Pete Docter stands as a pivotal figure in the realm of animation, particularly renowned for his significant contributions to Pixar Animation Studios. While his directorial filmography may be concise, his impact is undeniable. As one of Pixar’s pioneering animators and a vital member of their esteemed “brain trust,” Pete Docter’s influence permeates numerous Pixar productions. His involvement spans various roles, from storyboarding in A Bug’s Life to lending his voice and story expertise to Wall-E, and co-producing Monsters University. Before his groundbreaking work on Inside Out, Pete Docter helmed Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Up (2009), both films subtly exploring the complex emotions inherent in growing up. However, with Inside Out (2015), co-directed with Ronnie Del Carmen, Pete Docter directly confronts this theme. The film delves into the inner world of Riley, an 11-year-old girl, personifying her five core emotions as she navigates a significant upheaval – her family’s relocation and the ensuing life adjustments.
During his promotional tour for Inside Out in Chicago, Pete Docter engaged in a conversation with The Dissolve, offering insights into the film’s developmental journey. He discussed elements that were ultimately omitted and pivotal decisions that shaped the final narrative, regardless of production complexities.
The Genesis of Inside Out: From Personal Observation to Universal Theme
Pete Docter has frequently discussed the initial inspiration for Inside Out stemming from observing his daughter’s emotional development during her formative years. This personal experience sparked the fundamental question that drove the film’s creation: what transpires within our minds as we navigate life’s complexities? Reflecting on the film’s trajectory, Pete Docter identifies several crucial milestones that shaped Inside Out into the critically acclaimed movie it became.
“The primary breakthrough,” Pete Docter explains, “was pinpointing the core message. Early on, we recognized our desire for happiness, both for ourselves and our children. Yet, life inherently encompasses more than just joy. Acknowledging this reality became central. We considered portraying happiness as a force to be relentlessly pursued, but that felt ultimately futile. The more resonant approach was to explore embracing the full spectrum of emotions.”
An early narrative direction involved pairing Joy with Fear, rather than Sadness. However, Pete Docter and his team soon realized this deviated from their intended exploration of childhood and the often-painful aspects of maturation. “Re-centering the story to pair Joy with Sadness was a pivotal moment,” Docter recalls.
Another significant hurdle was establishing Joy as a relatable and engaging protagonist. Initial audience feedback indicated Joy lacked depth. “We struggled to make Joy rootable,” Pete Docter admits. Efforts focused on emphasizing Joy’s unwavering dedication to Riley’s well-being. However, a transformative moment arrived with the casting of Amy Poehler. “Amy Poehler’s involvement was a real turning point,” says Docter. “She possessed an intuitive understanding of the character’s nuances and offered invaluable insights into making Joy both sympathetic and compelling. Her self-awareness and comedic sensibilities were instrumental in refining Joy.”
Pete Docter also notes an unexpected influence on the film’s tone – ensemble comedy. Initially conceived as a comedic ensemble piece featuring the emotions, a visit to Saturday Night Live and other television show sets broadened Docter’s perspective on writing for ensemble casts. “Witnessing the dynamics of ensemble comedy writing significantly shaped how we approached the interactions and humor within the emotion group,” Docter shares.
The Power of Color in Visual Storytelling
Color plays a vital role in Inside Out, conveying emotional nuances and narrative progression. Pete Docter elaborates on the deliberate color choices in designing the emotion characters and their world.
“When designing the five core emotions as a group,” Pete Docter explains, “we prioritized visual harmony and contrast. Anger naturally manifested as red, and Joy as a radiant yellow. These two served as anchors for the color palette. We then selected colors for the remaining emotions that complemented the group, even if not directly associated with the emotion, like purple for Fear, which visually fit well.”
The concept of imbuing emotions and memories with color emerged early in development. “Color-coding emotions and memories allowed for immediate visual communication,” Docter states. “A purple memory instantly signaled fear, while a yellow one indicated joy.” A significant turning point in color usage occurred during a brain trust meeting. “Someone proposed the idea of a multi-colored memory at the film’s climax,” Docter recounts, “where Joy and Sadness together create a memory blending colors for the first time. This symbolized the nuanced emotional complexity of adulthood compared to the more definitive, ‘pure’ emotions of childhood. The evolving color palette visually represents this emotional maturation.”
