Inside Out Hero's Journey by Peyton Reddy

Status Quo

4057611 — 2025-05-29 17:57:14 UTC

The Status Quo in Inside Out is when Riley is young and growing up. She only feels the main five emotions, but mostly joy. Riley learns how to make friends, try new foods, and has no worries in her mind. During this time she lived in Minnesota. This era is the Status Quo because it shows the normal world Riley lived in before she grew up.

Resolution

4535091 — 2025-05-29 18:43:42 UTC

The resolution is when all the emotion islands get restored and Riley starts to finally get comfortable in San Francisco while Joy realizes that not only her emotion matters but all of the emotions like fear, sadness and anger help develop into what Riley can become in her pre-teen years. This is the resolution because it gives the audience the "happy ending" type where everyone is happy and lives on with their life after the problem.

The Call

4057611 — 2025-05-29 19:27:03 UTC

The call in Inside Out is when Joy and Sadness become separated from the group. Sadness and Joy get sucked up a tube that releases them out of headquarters. They had been fighting over the memory balls and Sadness tripped into the suction. Which lead to Joy following right after. This is the call because losing Sadness is a serious situation. The other emotions have no idea what could happen to Riley, Sadness, or Joy, now that they have left headquarters. They now need to find a way to make it back before long term effects happen to Riley.

Assistance

4057611 — 2025-05-29 19:38:51 UTC

The main assistance is provided when Joy and Sadness meet Bing-Bong. He leads them around Riley's mind and to different obstacles. For example, going through Abstract Thought, Train of Thought, and most importantly helping them escape Memory Thought. While he lead the two through Riley's mind, he shared old memories of him with Riley. This qualifies for assistance because Bing-Bong knew that this task was important and he made it necessary to go save Riley. Bing-Bong also had sacrificed himself in Memory Thought so that Joy and Sadness could make it out which causes them to continue alone.

Departure

4057611 — 2025-05-29 19:48:14 UTC

The main departure in the story is when Riley and her family move out of Minnesota into San Francisco. The move causes different emotions to build up in Riley's head. In her mind, San Francisco was nothing like her old home, and she missed it very much. This is the departure because now that Riley has moved, there is no turning back. Her old life and world is fully in the past. She needed to face her fears and nerves. The move creates the chain reaction of problems created in her brain.

Trials

4057611 — 2025-05-29 20:02:20 UTC

The different trials in the movie include navigating through the maze of memories, Abstract and Train of Thought, escaping the vacuum, Broccoli Forest, and Dream World. Joy and Sadness had ran away from the vacuum through the forest and escaped. Adding on, in Abstract Thought, they had to transform their bodies to different forms so they could escape the room. Then, Joy and Sadness had to run away from their worst nightmares in Dream World. For example her teeth falling out and the headless dog. These are considered trials because Joy and Sadness are encountered with minor enemies and defeated them. As they defeated the obstacles, the two of them became stronger and wiser.

Approach

4057611 — 2025-05-29 20:14:03 UTC

The approach is when Riley has come to the conclusion she is not happy with her life in the moment. Her only thought was to go back to Minnesota herself. So Riley went through her mom's purse and stole her credit card. Then she proceeded to buy a bus ticket that would take her back to her old home. After this, she packed up her bags and was about to leave her house. Meanwhile on the inside of her mind, the Memory Island are starting to crumble because of these decisions. This is approach because the main character, Riley, reflected on her life these past couple weeks and it has made her depressed. Knowing this step is about to be a huge choice.

Crisis

4535091 — 2025-05-29 20:29:42 UTC

As Riley faces on deciding whether to get on the bus to Minnesota, or stay in San Francisco is where the crisis began to start. Joy and Bing Bong cannot find a way to the command center which then leads to them falling in the memory lane and Bing Bong fading into forgetfulness. This is the darkest time for Joy and Riley, as they both experience difficulty into finding what is right and at a moment of loss right now.

Treasure

4535091 — 2025-05-29 20:47:27 UTC

Joy soon finds out that the reason Riley is struggling is because she found a memory being dumped of Riley being sad after losing a hockey game. Bing Bong then realizes he still has his rocket-wagon and sacrifices himself for Joy to be able to escape memory lane to go to headquarters where Joy finds the importance of Sadness. Sadness and Joy then work together to restore Riley's joyful memories to convince herself to not take the bus. Although the treasure in this scene is not an actual treasure, the treasure in it is being able to solve their problems by working together in a positive mindset and area.

Result

4535091 — 2025-05-29 20:55:18 UTC

Riley then plays all of her core memories in her head and decides to return back to her parents in a warm conditional hug. Riley then explains her feelings and homesickness which creates a new core memory of sadness and happiness. This result was transformed by experience by which Riley can express her feelings without feeling insecure.

New life

4535091 — 2025-05-29 21:05:53 UTC

Riley adapts to her environment where she still attends school. We then see a scene where Riley makes friends with a guy named Jordan and them starting to hang out together. This new life is a crucial part of the hero's journey because its a sign of a new beginning of a resolved chapter.

Return

4535091 — 2025-05-29 21:14:22 UTC

Joy finds a tech team to install a new dashboard where all the emotions can all work together without conflict. For Riley, she starts to adapt to the new living of San Francisco, becoming more comfortable. This new life for Riley is starting to become easier for her to live in a new area and fits this part of hero's journey by adapting of a new life in a new state and city.