Inside Out appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, the movie delivered excellent visuals.
At all times, the film showed terrific delineation. No instances of softness arose, so the image remained tight and well-defined. I witnessed no jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, no print flaws popped up, probably because the transfer went straight from digital file to Blu-ray without an actual “print” involved.
Colors excelled. Given all the imaginative situations, the film boasted a broad, lively palette, and the hues came across with great vivacity. Blacks appeared dark and deep, and shadows seemed smooth and concise. Everything about the image satisfied.
I also felt pleased with the film’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack. Much of the audio stayed with general sense of the various situations, as only a few action scenes resulted. The livelier sequences displayed nice range and involvement, and the rest of the material also managed to place us in the locations well. The track used the different channels to convey a lot of subtle but engaging information.
Audio quality satisfied. Speech remained natural and distinctive, while music appeared peppy and clear. Effects showed nice dynamics, with crisp highs and warm lows. I thought the soundtrack added zest to the proceedings.
As we move to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director Pete Docter and co-director Ronnie Del Carmen; director of photography Patrick Lin and actor Bill Hader also appear for short visits. Docter and Del Carmen sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/character areas as well as editing and cinematography, cast and performances, and related domains.
As implied by my little synopsis, Docter and Del Carmen devote the majority of their chat to issues connected to the narrative and the characters. I like that emphasis, as it details a slew of interesting choices made in the film’s production. The other topics balance out the track and help make this a terrific commentary.
Two animated shorts appear here. Lava (7:12) accompanied theatrical screenings of Inside Out, whereas Riley’s First Date? (4:40) is new to the Blu-ray.
Lava tells the tale of a lonely volcano. Frankly, it plays like a parody of a Pixar short. Other cartoons have allowed inanimate objects to come to life in satisfying stories, but Lava just seems stupid. It’s arguably the studio’s weakest short and is too cutesy for its own good.
As for Date, it re-introduces us to Jordan, the boy Riley bumps into at the rink toward the movie’s end. We see how various parties react to Riley’s possible first date. It brings back all the original actors and offers an amusing and fun coda.
A slew of featurettes ensue. Paths to Pixar: The Women of Inside Out goes for 11 minutes, 22 seconds and offers details from production manager Dana Murray, director of photography Kim White, writer Meg LeFauve, story artist Domee Shi, editorial manager Becky Neiman-Cobb, director’s assistant Victoria Manley Thompson, story manager Samantha Wilson, lighting lead Angelique Reisch, animator Belen Gil-Palacios, directing Jaime Roe, sets manager Deirdre Warin, and actors Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Mindy Kaling. They tell us about how they got into their jobs and they reflect on aspects of the movie. Parts of this feel like gratuitous attempts at empowerment, but we find some interesting reflections along the way.
In the seven-minute, 17-second b>Mixed Emotions, we hear from Docter, Del Carmen, White, Poehler, art coordinators May Iosotaluno and Pauline Chu, producer Jonas Rivera, production designer Ralph Eggleston, character art director Albert Lozano, character artist Chris Sasaki, and supervising animator Victor Navone. The featurette offers a quick overview of character design for the movie’s main emotions. Despite is brevity, the clip gives us a solid overview.
Next we find Story of the Story. This 10-minute, 30-second piece offers info from Docter, Del Carmen, Rivera, LeFauve, Poehler, story supervisor Josh Cooley and actor Bill Hader. We hear about the roots and development of the movie’s narrative and characters. We get some of this info during the commentary but “Story” still expands on the subject matter in a satisfying manner.
With Mapping the Mind, we locate an eight-minute, 24-second program with notes from Eggleston, Rivera, Docter, Del Carmen, Cooley, White, sets art director Daniel Holland, psychology professor Dr. Dacher Keltner, previs artist Philip Metschan, and character artist Chris Sasaki. “Mapping” covers set design for Riley’s mind. It becomes another rich and informative piece.
Our Dads, The Filmmakers fills seven minutes, 25 seconds with info from director’s daughter Elie Docter and composer’s daughter Gracie Giacchino. They create their own short documentary about what their dads do for a living. This offers an unusual perspective and works better than expected.
After this we get Into the Unknown: The Sound of Inside Out. In this seven-minute, nine-second reel, we locate comments from Rivera, Docter, sound designer Ren Klyce and supervising sound editor Shannon Mills. As expected, “Unknown” looks at the audio found in the film. Like its predecessors, “Unknown” delivers a tight, useful piece.
During the four-minute, 43-second The Misunderstood Art of Animation Film Editing, we hear from Docter, Cooley and film editor Kevin Nolting. Like the title says, “Art” examines aspects of editing for animated movies. Expect another enjoyable show.
Finally, Mind Candy lasts 14 minutes, 26 seconds and offers a series of quick snippets. We see the movie’s emotions as they go through a slew of brief comedic bits for the first six minutes or so. After that, we “meet” the emotions and see how they impact Riley’s behavior. This is a cute and amusing collection.
Four Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 16 minutes, 53 seconds. We find “Riley Grows Up” (4:45), “Joy’s Decline” (3:42), “Misdirection” (4:12) and “Construction” (3:17). These offer some story points that go down unusual paths, so they’re fun to see.
Note that the time totals include introductions from Docter. He tells us background for the sequences and lets us know why they didn’t make the film. Docter reviews the material in a satisfying manner that adds to the compilation of scenes.
The disc opens with ads for The Good Dinosaur, Toy Story That Time Forgot and Tomorrowland. Sneak Peeks adds clips for Disney Infinity 3.0 and Disney resorts. We also get three trailers for Inside Out, including an odd Japanese promo that makes the movie look rather different than it actually is.
A second disc presents a DVD copy of Inside Out. It features the Lava short and the commentary but lacks all the other extras.
Pixar’s best effort in years, Inside Out offers a terrific experience. The movie packs comedy, drama and adventure to provide a lively, enjoyable and unusual tale. The Blu-ray boasts excellent picture and good audio as well as a nice set of supplements. Inside Out dazzles.