Check This Out #1: Someone Took ‘Inside Out’ and Edited the ‘Inside’ Parts Out!

Welcome to CHECK THIS OUT! A new Rotoscopers series in which I highlight all the neat stuff that’s related to animation, whether it be cool, fascinating, unique, or just plain weird. Beyond simply just finding cool stuff and showing it to you, the series will attempt to showcase the many ways that animation seeps into our mainstream culture and other areas beyond.

At this point in time, I don’t think I need to emphasize how much everybody loves Inside Out, right? Everybody and their mother loves it to death. And a major part of why everybody loves the movie is because of its creative depiction of our human emotional spectrum. Also, everyone loves the Emotions.

That said, I’m sure that there are a few of you who have had a thought that went something like this: “Gee, I wonder what this movie would have been like if there wasn’t any scenes with those lovable Emotions?”

Whether or not you wanted to know the answer to that question, you might be surprised to know that someone out there answered it for us!

Last month, University of Utah film student Jordan Hanzon (kinkosmyers on Reddit) gained notoriety (and, in some ways, the respect of the internet) when he answered a user request by putting up a whole version of Inside Out with ALL the scenes involving the Emotions taken out!

Inside Out is 95 minutes long, with the scenes featuring all of the Emotions comprising 80 minutes of screen time. Take all of that out (save for the Bing Bong scenes) and something interesting happens. In place of a sweet film with a bittersweet center, you have what is basically a short film that presents a character study about resisting, but eventually accepting, change. Without the humor and fantasy of the Emotions, you just have Riley having to deal with intense mood swings as she has to adjust to her new life in San Francisco. It is…incredibly sad and much more heartbreaking as a result. It doesn’t fail to tug heartstrings. It just does it without anything to smooth the edges. Think Boyhood and that’s more or less the general tone of this version of Inside Out.

It’s not entirely perfect though. Because the Emotions took up large chunks of the film, the resulting edit is jumpy and a little abrupt. But it’s still fascinating to watch the same story play out without any of the context.

Thank you for reading this edition of Check This Out. If you have suggestions for future articles, put them in the comments below.

What do you think? What are your general thoughts about Inside Out: The Outside Edition?

Edited by: Hannah Wilkes