Joy (Inside Out)

Fictional character

Joy

Inside Out character

Joy as she appears in Inside Out

First appearance| Inside Out (2015)
Created by|

* Pete Docter
* Ronnie del Carmen

Based on| Joy (emotion)
Designed by| Albert Lozano
Voiced by| Amy Poehler[1]

Joy is a fictional character who appears in Disney/Pixar's Inside Out franchise. She is one of several emotions inside the mind of Riley Andersen, being the literal embodiment of joy and the lead emotion in Riley's head. Joy's character and development are central themes in both movies. In the 2015 film, she is the protagonist and is primarily voiced by Amy Poehler.[1]

Joy's popularity in Inside Out has led to multiple other appearances in related media. The character returns in Inside Out 2 (2024) once again as one of the protagonists and as a supporting character in the Disney+ spin-off show, Dream Productions.[2][3][4]

## Concept and creation

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In early stages of development for Inside Out, Joy was going to be the main source of narrative tension as she wouldn't let Riley grow up. Kevin Nolting said they changed the character arc as "the essence of the problem was, Joy wasn't likable, she was putting Riley in embarrassing situations; Riley was in middle school, but Joy was making her act like a child. As an audience member, you weren't rooting for Joy."[5] Joy was going to be paired with Fear and not Sadness for the film's story, but this was changed as the writers found Joy and Sadness as more dynamic viewing.[6][7] From the early stages of production, director Pete Docter was set on Joy being the film's protagonist, as reason for why she is the only emotion with a common name. Like the other emotions, her primary color was chosen based on color theory, where yellow is associated with happiness.[8] Docter has said Joy was the hardest character to write in the film, due to her positive attitude potentially grating on people, so her contrast with Sadness and development from it was given a major role in the story to avoid this.[9] Joy's voice actress Amy Poehler added saying Joy and Sadness were written to play off each other.[10][11] Poehler's casting was also incorporated to ensure the character would not annoy the audiences.[12]

According to designers, Joy was given bare feet and a pixie cut to reinforce her "rambunctious" nature, as well as a blue hair color to avoid comparisons to the Peter Pan character Tinker Bell.[13] The character was designed so that she could incorporate larger-than-life movements, notably in her running.[8] The character's body shape was also based on that of a star, done to emphasize her energetic personality.[14]

## Personality

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As her name would suggest, Joy is vivacious and has a cheerful, peppy and optimistic attitude, mainly wanting the best for Riley. However, this causes her to act somewhat selfishly towards the other emotions, particularly Sadness, as Joy likes to be in control of how Riley feels.[15][16] While she thinks of herself as a people person, Joy grows easily frustrated with anyone who doesn't share her worldview. She's happiest when she's in charge, and she's confident that her way is always the right way.[17]

As the movie goes on, Joy, learns to accept Sadness as an integral part of Riley's mind.[18][19] Instead of Joy being in charge all the time, Riley arrives to a balance between the different emotions.[20] Towards the end of the movie Joy feels guilty of her role in Riley's struggles and says "I just wanted Riley to be happy".[21] Amy Poehler stated "Joy goes through her own journey in the film: She realizes that she has to also be sad. And so when we were working on the character together, it was like: What level are we at in the beginning? Can we modulate that? And how does she change?"[10] Joy cries herself, showing that she can have her own emotions.[22]

## Appearances

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### Films and television

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#### Inside Out

[edit]

Main article: Inside Out (2015 film)

Joy first appeared in the 2015 Pixar film Inside Out. Joy is the first emotion born in Riley's head before she goes onto explain that five humanized emotions live in Riley's head which influence her actions. Riley's world is turned upside down when her family move from Minnesota to San Francisco, California. The move causes the other emotions to act up, but Joy is able to remain in control of headquarters, however when she and Sadness get into a struggle, they accidentally end up in the distant part of the brain and have to find their way back.

At one point Joy and Bing Bong fall into the "Memory Dump", where old memories made by Riley go to be forgotten. Bing Bong sacrifices himself so Joy can get out and get to headquarters. After getting out of the Memory Dump, Joy attempts to find Sadness. She then sees her flying on a cloud, and chases after her. She finds that Sadness is close to headquarters, and flings herself to Sadness, and they finally arrive back home. The others tell Joy to fix Riley's problem, but Joy gives that job to Sadness instead, because they need her to help Riley. Sadness successfully removes the idea of running away from Riley's mind, and Riley starts heading back home. Joy gives Sadness the core memories, and they turn into sad ones. Sadness makes Riley remember all of these memories one by one, and takes control of the panel, and Riley finally reveals her true feelings to her parents - she hates San Francisco, misses the good old days in Minnesota, and that she was pretending to be happy, and was afraid of making them mad because she has always been their "happy girl." Riley's parents admit they feel the same way, and a brand-new core memory is made; it is a mix of happiness and sadness.[23]

#### Riley's First Date?

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Main article: Riley's First Date?

