Why Does Sadness Turn Memories Blue? | Pixar Theory: Discovering Inside Out 

I have a simpler but less exciting explanation. Riley is depressed. Not just because of the move, but clinically. She's told by sources both outside (her mom) and in ("Joy") to always be happy. She's been trying to suppress her emotion of sadness so much that it's become bottled up. She's now got so much suppressed sadness in her that it's infecting even her view of once happy memories, thus why any memory "Sadness" touches becomes a sad memory.

" Out of the blue " I see what you did there.

What I always presumed was that the story arc of Sadness as a character was a commentary on how in society people are expected to always suppress their sad emotions and just be happy and ok all the time. Joy actively suppressed everything that was sad in Riley's life so that Riley couldn't remember them - repressed emotion always causes problems. Inside Out is more than just Riley getting accustomed to a new life, with all the difficulties that entails, it's about Riley learning to stop repressing her feelings that she had had boiling inside of her just below the surface - feelings that Joy wouldn't allow to come out because of how it change people's perceptions of her.

😰 I was always a very emotional child. My mom thought I had anxiety, but she never bothered to take me for a proper diagnosis.

I was shocked to find out that sadness saved the day because it really does bring people together though the tough times.

It’s not just sadness. The same mind force will have other emotions turn certain memories to their own emotion by touch under the right circumstances. Have you ever looked back on a memory of being really sick or a fight with a loved one and think it’s funny? That’s Joy turning a red or green memory gold. You are betrayed by someone you thought was a friend, Anger would turn all your memories about that person red. You do something you think is fun only to realize how stupid and dangerous it was, that fear turning a happy memory purple.

😰 I always had to smile, and when I didn’t smile, people asked me what was wrong with me. Not what was wrong. What was wrong with me. I didn’t want to smile. With Sadness, I liked her character more than Joy. It’s hard always being happy. It’s easier being sad. But through being sad I was able to better learn about the world. Thanks my own Sadness.

The reason sadness could change the memories is because all the memories Riley had were from her old home, and because she had moved, she would feel sad that she could never experience those things again. So when sadness touches a memory and make it sad, it's a way of showing how Riley would feel sad about moving away.

Sadness is the emotion that helps people makes friends along with joy and anger.

Issac is so cute! I never questioned sadness changing the memories color. I assumed it was an instinct cause Riley needed sadness.

I think the emotions behind memory’s can change overtime. A memory that once made you happy might now make you mad, a memory once made you sad might now make you happy. Riley moved states and the memory’s linked with everything she misses aren’t going to make her happy, there going to make her sad as she envious of her past as it was the life she was forced to give up for a life she didn’t want.😰

I always interpretted it as Riley experiencing loss. The first memory we see sadness turn blue is the core memory of her friendship, with a friend she will likely never see again. Things that made us happy when they occured can make us sad when we think back on them after things change. An anniversery is a happy occasion and those memories are happy, but if that relationship ends that date can serve as a reminder of what we've lost and recalling those memories now can make us sad, at least until we move on. For Riley everything has changed and she hasnt had time to process her feeings, most of her memories will sadden her because right now she fees like she's lost everything - her friends, her school, her team, the home she grew up in. The visual of sadness tinting these memories felt like a perfect metaphor for this.

😰 I lived in 11 houses from the age of 6-18, not foster care or anything like that, just moved a lot with my mom. So I totally related to Riley. I cry everytime I watch this movie still. It just hits me way too close to my real life

I feel the reason she can make memories blue is similar to when you lose a loved one. When your with a loved one (say a friend who passed for example) you feel happy. When they die you look back at those memories and feel heartbroken that you can never create memories like that anymore. You grow sad remembering what you can’t have anymore. Riley misses her home the same way you’d miss a friend.

"why is this happening... out of the blue..." I see what you did there XD

The purpose of each emotion: Joy: makes the host seek gratification in life. Sadness: alerts the host's neighbors that he/she is in emotional distress. Anger: prompts the host to seek justice. Disgust: prevents the host from getting poisoned (physically or socially). Fear: keeps the host safe from danger (physical or social).

So Sadness was turning those memories blue because they were 'calling out' to her? Is that right?

Those times you are nostalgic, and suddenly shed a tear, a little bit of necessary sadness has touched those moments

You need all of your emotions!

3:43 Finally! Somebody who understands that Joy isn't "evil", it's just Riley's parents forced her to stay happy. That and it's a sign that Riley's going through puberty.

Thank you so much for adding me to the beginning. This is a great video. I'm glad it was more complex than just the feeling of nostalgia.