Parental Emotions: Reflecting Familial Dynamics
The portrayal of Riley’s parents’ emotions offers subtle yet insightful commentary on parental roles and emotional tendencies. Pete Docter discusses the decision to depict Sadness as the dominant emotion in Riley’s mother and Anger as the primary emotion in her father.
Pete Docter reveals an earlier narrative concept that influenced this choice. “We initially considered a scene where Joy was told her leadership in Riley’s mind was finite, pointing to the parents’ apparent unhappiness as evidence. While the dialogue shifted, the underlying idea of parental emotional predispositions persisted,” he explains. “It felt truthful that individuals often lean towards certain emotional tendencies. Some are more inclined to fear, others to anger.”
Pete Docter emphasizes the deliberate subtlety in presenting this aspect. “We opted not to explicitly explain the parents’ dominant emotions,” Docter notes. “It felt more impactful to let the audience infer these dynamics. Pixar generally trusts its audience to grasp nuanced storytelling.” He believes explicitness would have detracted from the narrative flow. “Over-explaining can disrupt the audience’s engagement,” Docter suggests. “The goal is to maintain focus on the central narrative thread.”
Embracing Imperfection: The Asymmetry in Character Design
Inside Out‘s characters exhibit subtle asymmetries and imperfections, a deliberate design choice championed by Pete Docter to enhance realism. He explains the philosophy behind this approach.
“Since Toy Story, we recognized the computer’s inherent inclination towards symmetry and perfection,” Pete Docter states. “A computer-generated table would be mathematically flawless, whereas real-world objects possess subtle irregularities. These imperfections, though often subconscious, contribute to our perception of reality.”
He illustrates this point with the unsettling effect of perfectly symmetrical facial portraits. “Creating a symmetrical version of your face by mirroring one half is surprisingly disturbing,” Docter remarks. “It doesn’t look like you. We are inherently asymmetrical.”
Pixar actively incorporates asymmetry at various stages of production. “We consciously introduce asymmetry at nearly every stage to achieve greater realism,” Docter explains. This extends to character posing. “Animators recognized decades ago, even in classic Mickey Mouse cartoons, the unnatural look of ‘twinning,’ where both sides of a character mirror each other in a pose. Breaking symmetry creates dynamism and life.” He references contrapposto in Greek sculpture as a historical precedent for this principle. “The natural counter-balancing of hips and shoulders in contrapposto reflects natural human posture. We strive to mirror this truthful asymmetry in our animation.”
The Cutting Room Floor: Embracing Story Focus
Pete Docter approaches filmmaking with a pragmatic willingness to discard elements that, while personally appealing, might detract from the central narrative. He shares an example of a deleted emotion, Schadenfreude.
“We initially included more emotions,” Pete Docter reveals, “like Schadenfreude, who reveled in others’ misfortunes.” He even demonstrates Schadenfreude’s German-accented line: “‘Ha ha, your cries of pain amuse me.'” While audiences reacted positively to this concept in presentations, Pete Docter recognized its potential to complicate the narrative unnecessarily. “Ultimately, introducing Schadenfreude opened the door to a multitude of additional emotions,” he explains. “It risked diluting the focus and adding layers of complexity that the story effectively conveyed with the core five emotions.”
Selecting the Core Five: Research and Intuition
The selection of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust as the core emotions was a result of research and intuitive understanding, according to Pete Docter.
“Early research was crucial,” Pete Docter states. “Joy, Fear, and Anger were always central. They felt intrinsically necessary from the outset.” Sadness emerged relatively early as well. Disgust, however, was less immediately apparent. “Disgust was a later addition,” Docter admits. “We considered Hope and Pride initially.” The team then consulted the work of Paul Ekman, a pioneer in emotion research. “Ekman’s research identifying six basic emotions – our five plus Surprise – proved influential,” Docter notes. The similarity between Surprise and Fear led to their merging. “I reasoned that Surprise and Fear often manifest similarly,” Docter explains. “Combining them into Fear streamlined the emotional landscape.”
