9) Joy/Riley (Inside Out)
Inside Out may have been the first Pixar film to open at number two in the US box office, but it also grossed more in its first weekend than any other original property ever released in cinemas, so… tit for tat eh? This becomes all the more impressive when you consider how female-centric Inside Out really is, thriving in a system usually dominated by patriarchal Hollywood movies.
Aside from the occasional shift in perspective, the film is almost exclusively told from a woman’s point of view, personifying the inner workings of a young girl named Riley. Three of the five emotions that influence Riley’s life are female and their leader Joy is the driving force, relentlessly optimistic in her outlook yet still realistic, navigating obstacles in Riley’s life with logic and a level head.
Few children’s movies feature a female protagonist at all and those who do are rarely well rounded, yet the very premise of Inside Out revolves entirely around the complexity of a female character, sticking a middle finger to those who think children’s movies need to star boys in order to succeed.
Did the guys at Pixar choose a female lead for little girls everywhere who need a role model, or did they just fear what would happen if they delved too deeply into what goes on inside the minds of teenage boys?
Crumpled tissues never belong in a children’s movie, no matter how beautifully Pixar may render them.