I don't know if it was a "mind force" exactly. I think it was due to Sadness's own abilities. Maybe she felt compelled to change the emotions because deep down she knew that was what Riley needed.

I've heard it theorized before that it's a metaphor for nostalgia.

Sadness wasn't changing the memories, but she simply responding to Riley's need to cry. I think that after Riley had had a chance to express her sorrow, I think that the memories Sadness touched began returning to their original color.

Speaking of Inside Out, do you have any theories about why the in the mum's mind sadness seems to me the leader emotion? (And anger in the dad?)

I thought since Riley moved she started seeing all her past memories as sad. Like I got an ice cream and I dropped it but I got a free another scoop. I saw that as happy. But then I dropped that scoop and I couldn’t get another. Now I see it as sad. Like in that one memory with Riley on that tree y’know. It was sad. But when Riley’s parents and team came to make her feel happy she saw it as happy. So the reason sadness wants to touch it is because Riley is starting to see it as sad. But it will never be completely sad until sadness touches it. So I guess you got it right

@Wotso Videos This is such an important discussion, especially in a time when optimism is treated as though that's the "right/best" way to behave when faced with challenging events. People who try to force themselves to suppress their feelings of grief, sadness etc. may gradually become apathetic, like when Riley's emotional world turned grey. That forced optimism becomes unhealthy instead. And over time, it can even have some damaging, even irreparable consequences. Think of those who were reported by friends and family, some even only moments before, to seem happy and laughing with them, only to commit suicide hours/a day later. They find out too little too late that apparently, their loved ones were suffering inside the entire time while they were smiling on the outside. Most people may not have the empathy to understand another person's emotions until the other communicates it. When Riley bottled up her feelings, it became difficult for others to figure that out when so much is left unsaid. That's why Sadness is so crucial. She's the one who reminds Riley to reach out to others so that she can be understood. And it's the same for others. This culture of forced optimism, of suppressing bad feelings because of our inabilty to face it and express them, is what can keep people feeling isolated even in a world full of people. Understanding that sadness is not necessarily something to avoid, and in fact, embraced, is what makes us human.

Wait, Riley head emotion is joy, which means she is mostly happy. Riley’s mom’s head emotion sadness. So does that mean Riley’s mom has depression? And Riley’s father’s head emotion is anger. So does that mean he has anger issues? 🤔

This was a question I had for a long time so I'm happy my subscribers were interested in it so I could develop my thoughts on it! Thank you for watching and have a magical day!

😰I often find myself crying in stressful situations, but it is not usually from the actual situation but from what I did to cause stress for others.

"Every happiness there's a sadness behind of it".

as someone with ptsd, sometimes guilt makes my memories that used to be happy make me feel sad because they're not with me anymore. i think that's why they might have done that because riley's situation was so different, it made her other memories seem so far away and it made her feel bitter and sad they weren't with her anymore

The role for sadness is the compassion joy figured while at the dump with bing bong while the idea by anger took over sadness is the only hope to help while helping out riley andersen she realized her life was from her home of moments of Minnesota and missed it already. when explaining to her parents they feel the same way as she is of the moments they shared the woods where they took hikes, the backyard of their home where their daughter used to play and during the winter time at spring lake where riley learned how to skate. right before her loss of the big playoff game of the Prairie dogs her team and her old colleagues including meg joy learned a valuable lesson about the role of sadness and without any harm.

I think sadness reminds of eeyore from winnie the pooh

Every time we access one of our memories, it changes depending on the context in which we are recalling them. We didn't notice these changes because our memories have changed. Riley was upset about the move, even though she was trying to hide it, but her feelings kept seeping through Sadness, compelling her to touch the memories as a way of expressing the sorrow she was suppressing,

You missed something : in real life if you remember a very happy memory when you are sad , it will become a sad memory and you will always remember it with a bad feeling 😰

I just want to throw it out there that I just uploaded a video on this topic last week scheduled for next month - so I swear I didn't copy any points that cross over! lol >.

It might be possible that the mind force is Riley, or are aspects of Riley ( possibly the brain ) reacting, and are run in a similar fashion as the emotions' headquarters, but I like your theory better. Nice work, Watso. ☺👍

Methinks Sadness was repressed. And that causes depression. When you’re depressed you have a tendency to even think certain joyful memories are sad. Also Joy was a control-freak. I think that caused rebellion and anxiety. The two of them, Joy and Sadness created a very mature empathy for Riley.

