Moving to a new home can be an extremely difficult experience for many children, and these children and their emotions ultimately must learn to adapt to this new lifestyle.

“Inside Out” (Rated PG; 102 min) directed by Pete Docter, is an intelligently made film with striking animation, witty dialogue and even heartfelt and touching moments. The artists at Pixar have made their most unique film to date and I dare say, one of their best.

When Riley, voiced by Kaitlyn Dias, is forced to move from Minnesota to San Francisco for her father’s new job, her emotions must learn to cope with the newfound environment. However, these sensations are not shown the way most films would tackle such an event.

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“Inside Out” shows Riley’s feelings quite literally from the inside out.

In Riley’s mind, there is an array of emotions which are made into small characters that inhabit the control center of her psyche. They help Riley interpret the world around her and catalog the various memories she creates along the way.

The first and most predominant emotion in Riley’s life is Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler. Next, is Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith. Joy and Sadness are distinct opposites and often do not see eye to eye. The other emotions are Fear, voiced by Bill Hader; Disgust, voiced by Mindy Kaling; and Anger, voiced by Lewis Black.

When something goes terribly wrong with one of Riley’s core memories, which are extremely important to making up her personality, Joy and Sadness are inadvertently ejected from the control center. They must work together to get back and, in doing so, help Riley maintain her fun-loving and joyous personality in her new home.

Like so many other great Pixar films, “Inside Out” does not skimp on plot nor does it insist on being a film that cannot be greatly enjoyed by viewers of any age.

I, a twenty-year-old male, found myself sitting in a theater with approximately four dozen youngsters and their parents and never once found myself wishing that the film would come to an end nor did I feel that I was watching a film that was made solely for children.

While “Inside Out” makes a valiant and memorable effort, it does not match the greatness “Up” attained in 2009, specifically it does not reach the same level of emotional heft.

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“Inside Out” possesses a of number of touching moments, many of these moments can be found, in similar fashion, in other films. “Up” showed the beautiful love story of Carl and Ellie through a series of short clips in less than ten minutes, which was better than most films can do in one hundred minutes.

Director Pete Docter, who also directed “Up” and “Monster’s Inc.,” and co-director Ronaldo Del Carmen succeeded in making a film which will be viewed by children and others for years to come. It will undoubtedly be a film new animation films are compared to as a benchmark for greatness.

5 out of 5 stars