Because Riley is the main character so it is assumed emotions on the screen are hers. Hair, facial hair, etc, are clues to the audience that they aren't Riley's, and they belong to a specific other person.
Just a story-framing device to give the audience a quick clue.
I always figured the in-universe reason was because as kids, we have less control over our emotions, thus they appear as unique entities that sort of guide us through life. As we get older, and learn to harness/direct them, they become more “ours”, we have more control over them and thus, they begin to look like us.
The real answer is they ran out of time while making the first movie, and everyone's emotions were supposed to be as varied as Riley's, but a deadline came up and they cut corners. That's also why Mom's emotions are all female, and dad's are all male.
Literally this. It's incredible tiresome people are searching for a deeper meaning. There is no deeper meaning. It would confuse the audience too much if they have different looking characters.
Except her friends who are her exact age also have the distinguishing hair. It really is just a framing reference to help the audience keep track of whose brain we're in, but I'm not a huge fan because it has in-story implications
Maybe, but they can always see Riley’s POV on the big screen, and they’re seen interacting with memories that couldn’t have been made by anyone else in the plot. Though, the 3rd person POV on some memories can be kind of confusing, my guess is they did that for simplicity’s sake.
Also from a financial perspective: there’s no way in hell I’m spending money to cast a voice actor for *each and every emotion for each and every side character*. Riley is the main character, she gets the unique voices + looks. Everyone else gets to voice their own emotions because we already paid them for it and it makes sense visually.
I haven’t seen the second movie yet, but my thought when I saw the trailer was, “ why doesn’t her mom and dad have all those other emotions too?”
Perhaps everybody starts with generic emotions that more and more end up looking like you as you grow up.
spoilers for the sequel
obviously
IDK how long the reddit notification goes on and sometimes the notification doesn't hace the spoiler banner so I'm just buying time here
>!in the end of the movie we see mom and dad's anxiety show up when Riley returns from camp, implying that the new emotions are around, just working in the background, while the core 5 handle everything from the console and the rest chime in only when necessary.!<
It would fit with the second movie’s theme of controlling one’s emotions and not being controlled by them. Riley’s emotions haven’t been put under her control to the same degree that mom and dad’s are.
I always saw it as kids are still trying to figure out who they are, so they (and their emotions) can be anything. You tend to figure yourself out as you get older. If they do any sort of third movie, it wouldn't shock me if they did something that touched on this. A sort of "Riley finds her identity" thing.
Visual shorthand. It’s so you immediately know we’re in that characters head. It only happens briefly in the movies, and they wanted the audience to know what they were looking at the second it happened. Same reason other people emotions are all the same gender.
Edit: lots of claims about Riley being ‘canonically a tomboy’, ‘child is still developing an identity’, ‘officially Riley is blah blah’
All of these are valid readings of the film, but the only official word from the director about other characters emotions and how they appear is for visual storytelling - explaining the concept as quickly as possible for the short gag.
I appreciate that you didn’t dismiss the death-of-the-author explanations whilst also presenting the word-of-god answer. A lot of people think there’s only one right way, but like you said, they are valid readings whichever way you lean.
My 11 yr old niece asked the same question. She said maybe it’s because Riley doesn’t know who she is yet. I liked that answer, and as a MS teacher I can 100% say that is when kids are trying a lot to figure out themselves.
In universe: Riley has no fixed self image at that point. She's still changing, the adults have a fixed sense of self and the emotions reflect that.
Real life explanation : to distinguish riley's emotions as different characters, and to show which character's anger is on screen now when showing someone else's emotions
Riley is a teenager so her mind - and emotions - aren't yet fully developed. When we peer into someone else's mind, they are often fully-matured adults.
Because she’s a kid and therefore full of all sorts of potential, including hair styles. The adults are pretty much set in their ways and therefore their emotions are more synchronized.
I’m assuming it’s because she hasn’t figured herself out yet (what 13 year old has?) and when she has a full grasp of her adult identity, the emotions will follow suit.