That also explains why Riley's Mother's dominant emotion is Sadness, because sadness in the right context breeds empathy and her mother is often empathetic. Also an idea for a future video is, which of the three theories of emotion is Inside Out based on? Loved this one.

Amazing Disney theory about Sadness from Inside Out, Issac!!!!!!!

😰 to be honest I have a lot of problems, and for some reason I had memories who were really happy and enjoyable just turn sad I don't know how but they just did so I believe is something like that, I can't explain it further I don't have the correct words and I'm talking for personal experience but that's all I have to offer, I hoped it helped, amazing video, they always make me smile :3

Its actually simple An old memory usually is easier to become nostalgic and melancholic (a bittersweet of sad and happy) than to become angry, disgusting or scary Its natural to us, when we are sad or happy we think in the past The thing is, almost all her memories were already happy, and were from Minnesota, so they become sad as SHE IS sad bacause they moved away

I just LOVE how blue is reflecting off of Isaac's glasses. It's so cool!!! And awesome video as usual.

Fantastic video as usual

Before watching the video I would say that sadness is the most overwhelming emotion.

Her role was compassion what Riley was missing of her deep depression was the playoff game in Minnesota for what she missed already to admit to her parents that she felt depressed on her past life and everything she loved.

I was an emotional child. I couldn’t explain to my parents that I had depression and anxiety, becoming very dark and lost. I still have it as well as it started 3 years ago in a similar situation to Riley’s when we moved when I was in year 3 (I’m writing this at the end of year 6). I still don’t know what to do so please, if you know anything that can help comment. 😰😰😰

Great video as always, Issac! YAY!!!!!

i was wondering the same thing thanks for covering the topic

What I love so much about this movie is that it makes us think within ourselves-what are our own core memories and our own lead emotions. Yes-Riley needed to be sad and that’s why Sadness could change memories blue.

It's easy; after you had a memory, your bad or sad mode is able to rewrite that. After this maybe you got into a better mode, but if you once realised the bad aspecks of that event, it's almost impossible not to see it anymore. Because of this, Joy can't really do this, because the mind usually looking the bright side of the things, so it's unlikely your brain rewrite a memory into an absolutly happy thing. Anger, Fear and Disgust are more inpulsive feelings, very rarely comes as a new side feeling for a memory, more likely comes when you have the first experience with something

😰 great vid your videos are really amazing you really uncover why this is happening and watching your videos calm me down

I have always wondered about this so thanks for making a video about it!!!! Keep up the great work Isaac!!

I think this insight can also relate to the parents as well. Riley's mother seems to have sadness as her core emotion but perhaps it's not sadness she is portraying but rather empathy. And the father with anger at the head could possibly be relying more on anger's passion and drive for his job.

It was not just her mom asking her to suppress sadness, but the other emotions were trying not to let her feel sadness

This where I go for all the Theory’s to come to life (Frankenstein) (also 😰)

A question I have has finally been answered.

I just... LOVE Isaac. This is so true. Sadness can be confusing in real life. I find myself fighting off tears when I probably shouldn't. Inside Out is such a great and important movie, and I love that Isaac has gone so deep into this.

Sadness said herself "I think I'm having a breakdown". The emotions not only portray emotions but thoughts as well. Throughout this whole movie, Riley felt pressured to stay happy when in reality she was very sad. This led to a breakdown which can be quite toxic in the mind. It's not through some mind magic that sadness could alter the memories, its through anxiety and depression. 2 things that can be very temporary but also very dangerous to the mind

😰 I go though that almost every day

I love your videos so much I can't believe I found your videos you go over all of my thoughts while watching Disney movies I love your vids so much great work

Sadness's function was to serve as an emotional pressure release valve and Riley had a lot to be upset about, even if she wasn't being allowed to cry. Whenever we access one of our memories, it changes based on the context under which we are recalling it. When one considers these two things, Sadness changing the memories she touched makes perfect sense.

When memories are looked back on they are often tinged with sadness for a moment lost or not able to be actively lived through again. Examples are memories of loved ones who have died or changed drastically.

thanks a lot Isaac

I love you videos and the really cool Keep the good work up

That sadness is the emotion of bonding and connection is I think a secondary trait, it's linked to loss, all sadness is related to loss. Loss is important because without loss you can not truly possess anything, you can not want and value something without the desire not to lose it. The "helping to relate" is a side effect, because you understand your own sense of loss and thus empathize with others loss.

I always viewed it as Riley growing up and dealing with adult depressions and looking back at happier times with a bittersweet nostalgia

I don't need a movie to answer that. Sadness destroys memories. You'll be lucky if you just get the short end of melancholy.

