Docter followed that up with the even more ambitious 2015’s ‘Inside Out‘, which explores through clever personifications how the human mind (in this case, that of a preteen girl) works. While that is the hook—the high concept that draws us in—Docter uses it as a springboard to convey his real message: that sadness is important in our lives. And as we approach the end of the year with an encroaching feeling of the blues, compounded by the unbearably difficult year 2020 has been, Inside Out’s message of emotional openness feels more important now. A Quick Refresher on ‘Inside Out’