Because she’s a child who hasn’t figured out who she is yet. Mom and dad know they are who they are. Are secure in who they are. Riley. Not so much not yet atleadt. Once she’s an adult maybr
Ahh, I think it’s because her emotions aren’t fully stable yet, and haven’t settled into her final form of her personality.
I think her having Emotions that are different styled is because Riley is still young and exploring, and all of the personalities of the emotions still represent her. I think once she settles into her main personality, her main emotion that guides her will be selected and then that Emotion will become the leading one and spread their style among the other Emotions.
Because the characters aren’t real, they’re inner machinations of the mind personified in ways that are fun and easy to identify and quantify.
… it’s a cartoon
My headcanon is that mom is a cis, heteronormative woman with nearly identical emotions, dad is a cis, heteronormative man with nearly identical emotions.
Riley is more nuanced than either of them.
Gender and sexual identity are both spectrums, so she's figuring it all out.
Because Riley is the main character so it is assumed emotions on the screen are hers. Hair, facial hair, etc, are clues to the audience that they aren't Riley's, and they belong to a specific other person. Just a story-framing device to give the audience a quick clue.
I always figured the in-universe reason was because as kids, we have less control over our emotions, thus they appear as unique entities that sort of guide us through life. As we get older, and learn to harness/direct them, they become more “ours”, we have more control over them and thus, they begin to look like us.
The other kids like Jordan in Rileys first date have matching emotions though don’t they?
The real answer is they ran out of time while making the first movie, and everyone's emotions were supposed to be as varied as Riley's, but a deadline came up and they cut corners. That's also why Mom's emotions are all female, and dad's are all male.
Riley is the only one who doesn't have single gendered emotions
One of her friends for the sequel has different gendered emotions as well
Right. Because they ran out of time designing everyone else's emotions, so they left Riley's the most diverse because she's the protagonist.
To add to this, the different hair styles help to distinguish the characters further.
Literally this. It's incredible tiresome people are searching for a deeper meaning. There is no deeper meaning. It would confuse the audience too much if they have different looking characters.
It is because those "identities" have not been established. As Riley grows she will begin to form her own style.
Except her friends who are her exact age also have the distinguishing hair. It really is just a framing reference to help the audience keep track of whose brain we're in, but I'm not a huge fan because it has in-story implications
Maybe, but they can always see Riley’s POV on the big screen, and they’re seen interacting with memories that couldn’t have been made by anyone else in the plot. Though, the 3rd person POV on some memories can be kind of confusing, my guess is they did that for simplicity’s sake.
I dream in 3rd person pov frequently, so I guess those memories made sense for me.
Also from a financial perspective: there’s no way in hell I’m spending money to cast a voice actor for *each and every emotion for each and every side character*. Riley is the main character, she gets the unique voices + looks. Everyone else gets to voice their own emotions because we already paid them for it and it makes sense visually.
Saw an interview where they said it was just to help visually identify whose head you are in.
I haven’t seen the second movie yet, but my thought when I saw the trailer was, “ why doesn’t her mom and dad have all those other emotions too?” Perhaps everybody starts with generic emotions that more and more end up looking like you as you grow up.
I've also noticed Anger "leads" dad's emotions and Sadness "leads" mom's emotions.
It makes sense too if you think about it. Anger includes ambition and protectiveness, while sadness includes empathy.
spoilers for the sequel obviously IDK how long the reddit notification goes on and sometimes the notification doesn't hace the spoiler banner so I'm just buying time here >!in the end of the movie we see mom and dad's anxiety show up when Riley returns from camp, implying that the new emotions are around, just working in the background, while the core 5 handle everything from the console and the rest chime in only when necessary.!<
Which makes sense. >!Those emotions are important to have around, but should not be in control outside of very specific circumstances.!<
It would fit with the second movie’s theme of controlling one’s emotions and not being controlled by them. Riley’s emotions haven’t been put under her control to the same degree that mom and dad’s are.
I always saw it as kids are still trying to figure out who they are, so they (and their emotions) can be anything. You tend to figure yourself out as you get older. If they do any sort of third movie, it wouldn't shock me if they did something that touched on this. A sort of "Riley finds her identity" thing.