"out of the blue" Haha i get it cause shes blue lol

Very interesting! I always love your theories, and this one makes lots of sense. I think that Inside-Out was a movie that let us go and explore our true selves. It was very inspiring!!

😰 I can relate a lot to Riley as I moved several times as a kid. I went through a very difficult time following the last move of my childhood. Eventually things got better and I found my joy once more, but there was a time when I was sad a lot. Now as an adult, my experiences have enabled me to be more sensitive to others who have or are going through a similar situation, better understand their needs, and determine how I might be able to help them. Thanks for bringing a little more joy into the world with your videos Issac. Keep up the great work!

😰 great vid

Danggg thanks I've waited for this one

From experience, I’ve had times when I learned something about a past event I remembered with joy...but the new information forever changed it to a sad memory.

i think your theory on Sadness and Riley's depression is a little off coming from someone who has been depressed for about four years since my family moved to spain (i was about 9 or 10 and am now nearly 15) the depression wasn't a thing she needed in order express her feelings to her parents, the depression was caused by her not being able to feel two core emotions, Joy and Sadness, notice how Joy is the only positive emotion Riley currently has, Fear, Anger, Disgust being the only ones left when Joy and Sadness go missing, which means that the only things she can feel about her situation are negative, theres no positive light in her, when i moved here that was all i could feel, i couldn''t see any positive side to being so far from "home" (even though my mother and half my family are spanish we'd lived in england my mothers whole life) tbh i still can't find anything positive and greatly regret existing Sadness got more power over memories because Riley was in a very new and uncomfortable situation that she didn't want to be in, so she was very prone to sadness as moving around a lot as a kid, or moving a very long way is often a cause of childhood trauma so when she lost the two most powerful emotions, the others (who would get their power from the other two) couldn't do much in her life, anger without joy will make you lash out at yourself and others (as we see), disgust without joy can make you hate yourself , fear without joy will cause huge spikes in anxiety (some of which we see), after a certain point you become numb to those emotions and can only feel their affects, self hatred, aggression/self destruction, and panic attacks, Anger comes up with the idea of going back to a place where Riley was happy (which is something i relate to, deciding that running away is the best option (another thing i relate to, though going through with it is something i have not yet done), taking her mothers credit card and getting on a bus, at which point she became completely numb to them, and if it weren't a kids movie (tw) i'd say the next idea would have been suicide sadness gets the urge to touch memories because (i assume theres some higher power) she can sort of sense (subconsciously) that if something doesn't happen Riley will become depressed (its something you can sort of sense, like you're kind of eased into it), so she touches whatever memories she can because it will help in the long run (its most likely some sort of protective instinct as they're there to protect and help Riley) by the time Sadness and Joy get back, the only emotion Riley can feel is sadness, after a certain point you can only feel very extreme emotions, secondary emotions won't get through, and its clear that Riley isn't naturally an Anxious person, so fear wouldn't get through unless it was very very serious, and even then, there is a point you can reach (usually when suicidal but its not a rule) where even if you do feel fear, you can't care, you're too emotionally burned out from dealing with it that you just can't so the only thing that can help her is Sadness, she hasn't been able to properly understand or even feel her emotions about this new move, because its very obvious that Joy refuses to let sadness have any control if she can help it, and joy kept insisting that this new move was a good thing, unwittingly hurting Riley in the process Sadness isn't touching memories because Riley needs to go through depression in order to understand how she feels and tell her parents how she feels, nobody Ever, ever, needs to feel like that, depression isn't feeling sad all the time like a lot of people think, its feeling nothing, being empty except for extreme emotions like rage, paralyzing fear, overwhelming sadness, and guilt (not all of which are extreme emotions usually but they become amplified), she's touching them because thats how Riley feels, sad. shes upset that her parents made her move, shes sad because she lost her friends, she feels sad, but shes not allowed to feel sad because Joy is the one in control; and Joy doesn't like Sadness, she doesn't want Sadness to have control over Rileys emotions, so when you get down to it, Riley is hugely conflicted over her feelings, she's trying to put on a brave face for her parents, and look on the bright side of things, because shes never had a reason to feel sadness like this before,, she can't talk to her parents about it because she feels guilty and ungrateful about not liking it usually born from fear or pain, having her being to lash out a lot more, breaking things, getting into fights, arguing with her parents, and eventually, self destructing, less child friendly, but it would have been a good lesson, and a good movie ( if you couldn't tell i relate to this film an awful lot, and have an awful lot to say on it :p)

Do a theory of how Moana’s grandma had the heart

*stress face*

It's nostalgia. The older you get ,you look back on a lot of things and sometimes you feel bad - that is sad.

