Pete Doctor

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Waiting in line to see Pixar's Inside Out on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Harlem, yeah, it was mostly filled with kids and parents. Tired, tired parents, and kids who smelled like sweat and rain. But this is an important film. We all know about the voices in our heads, but sometimes we forget that everyone is struggling with the same emotions. Pete Doctor, one of Pixar's animators, got the idea for the film when he was trying to figure out what went on inside his 11-year-old daughter's head. This isn't one of Pixar's silly/sarcastic films--it's actually quite sweet from beginning to end. And its overall message centers around the importance of being sad. Welcoming all of the emotions: really feeling them. This film sticks with you because it forces you to think about how your own mind works. Why do we remember every detail from one childhood day but not the rest? Why do we sing the ice cream truck song at random when we're trying to think seriously? There's so much about the brain that even the experts don't know, so why not give personality to our feelings and imagine a whole team helping us each out?