Joy returns in the follow-up short film Riley's First Date?, witnessing Riley's interactions with her parents.[24][25]

#### Inside Out 2

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Main article: Inside Out 2

Joy appears in the sequel, Inside Out 2, with Amy Poehler reprising her role.[2]

#### Dream Productions

[edit]

Main article: Dream Productions

Joy appears in the Inside Out spin-off TV show entitled Dream Productions for Disney+.[3][26][27][28]

### Video games

[edit]

#### Disney Infinity 3.0

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Main article: Disney Infinity 3.0

Joy, along with the other emotions was included in Disney Infinity 3.0 as a playable character. The playset was first sold in August 2015. The movie received its own game with the playset, where Joy and the other emotions aim to prevent Riley from having nightmares when an incident causes Riley to accidentally change the television channel from a kitten-themed program to a swamp monster show that she saw a glimpse of as she fell asleep. Joy is given a special feature where she can "glide across great distances with ease".[29][30][31]

#### Disney Magic Kingdoms

[edit]

Main article: Disney Magic Kingdoms

Joy appears as a playable character to unlock during a limited time in the world-building game Disney Magic Kingdoms, being introduced in a limited time event with a storyline that takes place at some point after the first Inside Out film.[32]

## Reception

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Joy's cheerful personality itself proved popular but her journey and development throughout the film also received much acclaim, notably her realization of sadness being essential.[33] A.O. Scott praised her characterization saying "Joy reigns supreme. Even without an organizational chart, you can tell she's the boss. She's a sparkling whirlwind of positive energy and friendly micro-management."[16]

Amy Poehler's voice work as Joy received critical acclaim. Bilge Ebiri of Vulture said "The more I watch Inside Out, the more I realize just how much of the film rests on Poehler's shoulders. And she's amazing in it."[12] Poehler's performance was described as "effervescent" by IGN in 2015.[34]

## See also

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* Inside Out (2015 film)
* Inside Out 2

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Joy Voices (Inside Out)". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
2. ^ a b Guglielmi, Jodi (November 9, 2023). "'Inside Out 2' Trailer Teases the Turbulence of Adolescence With New Emotion, Anxiety". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
3. ^ a b Kesh, Jonathan (June 17, 2023). "Inside Out is Reportedly Getting Its Own Disney+ Show". CBR. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
4. ^ Berman, Marc. "'Inside Out' Spinoff Series 'Dream Productions' Coming To Disney+". Forbes. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
5. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (December 21, 2015). "Making of 'Inside Out': Which Emotions Didn't Make the Cut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
6. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (February 25, 2016). "Inside Out director Pete Docter: 'We wanted to make sure Riley was not a robot'". The Guardian. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
7. ^ Malik, Aleena (September 16, 2023). "Pixar's Inside Out Originally Paired Joy With Another Emotion (Not Sadness)". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
8. ^ a b Kay, Jeremy (November 27, 2015). "'Inside Out': Ode to Joy". ScreenDaily. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
9. ^ Jones, Chad (June 16, 2015). "Amy Poehler takes pride and joy in 'Inside Out'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
10. ^ a b "'Sadness Is Like A Superhero': Amy Poehler On Pixar's 'Inside Out'". npr.com. June 19, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
11. ^ Hunt, Elle (June 16, 2015). "Amy Poehler on what she learned from filming Inside Out: 'It's OK to be sad'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
12. ^ a b Ebiri, Bilge (June 25, 2015). "How Great Was Amy Poehler in Inside Out?". Vultrue. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
13. ^ "How Pixar created 'Inside Out' emotions". USA Today. June 19, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
14. ^ May, Tom (November 5, 2015). "5 surprising facts about Inside Out's character design". CQ. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
15. ^ Jones, Emma (July 23, 2015). "Inside Out takes Amy Poehler on emotional journey". BBC News. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
16. ^ a b A.O., Scott (June 18, 2015). "Inside Out Finds the Joy in Sadness, and Vice Versa". New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
17. ^ "Joy: Inside Out". CharacTour.
18. ^ Wilk, Steven (August 30, 2023). "Disney Psychology: Toxic Positivity in 'Inside Out'". Disney Psychology. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
19. ^ Aftab, Kaleen (May 18, 2015). "Inside Out, film review: Pixar's most ambitious, imaginative and adult film to date". The Independent. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
20. ^ Holmes, Linda (June 19, 2015). "Why The Key Character In 'Inside Out' Is The One Who Isn't There". NPR. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
21. ^ Tsintziras, Aya (April 11, 2024). "Who Is Amy Poehler's Character Joy In Inside Out 2?". Game Rant. Archived from the original on December 14, 2024. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
22. ^ Pitman, Robert (October 12, 2024). "How Joy Can Cry In The Inside Out Movies". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on December 15, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
23. ^ Boyar, Michelle (May 3, 2023). "Amy Poehler's Joy Being Inside Out 2's Main Character Is A Mistake". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
24. ^ Washington, Arlene (August 13, 2015). "New 'Inside Out' Short Features Riley's First Date". ABC News. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
25. ^ "Exclusive: Riley From Disney-Pixar's 'Inside Out' Returns in New Animated Short, 'Riley's First Date'". ABC News. August 13, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
26. ^ Sanders, Savannah (June 16, 2023). "Disney+ Is Making an 'Inside Out' TV Show (Report)". The Direct. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
27. ^ Valle, Ali (June 18, 2023). "Disney+ to Unleash New Emotions in New "Inside Out" Show". MovieWeb. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
28. ^ Weber, Rachel (August 10, 2024). "Inside Out Gets Disney+ Series Dream Productions | D23 2024". IGN. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
29. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (June 22, 2015). "Disney Infinity 3.0 continues the magic of Inside Out with new story". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
30. ^ Wallace, Kimberly (May 28, 2015). "Everything We Know About Disney Infinity 3.0's Inside Out Play Set". Game informer. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
31. ^ Robertson, Andy (May 28, 2015). "'Inside Out' Video-Game Extends Movie Story". Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
32. ^ Disney Magic Kingdoms (Gameloft) (June 9, 2023). "Update 71: Inside Out | Event Walkthrough". YouTube.
33. ^ Marsh, Jason (July 14, 2015). "Four Lessons from "Inside Out" to Discuss With Kids". Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
34. ^ Singer, Leigh (May 22, 2015). "Inside Out Review". IGN. Retrieved November 10, 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Inside Out

