Not to make you feel old or anything, but it’s been 10 years since Pixar’s emotional masterpiece “Inside Out” hit the big time. Yes, really.
First premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, the animated film hits theaters on June 19, 2015. After giving fans cars, toys and monsters emotions, “Inside Out” introduced fans to emotions themselves: joy, anger, sadness, fear and disgust. They’re all inside the head of Riley, a young girl just entering adolescence whose entire life is upended when her family moves to San Francisco.
Like any film, “Inside Out” has had a journey to get to the screen, and there are some hidden gems along the way. So, we’ve picked out some of our favorites.
Here are 10 facts about the animated classic that you might not have known.
1. Riley’s emotions almost spoke to her
In one draft of the film, the console in Riley’s head had a microphone, so that her emotions could speak directly to her. She wouldn’t have had a conversation or anything, but they could have influenced her more directly.
“They would be like the voices in her head, and they would suggest things she should say or do,” writer-director Pete Docter explained in a deleted scene for the film. “That ended up being cut just because it felt like something more complicated than we needed.”
2. Joy was more aggressive
One concern that the “Inside Out” team had was that Joy would be easy to hate, simply because anyone who is just optimistic and cheerful can be annoying. But ironically, the character had more of an edge to her at one point. In another deleted scene from the film, she is annoyed at the idea of Riley making friends and suggests that they spit in a girl’s face.
3. Fear almost became a villain
Originally, the journey through Riley’s mind was going to be one that Joy and Fear took together, instead of Joy and Sadness. And during that journey, Fear actually took a brief villainous turn, as he tried to capture Joy and stop her from returning to headquarters. It was… a little dark.
4. ‘The Office’ Isn’t Why Phyllis Smith Was Cast
Phyllis Smith is, of course, best known for playing Phyllis on NBC’s hit series “The Office.” But it was actually her work alongside Cameron Diaz in “Bad Teacher” that got her cast in “Inside Out.” Producer Jonas Riveras saw her in the film, and it broke the character’s sadness for them.
5. Lewis Black mocked directors to cast him
According to Riveras, Lewis Black actually made fun of him and Docter when they called to give him the anger role. “He was immediately like, ‘Great. Nola.com .
6. ‘SNL’ was a reference for some scenes
Apparently, Bill Hader, who played the horror in “Inside Out” (but not “Inside Out 2”), used to hang out at Pixar just because he loved animation. Docter and Riveras met him on campus and got to talking, revealing that “Inside Out” would have a live television broadcast scene.
Hader was still a cast member of “Saturday Night Live” at the time, so he invited the duo to visit the New York set for research, and they did, which led to Hader landing the role.
7. Mindy Kaling cried when she heard the opening song
According to Pete Docter, Mindy Kaling — who voiced Disgust in “Inside Out” but also didn’t return for the sequel — cried when he pitched the film to her. He told NPR at the time that “I thought, ‘Oh no, did she get like a bad script or something?'”
In fact, she was so excited about the story, telling Docter, “I think it’s really beautiful that you guys are doing a story that tells kids that it’s hard to grow up and it’s okay to be sad about it.”
8. It was the first Pixar film without heavy involvement from Steve Jobs.
It’s easy to forget that Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was also a founder of Pixar, but in fact he was. And he maintained a pretty heavy presence there until his death in 2011.
Development on the film was greenlit in 2009, and the team behind the film reunited in 2010. The timeline shook up so that “Inside Out” became Pixar’s first original film to be produced almost entirely without Jobs’ involvement.
9. Riley was almost depressed
Riley is only 11 in “Inside Out,” so she’s really starting to navigate complex emotions for the first time. But in an earlier draft of the film, her struggle would actually be more intense.
“We initially considered sending Riley into a deep depression,” Docter told the New York Times in 2015. “But we realized that wasn’t appropriate.”
10. Walt Disney’s daughter directly impacted production
“Inside Out” may not have had Steve Jobs, or much John Lasseter, but it did have some real Disney help. Walt Disney’s daughter Diane — the company founder’s only biological child, though he and his wife adopted another daughter — provided a space for Docter and his team to work.
In 2011, Diane Disney Miller allowed the “Inside Out” team to hold several meetings at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. This allowed them to focus on their work without the distraction of a busy studio around them.
“Inside Out” is now streaming on Disney+.
