Holiday Wish Guide: Exploring Emotions with Disney-Pixar's INSIDE OUT

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THE ROCK FATHER has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser for this shop. All opinions are that of James Zahn with influence from his kids. #InsideOutEmotions #CollectiveBias

This summer, Disney•Pixar’s INSIDE OUT did exactly what so many films in that library tend to do – it inspired bigger discussions about important things, like emotions. As grownups, we tend to see things differently than our little ones, and that’s a big part of INSIDE OUT. In many ways, the film is even more emotionally-moving for adults than kids – but the fact that kids are so into the colorful adventures of Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust and Fear makes it easier to open some doors that could easily remain closed. Having seen the film at the Drive-in this summer, the girls were waiting for it to come home, and a trip to Walmart yielded plenty of INSIDE OUT for all (available now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD) along with some new additions to our collection of INSIDE OUT toys by TOMY. We were specifically on a mission to locate Riley’s imaginary friend, Bing Bong.

INSIDE OUT at Walmart

Of all the characters in the film, one of the most memorable turned out to be not one of the five core emotions – but a memory. It was Bing Bong who’d long gone unthought-of and was at risk of being forgotten forever. The “SPOILER” alert for those who have yet to see the film is that he is forgotten by Riley in moment of touching self-sacrifice – continuing to live-on offscreen.

INSIDE OUT Toys

While TOMY’s INSIDE OUT toys have been the subject of discussion regarding the actual emotions that they represent, they’ve also joined some of their pop-culture peers as items that enhance the movie-viewing experience. Since acquiring the Blu-ray Combo Pack, we’ve watched the film several times here at home, and there has not been a single viewing that has not been accompanied by characters from the film in action-figure form. The Rock Daughters™ even have “The Console” that the emotions use to control their human subject from within the mind!

INSIDE OUT - ANGER

Outside the core film and toys, something else that we were really excited to own is the vast assortment of bonus features that come with INSIDE OUT – particularly the all-new short film, RILEY’S FIRST DATE, and the fantastic theatrical short, LAVA. While the Hawaiian love story in LAVA featured an infectious song that kids were singing after only one viewing, RILEY’S FIRST DATE takes a further look at those core emotions – jumping into the minds of Riley’s parents and her young “boyfriend” – the same lad she meets at the hockey rink in the original film. The best part for me is that it could be foreshadowing my own future – as one day there will be someone showing up on my porch seeking the affection of my girls, and in RILEY’S FIRST DATE, Dad and suitor bond over something very near and dear to my heart… the music of AC/DC!

INSIDE OUT

Head out to your local Walmart (or Walmart.com) to get a copy of INSIDE OUT and some TOMY toys to go with it. They’re all featured picks in my 2015 Holiday Wish Guide!