- “Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life's problems.”
- ―Sadness
Sadness is a character in the Inside Out franchise. She is one of the original five emotions inside the mind of Riley Andersen.
History
Inside Out
Sadness formed 33 seconds after Riley was born, making her cry. Joy quickly pushed Sadness out of the way to make Riley happy again. As Riley grew, Joy and Sadness were often at odds over Riley's mood. When Riley was eleven, her father found a new job in San Francisco, moving the family away from Minnesota.
When Dad brushed Riley off to take a call and then left to go to work, Sadness tried to take control of the console, sure that Dad didn't love them anymore. When Riley and Mom talked about memories of their trip to San Francisco, Sadness touched what was a happy memory, making it tinged with sadness. Joy took the memory away and tried to clean it, but it remained sad. Sadness then touched a Core Memory, deactivating Goofball Island. Sadness had the persistent urge to touch other Core Memories, so Joy sent her to read Mind Manuals to distract her and keep the memories safe.
As they prepared for Riley's first day at her new school, Joy assigned Sadness to stay inside the Circle of Sadness to prevent Sadness from getting on any other memories. However, when Riley was talking to her class about her life in Minnesota, Sadness touched the memory, making Riley cry in class. Joy was unable to turn the memory back and scolded Sadness. Sadness then went to the console and formed a sad Core Memory. Joy tried to discard it, but Sadness said she couldn't because it was a Core Memory. They fought over it and the other Core Memories were knocked out of the holder, deactivating all the Islands of Personality. Joy collected them and tried to keep Sadness from putting the new one in the holder. This led to both of them, plus the Core Memories, being sucked into a Recall Tube and sent away from Headquarters.
They landed in Long Term Memory, where Joy collected the Core Memories and held them close to her. They saw that all of Riley's Islands of Personality were deactivated and Joy became determined to get back to Headquarters and plug the Core Memories back in to fix it. They started walking back toward Headquarters. The quickest way back was over a very narrow path over the Memory Dump. Sadness didn't want to risk it, but followed Joy when she started across. When Goofball Island collapsed, Joy and Sadness had to run back to avoid falling. When Sadness asked if they could fix Goofball Island, Joy admitted she didn't know, but would try. Joy was relieved when Riley went to sleep, since nothing bad could happen while she was sleeping. They decided to cross at Friendship Island instead, but Sadness despaired and Joy was forced to drag her to move through Riley's mind.
On their way, they ran into some Forgetters and Joy was upset to see them erasing memories, though they explained that when Riley didn't care about memories, they faded and it was their job to remove the faded memories. When Friendship Island fell next, Joy said they'd just have to go the long way. As they continued moving, they ran into Bing Bong, Riley's former imaginary friend, and Joy promised to help Riley remember him in exchange for his help. Bing Bong also gave Joy a bag to carry the Core Memories. Bing Bong said they could take a Train of Thought back to Headquarters and there was a station in Imagination Land. To get there, they had to go through Abstract Thought, where they were nearly destroyed when some Mind Workers activated it while they were inside. They got out on the other side just in time to see the train leave without them. Bing Bong said there was another station through Imagination Land, so they started walking toward it.
As they traveled, Hockey Island collapsed and Joy reminded Bing Bong they needed to get to the station. As they moved through Imagination Land, they watched Mind Workers demolish many of its exhibits. They also took Bing Bong's rocket and pushed it into the Memory Dump. Bing Bong was sad and started to cry. Joy tried to cheer him up so they could get to the train station, but Sadness sat with him and talked him through his negative feelings. Then she hugged him while he cried. Once he was done, he said he was okay and started leading them to the train station. Joy asked Sadness how she did that and Sadness said she didn't know. She just listened to him.
