Pixar Made Sure Kids Would Understand Ideas Behind 'Inside Out' (VIDEO)

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, June 18, 2015

With Pixar's latest animated film "Inside Out" due in theaters this week, producers made sure young audiences would comprehend the complex ideas behind the child-driven film.

Pixar's new computer animated comedy, "Inside Out" will be premiering in U.S. theaters Friday, and director Pete Docter admitted to taking steps to ensure kids would understand the ideas that take place in the film.

"Inside Out," produced by Jonas Rivera under Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, is a computer animated children's movie that takes place entirely in the mind of Riley, an 11-year-old girl.

The film banks on a never-before-seen premise, particularly in an animated movie, showing young audiences various psychological concepts within the mind of a child, with characters representing Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling).

The five different emotions are personified into characters that struggle to guide Riley through the growing pains of childhood, including moving away to a new city, a disastrous first day in a new school, an embarrassing sports tryout, and other life crises.

Docter and Rivera made sure the film did not appear as an adult narrative talking down to kids, but concentrated more on clarity to ensure their target market understood what the movie was all about.

Rivera told The Verge about bringing in the film crew's children, including their neighbors and soccer team to preview scenes from the movie to ensure they got the concepts Pixar was aiming at.

The production team even held an impromptu question-and-answer portion at the end, asking their young test audiences questions about what the different characters' jobs were, and getting apt answers the kids explained the concepts well.