inside Out follows a young girl named Riley from the point of view of her emotions, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust, as they try to navigate the world and Riley's choices in life. A sudden move from Minnesota to San Francisco throws everything up into the air and the stresses of an unknown world began to barrel down on Riley. Joy is trying her best to keep the ship on the right path of fun but she and Sadness find themselves thrown out of Headquarters and unable to help Riley. They set out to make it back home and have to rush forward in time to keep Riley from spiraling out of control and into a deeper and deeper depression.

There is a scene where Joy finds herself at the lowest point. She's in the Memory Dump. A place where all things forgotten go to never be remembered again. She's trapped there with the core memories of Riley which are defining focal points centered around happy and joyful moments from her life. Joy is stuck with Bing Bong, Riley's imaginary friend, and has to find a way to escape.

They find a magic wagon that's powered by song and use that to rocket up the cliff walls and almost make it to the top, only to fall back down again. Not to be discouraged, Joy and Bing Bong continue trying, over and over again to make it out of the pit to no avail. Bing Bong tells Joy to try one more time, and as the wagon is flying up, he jumps off, realizing his weight is keeping the wagon from reaching the top. Joy makes it out of the Memory Dump and looks back to realize Bing Bong's sacrifice. He waves at her from below and slowly fades away.

This scene is a perfect balance of symbolism and plot. It works in a plot level, because Joy must escape, and it must be difficult or else the journey will seem to easy and not worthwhile. Joy can't make the sacrifice, because she's the main character, so Bing Bong is introduced to play the role and make the journey and the destination all the more meaningful. The symbolism works because Bing Bong represents Riley's childhood and in order to escape the darknessthe abyssyou must grow up. You have to let the childish aspects of your life die in order to move on. This scene perfect captures that and it makes for an incredibly powerful scene.

Music by Simon Swerwer,
Cuggin's Cove,
Emergence,
Inith and Od Travel North