At the station, they boarded the train and started off toward Headquarters. When Riley fell asleep, the train stopped. Determined to get back to Headquarters as soon as possible, Joy said they needed to get to Dream Productions and use a happy dream to wake Riley up. Sadness said a scary dream might work better, but Joy refused to listen. She had Sadness dress as a dog with her and they invaded a dream, but the dream turned scary when the dog costume ripped. Riley started to wake, but the dream director called security and Bing Bong was taken to the Subconscious, where he was trapped in a cage on top of Jangles the Clown. Joy and Sadness followed, as he had the Core Memories, and freed him. Then they woke Jangles and led him back to Dream Productions, where his presence woke Riley. They ran to the train and started riding back to Headquarters. As they rode, Joy admitted that Sadness had been right about using a scary dream instead of a happy one. Bing Bong looked at a memory of Riley and said she was so big, she wouldn't fit in his rocket anymore, making him wonder how they'd get to the moon. Joy looked at the memory and said the whole team was there. Sadness said it was the day the Prairie Dogs lost the playoffs after Riley missed the game-winning shot. She felt awful and wanted to quit.
When Honesty Island collapsed, it knocked out the support beams for the train, throwing them off course. The train landed on the edge of the dump and started to slide. Some Mind Workers got Joy, Sadness, and Bing Bong off the train just before it fell. Then the Mind Workers informed them that Riley was running away. Joy wanted to go to Family Island next, but then it crumbled. When Joy noticed a broken recall tube nearby, she decided to use it to get back. When Sadness climbed in with Joy, Joy pushed her out as it was making the Core Memories sad. She declared that Riley needed to be happy and left Sadness behind as she close the Recall Tube. She shot up, but then the Recall Tube broke, sending her into the Memory Dump along with Bing Bong.
Without Joy, Sadness wandered through Long Term Memory, touching memories on the way. Joy managed to escape and found Sadness. Sadness ran away, saying that Riley was better off without her, but Joy followed her to Imagination Land. Joy then used the Imaginary Boyfriend Generator to create a large amount of imaginary boyfriends, which she stored in her bag. She used it to make a tower with herself at the top. She launched herself to a bouncy area, then grabbed Sadness on her way back. They hit the side of Headquarters, but were stopped by the windows. Disgust goaded Anger to make him angry enough to have flames come out of his head, then used the flames to cut through the window, allowing Joy and Sadness to come back inside. The other emotions told Joy she needed to fix things with Riley, but Joy stepped inside and had Sadness take care of it instead. Sadness took control and was able to get Riley to get off the bus and go back home to her parents.
Joy then offered the Core Memories to Sadness, who took them and they watched as they turned blue. Sadness then projected the memories, allowing Riley to admit to her parents that she missed Minnesota and her life there. Mom and Dad admitted that they were sad as well and they all shared memories of Minnesota. Joy then gave the sad Core Memory back to Sadness and together, they formed a new Core Memory that was both happy and sad.
A year later, Riley had many more Core Memories that were mixed emotions, forming a series of new Islands of Personality. Sadness liked Tragic Vampire Romance Island. The Mind Workers also finished installing a new, expanded console, including a button labelled "puberty," which Joy said was probably not important.
Riley's First Date?
When Mom tried to probe to see if Jordan and Riley were going out on a date or just as friends, Sadness was confused by Mom's attempted use of slang.
Mind Candy
Joy tried to cheer Sadness up, but Sadness remained sad. When Joy found Sadness crying, she offered her a flower. The flower just made Sadness cry harder and Joy used her tears to water the flower. While bouncing on a trampoline, Sadness just bounced steadily, while Joy flipped around. Joy then grabbed Sadness to flip her around. When Bing Bong picked up Sadness and said she was adorable, Sadness asked him to put her down. Anger, Joy, and Fear stacked on top of each other to allow Joy to reach a high shelf and place a memory there. Then Sadness pulled a string and revealed the shape of a Christmas Tree.
Inside Out 2
Following the events of the first film, Joy and the other emotions more readily accepted Sadness and her role in Riley's life as Riley grew and changed. Part of this growth was using beliefs to develop a belief system and then Riley's Sense Of Self. Determined to protect Riley, Joy had created the Riley Protection System, which she used to fling negative memories to the Back of the Mind, allowing only good memories to form Riley's beliefs. At the end of one day, Joy invited Sadness to come with her to add some new memories to the belief system. Sadness, who had never been before, decided to come and was in awe of it.