I've been stress for years by my dumb and stupid decisions I've done but when I watch one of your videos it makes me happy again.😓

"Why is this happenning out of the blue?" ...Pun intended in that question,Isaac?Maybe..?

Hello and although I didn't vote for this I still LOVE IT

I love your videos Isaac! Keep up the great work! 😁👍🏻💙

Woah...that was DEEP.

I know this is going to be an interesting video

😰 I entered into a new school in the middle of the school year in 4th grade. It was hard. I didn't know anyone.

Personally I think the way that sadness turn the memories blue is because Riley had moved out of her original home and missed her friends

I think what makes Sadness unique is that, in real life, sadness can turn happy memories bittersweet. No other emotion can really do that. Disgust and fear don't really affect previous memories, and anger is, in some ways, just a reaction to pain and sadness. Often times when a person gets mad, it's because they're hurt. It's a defense mechanism because, after all, you wouldn't get angry at an insult if it didn't hurt you. If you didn't care, if you were sure of yourself and didn't think that insult was possibly true, it wouldn't bother you. Sadness is unique in that it contributes to the feeling of nostalgia. Nostalgia is a bittersweet feeling, a longing for happier times. That is why Sadness can affect Riley's memories but no other emotion can. Inside Out is also about growing up, about learning to see the world in shades of gray instead of black and white. We see this at the end of the movie when Riley's new memories are colored by multiple emotions, instead of just one. As children we often view the world as more simplistic, categorizing our experiences as single emotions such as happiness or anger. As we grow older, we begin to see the world for what it is, complex. We experience mixtures of emotions and categorize our experiences as being made up of multiple emotions. For example, moving out is one such emotion. When full grown children leave the "nest", when they leave their homes for the first time, often when starting college, it can be a bittersweet experience. It's exciting, but also anxiety-inducing and sad. And while moving out and getting a place of your own can be a lot of fun, it can also lead to homesickness and days where you wish you could just move back in with your parents. I have never personally experienced this, since I still live with my parents and commute to college, but I can imagine what it is like. I can definitely relate to Riley right now, because my own family will be moving soon. Fortunately it isn't as drastic as move as hers was, we'll be staying within the same town, but still it's hard not to feel sad and anxious about it. I've lived in my current home my whole life, I grew up here, it's hard to imagine living anywhere else or calling someplace else home. I'm an adult, but it's still stressful and makes me sad.

Great idea for a video!

😓

I think it's because sadness is just the emotion that can relate to all the others, when it's about the joy memories, she can feel like "this was great... But now it's over", when it's about fear, she can relate to the fear, because fear of something is mostly because of changes, and the can make you miss something you are attached to, about anger, the sadness of being unpleased, not feeling you get what you need, and if we're talking about disgust, it seems to be that Riley's sad of not getting what she wants, and if you get something disgusting, you feel like no one understands you, I don't know about you, but I'd feel very sad if I'd think like that

Happy, Anger, Fear or Disgust had a role but sadness is mix with all the roles which is painful... Sadness is more complex and easily mistaken sometimes even confusing...

Do Madame Medusa’s full story

i feel like every emotion can change a memory's emotions depending on what the head demands... Sadness was 'attracted' to touching specific memories, because the head deems it necessary for riley to feel sad. If there came a time for a person in this universe that demands a different emotion, i feel like they can change the emotion fit for their needs.. example: Fear being able to change a memory when the person is forced unto an unfamiliar world, where they're discouraged from being fearful, yet it was fear that was needed for the person to unlock the ability to adapt. Maybe the delegation of tasks is as such: Joy: Optimism for every situation Sadness: Connecting with others Fear: Safety of the person Disgust: Fitting in society Anger: Expression of disagreement

great video!!

😞

😰😰😰 Love your videos😃👍

I always thought that it was like.. a nostalgia thing related to changing the memories to blue, like... when you look back at the past times and feel sad about it that it's in the past and can't ever return. Simply... I never really thought of it further, I thought that was all.

i wish i appreciated this movie more when it came out. my parents were going through a sudden and ugly divorce and we had to move out of our home and i was stuck in the middle of it, while my 2 older siblings were able to find their own places to stay. as a minor at the time, i had no escape. the way riley reflects on her core memories hit close to home. the memories of my parents/family being together and happy, that time is gone.

😥