Director Pete Docter takes viewers through the ideas and memories that inspired the screenplay, and the experiences that helped shape the film and its characters. Another feature, Mixed Emotions, delves into how the filmmakers decided which emotions to focus on, while Mapping the Mind explores how the film’s artists designed a world everyone knows, but no one has ever seen – the human mind.
As a parent of two creative young girls, I was particularly joyed to see a bonus feature titled Our Dads, the Filmmakers. In it, Elie Docter (daughter of director, Pete Docter) and Grace Giacchino (daughter of composer, Michael Giacchino), film their own behind-the-scenes documentary exploring their dads’ work. As a filmmaker and parent myself, it was funny and familiar to watch two daughters so obviously intrigued, inspired, and at the same time bored by the tediousness of the work. The boredom subsides, however, and the inspiration becomes clear and apparent as both girls speak dotingly about the amazing creativity that drives their fathers.
Additional features include Riley’s First Date?, a new Inside Out short film, LAVA, the short film that accompanied Inside Out in theaters, a number of deleted scenes, a director’s commentary and more.
