With the early release of Onward on Disney+, almost every film ever made by Pixar is now on Disney+. (we're waiting, Incredibles 2) And since you probably don't have anything else to do, it's the perfect time for a movie marathon. If you're taking the opportunity to watch a lot of Pixar movies, it's hard to go wrong with one of the studio's best films, Inside Out.
The story of the trials that come with growing up is one of the most heartwarming, and heartbreaking, films that Pixar has ever made. It's a movie worth watching again and again, and when you do that, you start noticing cool little details, and funny easter eggs, in the background that you maybe had never seen before. Here are few of the random things we hadn't noticed about Inside Out that makes us love it that much more.
Pixar Easter Eggs
We could fill an entire list with the Pixar easter eggs found in Inside Out, there are always a lot in every Pixar project, but for this list, we'll just group them into a single entry. As usual, you can find the Luxo Ball, the Pizza Planet truck, and a reference to The Good Dinosaur, the Pixar film that came after Inside Out. One of my favorites, however, is this shot of Colette from Ratatouille, who can be seen on the cover of a magazine on the coffee table.
Bing Bong's Real Introduction
Here's something that you might miss the first time you see Inside Out, but might make you start to cry the second time you see it. By the time you actually meet Bing Bong in the movie, you may have forgotten that we saw him in the first few minutes of the film, as a young Riley draws him on the wall. Riley even says his name, but her voice is almost entirely drowned out by the score, so it's easy to overlook. The image also includes the "rocket ship" which plays an important role itself later in the film.
Newspaper Foreshadowing
Throughout Inside Out, we see Anger reading a newspaper where the headline of the paper describes whatever is happening to Riley in that moment. That much is obvious, but that's not the only thing you can find in the paper. Here, the first newspaper that we see in the film, references the future being shaky because the emotions are discussing earthquakes while on the way to Riley's new house. However, on the back page, we see the question "Why does everything smell funny?" This is actually foreshadowing, as the emotions, and therefore Riley, ask this same question upon entering the new house, which Disgust thinks smells odd.
The Control Panel
A lot of the action in Inside Out surrounds the control panel. It's full of buttons and levers and it's designed to control Riley's emotions, so whichever of the emotion characters is using it, is obviously bringing up that emotion. However, the panel also lights up based on who is using it. So when Sadness hits a button it turns blue. When Disgust flips a switch, it all goes green, and it flashes back and forth between all the colors when they're all fighting over it, which is often.
Dad's iPhone
Inside Out mostly takes place in the San Francisco bay area, which is a great spot for the film as it's where Pixar is located. Riley's dad is working for some sort of ambiguous tech startup, prompting the move for the family. Inside Out is one of the few Pixar films that takes place in a real, and modern world, so of course, dad has the newest cell phone. Specifically, he has an iPhone. Rather than just showing dad with a generic, made up, cell phone, it's clear from this image that Dad uses an iPhone, and the choice isn't random either. Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple, also co-founded Pixar, and Apple products make a number of appearances in Pixar films as a tribute to the old boss.
San Francisco Shops
As mentioned, the city of San Francisco is almost a character unto itself in Inside Out. A number of city landmarks are on display, but what's more fun, for those of us that know the city, is how well the mood is captured. In the scene after Riley and her mom attempt to get pizza, they walk by a number of shops with cute names, but if you look closely, you'll see this pet grooming (and massage) shop that apparently is open "most days around 10" but then, "some days" are apparently different. The sign might as well read "We're open when we feel like it, good luck." Welcome to San Francisco.
Riley's Family Playing Cards
In Imagination Land we see a house of cards that is being built, by Riley's mind. However, these cards don't look like the standard Hoyle set. The Queen of the deck has the face of the Riley's mother, while the Jack card, actually has a R rather than a J, and it looks like Riley herself. Shortly after we see the house of cards, it falls down, which is a less than subtle reference to the relationship between Riley and her parents at this moment in the film.
Figment Of Imagination
If you've been to a Disney theme park recently, you know that Pixar and its characters are becoming more and more prominent. Disney's Hollywood Studio's has an entire Toy Story Land and Disneyland Resort's California Adventure has Pixar Pier which includes an Inside Out attraction. So it's only fair that Pixar occasionally returns the favor. One of the most popular characters Walt Disney World has ever created is Figment, the purple dragon who starred in the popular Journey into Imagination attraction, and still appears in the ride's current iteration. A framed picture of Figment can be found as Bing Bong, Joy and Sadness are leaving Imagination Land to get on board the train of thought. It's a fitting place to find this Figment of Imagination.
As with nearly every Pixar movie, there's a lot more where all this came from. There's something new to discover every time you watch one of their movies. And let's face it, it's not like right now you don't have the time to watch them all, perhaps multiple times. Although, if you're going to watch Inside Out multiple times, you may need to stock up on tissues.
