Amy poehler expresses her ‘joy’ at premiere of inside out

But when an emotional crisis arises during Riley’s fist day at her new school, Joy and Sadness are ejected from Headquaters and must trek through the minds darkest corners in an attempt to ride the “Train of Thought” back to restore Riley’s happiness. The emotions are all “characters” themselves, with their own (literally) colorful personalities: Perky, effervescent yellow-glowing Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), the leader of the cranial crew, is joined by the geeky, purple all-phobic Fear (Bill Hader); blue, depressed Sadness (Phyllis Smith); prissy green young maiden Disgust (Mindy Kaling); and blustery red hothead Anger (Lewis Black). The film looks at some important questions such as what is Sadness’ greater goal?

Except for the above, this is a very accessible film for all with a ideal happy ending – as expected.

Riley’s imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind) a part elephant, part cat, part candy-floss amalgamation get’s the film’s most heart-wrenching moment and will undoubtedly transport you back to a time that you thought you’d lost. Kids aren’t born afraid of failure; they learn to be afraid of failure, and often they learn it from us. Her life changes, however, as she struggles with her family’s relocation from Minnesota to San Francisco.

It’s all in your head – ★★★½

. “I think I could do Anger”, she deadpans.

“We didn’t know either”. “I think I could rustle that up if I needed to”.

This, according to Poehler, who runs an online community for girls and women called Smart Girls, could be a step forward for children trying to articulate their emotions. Joy should be the goal of many of life’s experiences, but a fully rounded person experiences all of these emotions in a kaleidoscopic mix which helps to give them their own unique point of view on life.

She said: “Today my strongest emotion is definitely joy because I’m really excited that the film is coming out in the UK”.

The 43-year-old actress looked stunning as she promoted the latest Disney Pixar film Inside Out in London. “As a kid, at least if you are raging you lie on the floor and kick and scream, but as we grow up we realise it’s not socially acceptable to do that and sometimes we bottle things up”.

But directors Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen elegantly tilt their film at the windmills of the mind and deliver a hilarious, heartfelt and ultimately life-affirming adventure that celebrates childhood innocence, family unity and the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity.

Psychotherapist Dr Dacher Keltner, from the University of California, who was a consultant on the film, says what it gets right is the idea that emotions oscillate.

“It can be an awesome time where you’re filled with possibility and anticipation, but it can be a very confusing time, where all your emotions are jockeying to be front and centre”.

The whole story happens nearly exclusively in the minds of Riley and her parents, which makes much of it feel therapeutic without overdoing it on the science.

Pixar has mastered the art of brilliantly layering their films to appeal to audiences of every age and Inside Out might be their best example yet – creating a hero’s journey complete with a stuffed animal who cries candy that also introduces some extraordinarily complex concepts.

Since its US debut a month ago, Inside Out is nudging the half-billion dollar mark (£320m) at the box office, putting it on track to become the most successful Pixar movie.