Scientific Consultation: The Mind Brain Behavior Institute
Inside Out benefited from consultation with the Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University, adding a layer of scientific grounding to the film’s emotional exploration. Pete Docter clarifies their role.
“The Mind Brain Behavior Institute’s contribution was more neurologically focused,” Pete Docter clarifies. “They provided insights into the physical aspects of memory, storage, and encoding. While not explicitly depicted, their input informed our understanding of memory and its function within the story.”
Memory and Emotion: Bright Memories, Sticky Jingles
Pete Docter discusses how the film’s portrayal of memory was influenced by scientific understanding, and the deliberate creation of the TripleDent Gum jingle’s memorability.
He explains the concept of memory reconsolidation. “The Institute explained that each memory recall creates a copy,” Docter says. “Subsequent recalls access the copy, not the original. This process can introduce inaccuracies, like inadvertently adding details from the recall context. This fascinating complexity, while not directly depicted, informed our approach to memory representation.” Inside Out simplifies this for narrative clarity, such as the ability to rewind memories.
However, other scientific insights were directly incorporated. “The emotional charge of memories became a key visual element,” Docter explains. “Emotionally significant memories are more readily recalled. This is reflected visually by brighter memories, with core memories being intensely radiant. Less important memories are fainter, and irrelevant ones are colorless or faded.”
The film cleverly uses the TripleDent Gum jingle to illustrate memory’s stickiness. “Creating the TripleDent Gum jingle’s memorability was a fun challenge,” Docter recalls. It was composer Michael Giacchino’s second task on the film. The jingle’s simplicity was crucial. “Initially, it was too complex, too clever,” Docter admits. “Real jingles need immediate memorability, often within just a few notes. We refined it to achieve that instant recognition and stickiness.”
The Value of Sadness: A Necessary Emotion
Inside Out champions the often-underappreciated role of sadness. Pete Docter explains his motivation for tackling this theme.
“Exploring the purpose of sadness felt both truthful and less conventional,” Pete Docter explains. “We hoped to resonate with the universal desire for happiness, while acknowledging life’s inevitable disappointments and tragedies. Pretending otherwise feels disingenuous. If we could effectively portray sadness’s value, we could create a character whose goal—happiness—is relatable, yet ultimately leads to a deeper understanding of life’s complexities.”
Consultations with Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor, further solidified this direction. “Keltner highlighted how Western cultures, particularly in America, tend to medicate against sadness, viewing it as something to be avoided,” Docter notes. “He likened this to ignoring pain, which is a signal of underlying issues. Sadness, he argued, serves a crucial purpose in processing loss and readjusting to changing circumstances. Embracing sadness, though unpleasant, is a necessary part of emotional well-being.”
Refining Joy: From Unsympathetic to Nuanced
Joy’s character underwent significant refinement to become more relatable. Pete Docter addresses initial criticisms of her unsympathetic portrayal.
“Early versions of Joy were excessively cheerful and dismissive of other emotions,” Pete Docter admits. “Her lines often downplayed negativity with relentless optimism, which, while intended to be positive, came across as disingenuous and even irritating. Constant cheerfulness can be off-putting in real life. We needed to inject self-awareness and nuance to make her sympathetic. Amy Poehler’s performance was instrumental in achieving this balance.”
Emotional Influence vs. Control: Riley’s Agency
Inside Out carefully balances the emotions’ influence on Riley with her own agency. Pete Docter explains the evolution of this dynamic.
“Initially, we considered giving the emotions more direct control, with microphones at the console to suggest actions and dialogue,” Pete Docter reveals. “However, this created narrative problems. The story is framed from a parental perspective, emphasizing Joy’s loving relationship with Riley. Depicting Riley as a puppet controlled by Joy undermined this. It also misrepresented the nature of emotions. Emotions arise spontaneously, not through conscious choice. Our agency lies in how we respond to them. We stripped out the direct control aspect to reflect this more accurately.”
