Joy (Inside Out)

Last updated
Joy
Inside Out character
Joy - Inside Out.webp
Joy as she appears in Inside Out
First appearance Inside Out (2015)
Created by
Based on Joy (emotion)
Designed byAlbert Lozano
Voiced by

Joy is a fictional character who appears in Disney/Pixar's Inside Out franchise. She is one of the five (later nine) emotions inside the mind of Riley Andersen, being the literal embodiment of joy and the lead emotion in Riley's head. She wears a green dress and has bright yellow skin colour and blue hair. In the 2015 film, she is the protagonist and is primarily voiced by Amy Poehler. [1]

Contents

Joy's popularity in Inside Out has led to multiple other appearances in related media. The character returns in Inside Out 2 (2024) once again as one of the protagonists and is set to return in the upcoming Disney+ spin-off show, Dream Productions . [2] [3] [4]

Concept and creation

In early stages of development for Inside Out, Joy was going to be the main source of narrative tension as she wouldn't let Riley grow up. Kevin Nolting said they changed the character arc as "the essence of the problem was, Joy wasn't likable, she was putting Riley in embarrassing situations; Riley was in middle school, but Joy was making her act like a child. As an audience member, you weren't rooting for Joy." [5] Joy was going to be paired with Fear and not Sadness for the film's story, but this was changed as the writers found Joy and Sadness as more dynamic viewing. [6] [7] From the early stages of production, director Pete Docter was set on Joy being the film's protagonist, as reason for why she is the only emotion with a common name. Like the other emotions, her primary color was chosen based on color theory, where yellow is associated with happiness. [8] Docter has said Joy was the hardest character to write in the film, due to her positive attitude potentially grating on people, so her contrast with Sadness and development from it was given a major role in the story to avoid this. [9] Joy's voice actress Amy Poehler added saying Joy and Sadness were written to play off each other. [10] [11] Poehler's casting was also incorporated to ensure the character would not annoy the audiences. [12]

According to designers, Joy was given bare feet and a pixie cut to reinforce her "rambunctious" nature, as well as a blue hair color to avoid comparisons to the Peter Pan character Tinker Bell. [13] The character was designed so that she could incorporate larger-than-life movements, notably in her running. [8] The character's body shape was also based on that of a star, done to emphasize her energetic personality. [14]

Personality

As her name would suggest, Joy is vivacious and has a cheerful, peppy and optimistic attitude, mainly wanting the best for Riley. However, this causes her to act somewhat selfishly towards the other emotions, particularly Sadness, as Joy likes to be in control of how Riley feels. [15] [16] While she thinks of herself as a people person, Joy grows easily frustrated with anyone who doesn't share her worldview. She's happiest when she's in charge, and she's confident that her way is always the right way. [17]

As the movie goes on, Joy, learns to accept Sadness as an integral part of Riley's mind. [18] [19] Amy Poehler stated "Joy goes through her own journey in the film: She realizes that she has to also be sad. And so when we were working on the character together, it was like: What level are we at in the beginning? Can we modulate that? And how does she change?" [10]

Appearances

Films and television

Inside Out

Joy first appeared in the 2015 Pixar film Inside Out. Joy is the first emotion born in Riley's head before she goes onto explain that five humanized emotions live in Riley's head which influence her actions. Riley's world is turned upside down when her family move from Minnesota to San Francisco, California. The move causes the other emotions to act up, but Joy is able to remain in control of headquarters, however when she and Sadness get into a struggle, they accidentally end up in the distant part of the brain and have to find their way back.

At one point Joy and Bing Bong fall into the "Memory Dump", where old memories made by Riley go to be forgotten. Bing Bong sacrifices himself so Joy can get out and get to headquarters. After getting out of the Memory Dump, Joy attempts to find Sadness. She then sees her flying on a cloud, and chases after her. She finds that Sadness is close to headquarters, and flings herself to Sadness, and they finally arrive back home. The others tell Joy to fix Riley's problem, but Joy gives that job to Sadness instead, because they need her to help Riley. Sadness successfully removes the idea of running away from Riley's mind, and Riley starts heading back home. Joy gives Sadness the core memories, and they turn into sad ones. Sadness makes Riley remember all of these memories one by one, and takes control of the panel, and Riley finally reveals her true feelings to her parents - she hates San Francisco, misses the good old days in Minnesota, and that she was pretending to be happy, and was afraid of making them mad because she has always been their "happy girl." Riley's parents admit they feel the same way, and a brand-new core memory is made; it is a mix of happiness and sadness. [20]

Riley's First Date?