Films|

* Inside Out (2015)
* accolades
* Inside Out 2 (2024)

Shorts|

* Riley's First Date? (2015)

Television|

* Dream Productions (2024)

Soundtracks|

* Inside Out
* Inside Out 2

Characters|

* Joy
* Anxiety

Related media|

* Disney Infinity 3.0 (2015)
* Lego The Incredibles (2018)
* Disney Mirrorverse (2022)
* Disney Magic Kingdoms (2023)
* Disney Speedstorm (2024)

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Pixar Animation Studios

A subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company.

Feature films|

* Toy Story (1995)
* A Bug's Life (1998)
* Toy Story 2 (1999)
* Monsters, Inc. (2001)
* Finding Nemo (2003)
* The Incredibles (2004)
* Cars (2006)
* Ratatouille (2007)
* WALL-E (2008)
* Up (2009)
* Toy Story 3 (2010)
* Cars 2 (2011)
* Brave (2012)
* Monsters University (2013)
* Inside Out (2015)
* The Good Dinosaur (2015)
* Finding Dory (2016)
* Cars 3 (2017)
* Coco (2017)
* Incredibles 2 (2018)
* Toy Story 4 (2019)
* Onward (2020)
* Soul (2020)
* Luca (2021)
* Turning Red (2022)
* Lightyear (2022)
* Elemental (2023)
* Inside Out 2 (2024)
* Elio (2025)

| Direct-to-video|

* Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000)

|

Upcoming|

* Hoppers (2026)
* Toy Story 5 (2026)

Short films|

| Original|

* The Adventures of André & Wally B. (1984)
* Luxo Jr. (1986)
* Red's Dream (1987)
* Tin Toy (1988)
* Knick Knack (1989)
* Geri's Game (1997)
* For the Birds (2000)
* Boundin' (2003)
* One Man Band (2005)
* Lifted (2006)
* Presto (2008)
* Partly Cloudy (2009)
* Day & Night (2010)
* La Luna (2011)
* The Blue Umbrella (2013)
* Lava (2014)
* Sanjay's Super Team (2015)
* Piper (2016)
* Lou (2017)
* Bao (2018)

|

SparkShorts|

* Purl (2019)
* Smash and Grab (2019)
* Kitbull (2019)
* Float (2019)
* Wind (2019)
* Loop (2020)
* Out (2020)
* Burrow (2020)
* Twenty Something (2021)
* Nona (2021)
* Self (2024)

