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Joy, worried that Sadness’ actions could have permanent detrimental effects on Riley’s personality, gathers up all the core memories and attempts to dispose of the sad ones, but she and Sadness accidentally get sucked out of a memory tube and tossed into the wide expanse of Riley’s mind. With her core memories out of place, and Joy and Sadness no longer occupying Headquarters, Riley’s five islands run the risk of collapsing and her personality being thrown off balance, leaving her in a perpetual state of lethargy and depression.

Joy and Sadness must trudge through the deepest mazes, crevices, tunnels and valleys of Riley’s psyche as they try to make their way back to Headquarters. They approach various sections, including the seemingly endless annals of long-term memory; the bizarre hall of Abstract Thought; the non-sensical (but perfectly believable for anyone who’s ever pretended) Imagination Land; Dream Productions, a movie studio of sorts that creates Riley’s dreams and nightmares; and eventually The Abyss, or the darkened pit where memories go to fade away permanently.

Joining them is Riley’s once imaginary friend named Bing Bong (Richard Kind), a bumbling, pinkish buffoon who’s part elephant, part cat and part cotton candy. He also happens to squeal like a dolphin and shed tears of hard candy (we’re talking about an imaginary friend, after all). Bing Bong assures Joy and Sadness they can reach Headquarters by hopping aboard the Train of Thought, although his directions are suspect given his poor literacy skills. All Bing Bong really wants is for Riley to once again imagine she and him blasting off in their rocket wagon, but the movie knows it’s in the nature of humans to eventually forget their imaginary friends.

Inside Out is sort of ingenious in the way it suggests our minds must break down from time to time in order for us to grow and become more resilient creatures, especially after a significant, life-changing event occurs. It knows that mental anguish and uncertainty are simply parts of life and serve their own special purpose. However, the movie refrains from ever stating this explicitly, a sign the film’s directors, Peter Docter, who last made the wonderful Up, and Ronaldo Del Carmen, trust the audience to gather this for ourselves. They assume we have the intelligence to link what’s happening in Riley’s head with our own life experiences. They also don’t go out of their way to pander to kids, who are the target demographic. For the time being, younger viewers may simply enjoy the movie for its spectacle and relentless energy, but the filmmakers know they’ll be able to appreciate the deeper meanings and psychology behind the story when they get older, so they keep things subtle.

Given the subject matter, there are so many directions this story could have taken and so many conflicts the writers could have dreamed up. We all know just how chaotic, extraordinary, complex, and often ridiculous the mind can be and that it’s open to endless interpretation. But the filmmakers don’t get carried away. They stay focused and keep the plot coherent and intelligent, and eventually work toward a heartfelt and poignant message about how all our emotions play an equal role in who we are. This may be obvious in hindsight, and it’s something we become more wary of as we get older, but it helps to be reminded. And on a pure cinematic level, Inside Out, like almost all Disney-Pixar productions, is vivid, rich in detail, charismatic, humorous, and just plain fun. Maybe it’s because we all have a mind and emotions of our own that makes the movie so appealing, or because it sweeps us up and tosses us into an exciting and wondrous new world, the likes of which we haven’t seen before. In any case, there’s every reason to think anyone who sees Inside Out can (and will) enjoy it.

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