Pixar

Inside Out is arguably the Pixar-iest Pixar movie ever made, and here's why: It has heart for days. As an animation studio, Pixar is known for its family-friendly films that mix hilarity and sentiment into a brilliant, bubbly cocktail of visually-arresting adventure. Pixar movies are playful and sophisticated at the same time.

And no, "Pixar-iest" isn't really a word.

George and Steve and Walt

Pixar wasn't always synonymous with anthropomorphized emotions, rodent chefs, and higher education for monsters. They began in the 1970s as a computer company that cranked out terminals for hospitals (Source). Buzz Lightyear was, well, light years away.

Then came George Lucas, the man who brought Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones to the big screen. Maybe you've heard of him, or them? In the late '70s, Pixar teamed up with Lucas' production company, the creatively-named Lucasfilm, and turned their attention from hospital computers to graphics.

Enter Steve Jobs, the man who ushered the iPod, iPhone, and iPad into the iWorld—er, we mean the world. Maybe you've heard of him, too? He bought Pixar, and the company shifted its focus once again: this time from graphics to short films, one of which snagged the attention of Walt Disney Pictures. Maybe you've—okay, we'll stop.

Disney and Pixar cut a deal that said Pixar would crank out one animated movie per year. In 2006, Disney went from partner to parent company when they bought Pixar completely. For almost seven and a half billion bucks. That's billions, with a B.

Down, But Not Out

With its brilliant, imaginative settings, colorful characters, and novel premise, Inside Out is right at home in the Pixar stable of films that bring the funny and all the feels. It also rescued the production company from its first slump.

Cars 2, Pixar's 2011 effort and its first sequel, was largely panned by critics. They followed it up with Brave (2012) and the Monsters, Inc. sequel Monsters University (2013), both of which we were met with a universal "meh" by critics and movie audiences alike. In 2014, for the first time ever, Pixar didn't release a movie at all.

Sequel-itis can be deadly.

When Inside Out debuted in 2015, it showed that Pixar was back, baby. Filmgoers were enamored by Joy, Bing Bong, and the rest of Riley's cerebral crew, and dazzled by Headquarters and the French Fry Forest. Critics touted it as a return to form for Pixar: "Welcome back, Pixar," wrote The Atlantic's Christopher Orr. "You were sorely missed" (Source).

With its poignantly comedic exploration of the loss of childhood, Inside Out showed that Pixar wasn't just back, they were back with a witty, heartfelt, and visually-stunning vengeance.