- When we meet Riley, most of the time Joy is in charge of her thoughts and personality. Which emotion(s) do you feel most often?
- Riley and her family go through a lot of changes when they move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Have you ever gone through a big transition?
- How are the glowing balls, or “core memories” made? What are yours?
- What do the core memories have to do with Riley’s personality?
- When Sadness touches one of the happy core memories, she colors it blue. What do you think is going on then? Is it possible that our current moods can color our past memories? Or how we define our personality?
- Do you think that the core memories were changed forever or was there a temporary filter on them?
- When Riley’s mother tells her that she is helping her parents by being their “happy girl,” Riley feels pressure to only show them her joy. What do you think of this?
- Do you think that our society values certain emotions over others? Which ones?
- At the end of the movie, Joy learns that other emotions, especially Sadness, are also important. Why?
- Do you think it is easier for males or females, or for younger or older people, to express different emotions? Which ones? Why?
- Why is it hard for Riley to tell her parents how she’s feeling? Is it OK for them to ask her to be their “happy girl”? How does that make her feel when she’s not in a particularly joyful state of mind? Have you ever felt like you had to feel a certain way to please someone else? Is that fair?
- What does it mean to have “mixed emotions” about something? How do all of our different feelings relate to each other? Can you have joy without sadness? Why is it important to feel a range of emotions?13.Some of the movie’s scenes are sad and scary. Is it OK for a kids’ movie to not be cheerful and silly all the time? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?14. What problem does Riley think running away will fix? Why is she wrong? What could have happened to her if she’d gone through with her plan? What other options could you think of for Riley?15. What do you think your own emotions might look and talk like? What about those of your friends and family members? If you had to "create" a character to display your emotions, what would that character look like? Joy? Sadness? Are you "Bing Bong"? What would your character look like?
