Inside Out Review: 8 Reasons It's Pixar's Best Film Since Up

7. The Jokes Are All Story Related

Inside Out may be a proper tear-jerker, but that doesn't mean there's not a lot of humour waiting to be unleashed (this is Pixar we're dealing with, after all). If you've seen the trailers then you already know the dinner exchange with Riley confronting her sports-loving Dad and Brazilian helicopter pilot-loving Mum (a joke that fits better in the film) and Anger's dismissal of San Francisco's pizza, but they're actually some of the more overt jokes in a film full of subtle humour. What's surprising about the general approach to comedy across the film is how entirely story dominated it is. There's next-to-no pop culture shout-outs and gracious 'parent-only' jokes (the sort DreamWorks use in their non-Dragon films) are nowhere to be seen. Instead, it's all contextual. The sequences set inside the various areas of Riley's mind are bleeding with imagination (especially, shockingly, Imagination Land), but, even at their most "out there", they're never forced. That doesn't mean Docter doesn't get to have fun with the concept he's created - a genius credits montage shows inside the heads of various supporting characters from throughout the film, providing some of the film's most humorous moments.