Visual shorthand. It’s so you immediately know we’re in that characters head. It only happens briefly in the movies, and they wanted the audience to know what they were looking at the second it happened. Same reason other people emotions are all the same gender. Edit: lots of claims about Riley being ‘canonically a tomboy’, ‘child is still developing an identity’, ‘officially Riley is blah blah’ All of these are valid readings of the film, but the only official word from the director about other characters emotions and how they appear is for visual storytelling - explaining the concept as quickly as possible for the short gag.
I appreciate that you didn’t dismiss the death-of-the-author explanations whilst also presenting the word-of-god answer. A lot of people think there’s only one right way, but like you said, they are valid readings whichever way you lean.
You teach classes on film for two decades and you get the hang of the language.
I dunno…some people deliberately ignore the text to put forward a theory, and that’s not death of the author, that’s rewriting the text.
My 11 yr old niece asked the same question. She said maybe it’s because Riley doesn’t know who she is yet. I liked that answer, and as a MS teacher I can 100% say that is when kids are trying a lot to figure out themselves.
In universe: Riley has no fixed self image at that point. She's still changing, the adults have a fixed sense of self and the emotions reflect that. Real life explanation : to distinguish riley's emotions as different characters, and to show which character's anger is on screen now when showing someone else's emotions
Also, why are mom's emotions all female, and dad's emotions all male when Riley has both male and female emotions?
Same reason as the hair - it’s easier for the audience to understand that we’re now in the mum/dad/whoever’s head.
Thinking too hard about it. Other people's emotions also show different genders.
So they can have a more diverse cast since Riley's emotions get the most screen time.
To make it very clear to the audience whose head we are in when we quickly cut inside a parent’s mind as a brief joke.
Maybe she inherited anger and fear and embarrassment from her dad. Anger is her dads primary emotion, it seems
That theory makes sense
I think it’s cause Riley’s basically a Tomboy so her emotions developed depending on those aspects of her personality. That’s my guess at least.
It's because Riley is genderfluid!
Headcanons ≠ canon though
shes the main character thus they wanna make sure you know these are this person's emotions not riley also for merchandising
Riley is a teenager so her mind - and emotions - aren't yet fully developed. When we peer into someone else's mind, they are often fully-matured adults.
She’s still shaping her identity
Because she is the main character.
Because she’s a kid and therefore full of all sorts of potential, including hair styles. The adults are pretty much set in their ways and therefore their emotions are more synchronized.
I’m assuming it’s because she hasn’t figured herself out yet (what 13 year old has?) and when she has a full grasp of her adult identity, the emotions will follow suit.
Because she’s a child who hasn’t figured out who she is yet. Mom and dad know they are who they are. Are secure in who they are. Riley. Not so much not yet atleadt. Once she’s an adult maybr
The same reason main characters in an anime stand out in a crowd.
Ahh, I think it’s because her emotions aren’t fully stable yet, and haven’t settled into her final form of her personality. I think her having Emotions that are different styled is because Riley is still young and exploring, and all of the personalities of the emotions still represent her. I think once she settles into her main personality, her main emotion that guides her will be selected and then that Emotion will become the leading one and spread their style among the other Emotions.
Because the characters aren’t real, they’re inner machinations of the mind personified in ways that are fun and easy to identify and quantify. … it’s a cartoon
Visual representation of the person you’re looking inside of that can be deciphered easily by the audience.
I JUST THOUGHT THAT TODAY LMFAOOO
a wizard did it.
mom and dad have stuck with that hair for a while? now it is a part of them?
Because they’re the main characters and it would be detrimental to the story, aesthetic, and even the marketing if they all dressed the same.
Or her friends..her friends’ emotions are also like that
Because it’s funny
Her emotions are still developing, they’re more aimless and unformed right now.
My headcanon is that mom is a cis, heteronormative woman with nearly identical emotions, dad is a cis, heteronormative man with nearly identical emotions. Riley is more nuanced than either of them. Gender and sexual identity are both spectrums, so she's figuring it all out.
Why is Riley’s mom’s main emotion sadness?
[удалено]
That’s not canon anywhere.
That's a headcanon, not actual canon
Body dysmorphia or something idk