Riley's First Date?

Just after the release of their new masterpiece, Pixar and Disney decided to further expand the world of Inside Out with this short film. Since they did that with Cars and Toy Story, Inside Out wasn't going to be left behind. Riley's First Date? Is quite brief and offers a fun moment that makes you want to keep exploring this world. What characterizes Inside Out is its way of portraying childhood from a psychological and human perspective, appealing to events that young people may experience in real life. Here, everything begins with a simple misunderstanding: the young Jordan seen at the end of the previous film shows up at the Andersens' house. This worries the father because he thinks Riley is going on a date and doesn't consider him a suitable boy. Mr. Andersen's reaction is the same as that of many fathers when they become overprotective of their daughters. This attitude is based on the pretext that the daughter is not old enough to have a partner and falls into the prejudice of labeling the suitor as unsuitable. The short film focuses more on Mr. Andersen's mind, and, as seen in the previous film, his emotions cling to authority. At first glance, Jordan doesn't seem like a suitable boyfriend because both on the outside and in his mind he appears to be a slacker. That gives Mr. Andersen some justification until he discovers that they both have something in common. This makes it pretty funny because it dispels Mr. Andersen's suspicions, and the moral of the story seems to be that the right person to be your daughter's partner shows up when you least expect it. Sure, they could have extended the short film to squeeze more out of it and make the experience more intense, but it works fine as a kind of epilog to the movie because it opens the door to what awaits Riley in the next stage of her life. Riley's First Date? Doesn't have much to it, but it's an acceptable short film that's fine to watch after the movie. My final rating for this short film is 8/10.

I think it was fun to have this short. Funny and simple.

This is best thing connected to Inside Out and it is largely because the concept does not support drama. Instead this is entirely a comedic short. The stiffness of the concept is less apparent here than in the feature film.

Riley's First Date? is one of presumably several short sequels Pixar Animation Studios will make to further the world of their latest success story Inside Out. That film had the ability not only to inspire a wide-variety of ideas that could continue to develop the characters, but also managed to end by setting up the emotional banter and wit that ensued when the focused shifted into the heads of other characters. Inside Out's first short sequel plays with this by taking another look inside the heads of Riley's mother and father during nearly every parent's most feared situation.

When a young boy named Jordan (voiced by Ben Cox) comes over to Riley's (Kaitlyn Dias) house to hang out, Riley's mother and father (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) immediately assume the "worst:" she has a boyfriend. Being that Riley is now twelve, she is inching ever-so closer to being a teenager, so similarly with Inside Out gradually hinting at the loss of childhood innocence by way of natural development, Riley's First Date? continues to expand on that idea. The short, in just under five minutes, focuses on how Riley's mother and father go about reacting to Jordan, despite no comment or indication that the two are dating. Riley's mother, whose emotional headquarters is lead by a less-brazen version of "Sadness," decides to try and pander to her daughter in way of cheap slang and lingo, while Riley's father, whose emotional headquarters is lead by a more conservative form of "Anger," decides to play defensively to try and intimidate Jordan.

The short's brevity is a nice feature, as this isn't a lofty topic and, unlike Inside Out, which is almost entirely played seriously to showcase an eleven-year-old's emotions, this is played for laughs based on a recognizable situation. With that, Riley's First Date? is a sweet and sincere continuation of an idea that, despite its heavy pop culture exposure in the last few months, still has the ability and the promise it did when we first came into contact with it nearly a year ago.

Voiced by: Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, and Ben Cox. Directed by: Josh Cooley.

Absolutely adore 'Inside Out'. One of my favourite Pixar films and ranks very highly by when it comes to animated films in general. Pixar have been responsible for some classic short films. 'Riley's First Date?' is not one of the classics but it's very good and at its best great all the same.

'Riley's First Date?' may lack the imagination of 'Inside Out' and it is for my tastes too short, would have given it a couple more minutes myself. Having said that, it was really fascinating seeing how a very relatable and relevant subject, that a vast majority of people go through, affects Riley's parents with the same idea with the emotions as with 'Inside Out'.

It's a great looking short, vibrant in colour, very rich in detail and with natural and expressive character designs. The music is a nice fit in how it's orchestrated and the mood it creates.

Writing is very funny (Anger in particular) and very sincere, and there is a sweet, fun and touching story. The characters are easy to engage with and the voice acting is very good from particularly Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan. Didn't think personally that Kaitlyn Dias was too old.

Overall, very good and great at its best. Would have been even better with a longer length. 8/10 Bethany Cox