Joy returns in the follow-up short film Riley's First Date? , witnessing Riley's interactions with her parents. [21] [22]

Inside Out 2

Joy appears in the sequel, Inside Out 2 , with Amy Poehler reprising her role. [2]

Dream Productions

Joy is set to appear in the upcoming Inside Out spin-off TV show entitled Dream Productions for Disney+. [3] [23] [24] [25]

Video games

Disney Infinity 3.0

Joy, along with the other emotions was included in Disney Infinity 3.0 as a playable character. The playset was first sold in August 2015. The movie received its own game with the playset, where Joy and the other emotions aim to prevent Riley from having nightmares when an incident causes Riley to accidentally change the television channel from a kitten-themed program to a swamp monster show that she saw a glimpse of as she fell asleep. Joy is given a special feature where she can "glide across great distances with ease". [26] [27] [28]

Disney Magic Kingdoms

Joy appears as a playable character to unlock during a limited time in the world-building game Disney Magic Kingdoms, being introduced in a limited time event with a storyline that takes place at some point after the first Inside Out film. [29]

Reception

Joy's cheerful personality itself proved popular but her journey and development throughout the film also received much acclaim, notably her realization of sadness being essential. [30] A.O. Scott praised her characterization saying "Joy reigns supreme. Even without an organizational chart, you can tell she's the boss. She's a sparkling whirlwind of positive energy and friendly micro-management." [16]

Amy Poehler's voice work as Joy received critical acclaim. Bilge Ebiri of Vulture said "The more I watch Inside Out, the more I realize just how much of the film rests on Poehler's shoulders. And she's amazing in it." [12] In a 2018 list of the best voice acting performances in Pixar, MsMojo ranked Poehler's voice work at number 4. [31] Poehler's performance was described as "effervescent" by IGN in 2015. [32]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Joy Voices (Inside Out)". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Guglielmi, Jodi (November 9, 2023). "'Inside Out 2' Trailer Teases the Turbulence of Adolescence With New Emotion, Anxiety". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Kesh, Jonathan (June 17, 2023). "Inside Out is Reportedly Getting Its Own Disney+ Show". CBR. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  4. ↑ Berman, Marc. "'Inside Out' Spinoff Series 'Dream Productions' Coming To Disney+". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  5. ↑ Giardina, Carolyn (December 21, 2015). "Making of 'Inside Out': Which Emotions Didn't Make the Cut". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  6. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (25 February 2016). "Inside Out director Pete Docter: 'We wanted to make sure Riley was not a robot'". The Guardian . Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Malik, Aleena (September 16, 2023). "Pixar's Inside Out Originally Paired Joy With Another Emotion (Not Sadness)". Screen Rant . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Kay, Jeremy (27 November 2015). "'Inside Out': Ode to Joy". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Jones, Chad (June 16, 2015). "Amy Poehler takes pride and joy in 'Inside Out'". The Seattle Times . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  10. 1 2 "'Sadness Is Like A Superhero': Amy Poehler On Pixar's 'Inside Out'". npr.com. June 19, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  11. ↑ Hunt, Elle (16 June 2015). "Amy Poehler on what she learned from filming Inside Out: 'It's OK to be sad'". The Guardian . Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  12. 1 2 Ebiri, Bilge (June 25, 2015). "How Great Was Amy Poehler in Inside Out?". Vultrue . Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  13. ↑ "How Pixar created 'Inside Out' emotions". USA Today . June 19, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  14. ↑ May, Tom (November 5, 2015). "5 surprising facts about Inside Out's character design". CQ. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  15. ↑ Jones, Emma (23 July 2015). "Inside Out takes Amy Poehler on emotional journey". BBC News . Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  16. 1 2 A.O., Scott (June 18, 2015). "Inside Out Finds the Joy in Sadness, and Vice Versa". New York Times . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Joy: Inside Out". CharacTour.
  18. ↑ Wilk, Steven (August 30, 2023). "Disney Psychology: Toxic Positivity in 'Inside Out'". Disney Psychology. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  19. ↑ Aftab, Kaleen (18 May 2015). "Inside Out, film review: Pixar's most ambitious, imaginative and adult film to date". The Independent . Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  20. ↑ Boyar, Michelle (May 3, 2023). "Amy Poehler's Joy Being Inside Out 2's Main Character Is A Mistake". Screen Rant . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  21. ↑ Washington, Arlene (August 13, 2015). "New 'Inside Out' Short Features Riley's First Date". ABC News . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Exclusive: Riley From Disney-Pixar's 'Inside Out' Returns in New Animated Short, 'Riley's First Date'". ABC News . August 13, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  23. ↑ Sanders, Savannah (June 16, 2023). "Disney+ Is Making an 'Inside Out' TV Show (Report)". The Direct. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  24. ↑ Valle, Ali (June 18, 2023). "Disney+ to Unleash New Emotions in New "Inside Out" Show". MovieWeb. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  25. ↑ Weber, Rachel (2024-08-10). "Inside Out Gets Disney+ Series Dream Productions | D23 2024". IGN. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  26. ↑ Dornbush, Jonathon (June 22, 2015). "Disney Infinity 3.0 continues the magic of Inside Out with new story". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  27. ↑ Wallace, Kimberly (May 28, 2015). "Everything We Know About Disney Infinity 3.0's Inside Out Play Set". Game informer. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  28. ↑ Robertson, Andy (May 28, 2015). "'Inside Out' Video-Game Extends Movie Story". Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  29. ↑ Disney Magic Kingdoms (Gameloft) (June 9, 2023). "Update 71: Inside Out | Event Walkthrough". YouTube.
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  31. ↑ "Top 10 Celebrity Voice-Over Performances In Pixar Movies". YouTube . 27 October 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  32. ↑ Singer, Leigh (May 22, 2015). "Inside Out Review". IGN . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
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