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Plutchik's Theory In Inside Out

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Inside Out is a 2015 production by Pixar. Directed by Peter Docter, the film follows 11 year old Riley's emotions through a move to San Fransisco from across the country. This is juxtaposed with the journey that the characters Joy and Sadness make back to HQ after accidentally being sucked up a "memory tube" and sent to the outskirts of Riley's mind. Partially following Plutchik's theory of emotion, the film explores primary emotions, and briefly, secondary emotion. Additionally, intensity of emotion and the development of emotions over time is adressed. All are portrayed to varying degrees of success and accuracy.

Inside Out is loosely based on Robert Plutchik's psycho-evolutionary model, and therefore shares many similarities with the theory. …show more content…

Conversely, the development of emotions into something stronger is a major element of the plot. The actions of the personified emotions is a vague exploration of intensity levels. Sadness, for example; completely sinks in on herself, lies down on the ground and has to be dragged when she realises there is no hope. This is representative of the progression of Sadness into the more intense grief. Fear too displays the intensity levels of emotions, usually he is apprehensive. But becomes fearful when faced with a minor obstacle; such as the electrical chord in Riley's memory. When he is placed in control of the control panel Fear quickly intensifies to outright panic. Anger too cycles through annoyance and anger throughout the film. He represents rage at certain times, signalled by his head catching fire. As a result Riley reacts aggressively, such as her shouting at her father. The development throughout the film is based on the relationship between the core emotions, rather than their intensity. By the end of the film, the relationship between the emotions is stronger. The emotions have become more complex, rather than more intense. The development of emotions over time is certainly accurate. The intensity levels of emotions were not inaccurate, so much as not adequately explored and

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