Feature-related|

* Mike's New Car (2002)
* Jack-Jack Attack (2005)
* Mr. Incredible and Pals (2005)
* Mater and the Ghostlight (2006)
* Your Friend the Rat (2007)
* BURN-E (2008)
* Dug's Special Mission (2009)
* George and A.J. (2009)
* The Legend of Mor'du (2012)
* Party Central (2013)
* Riley's First Date? (2015)
* 22 vs. Earth (2021)
* Ciao Alberto (2021)
* Carl's Date (2023)

Series|

* Cars Toons (2008–14)
* Toy Story Toons (2011–12)
* Forky Asks a Question (2019–20)
* Dug Days (2021–23)
* Cars on the Road (2022)

Compilations|

* Tiny Toy Stories (1996)
* Pixar Short Films Collection
* Volume 1 (2007)
* Volume 2 (2012)
* Volume 3 (2018)

Other works|

* Beach Chair (1986)
* Flags and Waves (1986)

Television series|

* Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000–01)

Television specials|

* Toy Story of Terror! (2013)
* Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014)

Limited streaming series|

* Dream Productions (2024)
* Win or Lose (2025)

|

Franchises|

* Toy Story (1995–present)
* Monsters, Inc. (2001–present)
* Finding Nemo (2003–present)
* The Incredibles (2004–present)
* Cars (2006–present)
* Inside Out (2015–present)

Associated
productions

* Exploring the Reef (2003; short film)
* Planes (2013)
* The Dam Keeper (2014; short film)
* Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)
* Borrowed Time (2016; short film)
* Weekends (2017; short film)
* Monsters at Work (2021–2024; television series)
* Starling (2023; short film)

Characters|

* Luxo Jr.
* Toy Story
* Woody
* Buzz Lightyear
* Jessie
* Bo Peep
* Monsters, Inc.
* Mike Wazowski
* Dory
* The Incredibles
* Bob Parr
* Helen Parr
* Dash Parr
* Violet Parr
* Edna Mode
* Cars
* Lightning McQueen
* Tow Mater
* Sally Carrera
* WALL-E
* Carl Fredricksen
* Merida
* Joy
* Anxiety

Documentaries|

* The Pixar Story (2007)
* A Spark Story (2021)

Disney attractions
and experiences|

* It's Tough to Be a Bug! (1998)
* Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (1998)
* A Bug's Land (2002)
* Turtle Talk with Crush (2004)
* The Seas with Nemo & Friends (2007)
* Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (2007)
* Crush's Coaster (2007)
* Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (2007)
* Toy Story Mania! (2008)
* Monsters, Inc. Ride & Go Seek (2009)
* Toy Story Land (2010)
* RC Racer (2010)
* Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin (2010)
* Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (2010)
* Alien Swirling Saucers (2018)
* Slinky Dog Dash (2018)
* Cars Land (2012)
* Luigi's Flying Tires (2012)
* Radiator Springs Racers (2012)
* Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters (2016)
* Remy's Ratatouille Adventure (2014)
* Nemo & Friends SeaRider (2017)
* Pixar Pier (2018)
* Games of Pixar Pier (2018)
* Incredicoaster (2018)
* Pixar Pal-A-Round (2018)
* Jessie's Critter Carousel (2019)
* Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy (2019)
* Cars: Road Trip (2021)
* Worlds of Pixar (2021)

Products|

* Pixar Image Computer

Software|

* Pixar RenderMan
* Presto Animation System

People|

* John Lasseter
* Edwin Catmull
* Steve Jobs
* Alvy Ray Smith
* Jim Morris
* Pete Docter

See also|

* Awards and nominations
* feature films
* short films
* Film references
* Computer Graphics Lab
* Industrial Light & Magic
* Lucasfilm Animation
* Circle Seven Animation
* Pixar Canada
* Pixar Photoscience Team
* Computer Animation Production System
* A Computer Animated Hand
* The Works
* The Shadow King
* Rush: A Disney–Pixar Adventure
* Disney Infinity
* Fortnite
* Kingdom Hearts III
* Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Disneytoon Studios
* 20th Century Animation

* Category
* Work group

* v
* t
* e

Amy Poehler

* Filmography
* Awards and nominations

TV series created|

* Upright Citizens Brigade (1998–2000)
* The Mighty B! (2008–2011)
* The UCB Show (2015–2017)
* Making It (2018–2021)
* Russian Doll (2019–2022)
* Duncanville (2020–2022)
* Baking It (2021–2023)

Films directed|

* Wine Country (2019)
* Moxie (2021)
* Lucy and Desi (2022)

Books|

* Yes Please (2014)

Characters|

* Leslie Knope
* Joy

Related articles|

* Paper Kite Productions
* Amy Poehler's Smart Girls
* Will Arnett (ex-husband)
* Greg Poehler (brother)

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