The next morning, the emotions were startled awake by the puberty alarm on the control console going off. They tried to turn it off and when they couldn't, Joy pulled it off and sent it to the back of the mind. Then some mind workers came in and said it was demo day. They updated the control console. When Riley woke up, they learned that the update made Riley's emotions more intense. For example, when Sadness pushed a button, Riley sobbed and declared herself the worst. They had similar experiences with the other emotions.
When Riley got invited to Coach Roberts' hockey camp, the emotions remembered that Val Ortiz, whom Riley idolized, had gotten onto Roberts' team, the FireHawks, as a freshman. On their way to camp, Riley learned that her best friends, Grace Hsieh and Bree Young, weren't going to be going to the same high school with her. When they got dropped off and Grace and Bree walked away, Sadness finally had Riley cry. Once she was done crying, she started walking toward the building and ran into Val. Riley started rambling about Val and it was during this exchange that the emotions noticed the console was orange. They wondered who did that and met Anxiety, who introduced herself and Riley's other new emotions: Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. Joy happily welcomed them, saying she'd learned that all emotions were important for Riley.
Anxiety quickly took control of Riley, saying Riley needed to focus on making new friends who would come to her new school to secure her future. The emotions initially respected Anxiety's plan and actions, but eventually started to question her actions. When they tried to fight back, Anxiety had Embarrassment put all five original emotions in a jar and take them to the Vault of Secrets. There, they found Lance Slashblade, Bloofy, and the Deep Dark Secret. They asked for help. Bloofy would only agree to help them if they gave him something in return, Lance said that it was their own journey. However, once Disgust flattered Lance, he agreed to help them. Unfortunately, he was unable to get them out of the jar, but the Deep Dark Secret was able to break the glass and release them. Once they were out, Bloofy summoned Pouchy, who gave them the dynamite they needed to get out of the vault. While Bloofy and Lance left with them, the Deep Dark Secret decided to stay in the vault.
Joy led the group, saying they needed to get Riley's Sense of Self before they could return to Headquarters. She decided they could follow the Stream of Consciousness to the back of the mind. Joy thought she knew how to get there, but since Riley's mind had changed, she no longer did. Sadness started to cry over everything changing. When they finally go to the stream, Sadness reminded them that there would be no one in Headquarters to call them back. Joy decided that Sadness would climb a Recall tube back to Headquarters while the rest of them went to find Riley's Sense of Self. Sadness cried as she climbed through the tube. Sadness ended up being sucked through the tube along with memories when Anxiety and Envy were trying to recall everything Riley knew about music. Sadness hid before they could see her.
Later, Embarrassment discovered Sadness among the manuals, but instead of telling Anxiety and Envy, he helped hide her. When Sadness saw Anxiety and Envy trying to get Riley to steal Coach Roberts' red notebook, she used a walkie talkie to talk to Joy, who told her she needed to stop Anxiety. Sadness tried to get Embarrassment to help, but he brushed her off, so she stole Ennui's phone and use it to control the console. Unfortunately, Anxiety found her and put Sadness in a bucket that she suspended above Headquarters.
Sadness remained trapped in the bucket when Joy called to say it was time to bring them back. Embarrassment heard this and freed Sadness, but before Sadness could call them back using the Riley Protection System, Anxiety broke it, trapping them in the Back of the Mind. This forced them to use dynamite from Pouchy to cause an avalanche of memories that send them and the memories into the belief system.
Back at Headquarters, the emotions tried to remove the new, anxious sense of self that had grown from the anxious memories, but they were unable to as Anxiety had control of the console and was frantically bouncing around it, trying to fix the problem she'd caused. Joy stepped in and told Anxiety she didn't get to decide who Riley was, getting her to relinquish control. Then they removed the anxious sense of self and replaced it with the old one. When Joy realized it was keeping a new sense of self from developing, she removed it, allowing a new, complex sense of self to develop.
Later, when Riley had returned to school, Sadness and the other emotions waited for Riley to receive the email that would tell her whether or not she made the hockey team. They agreed that they all loved Riley and could co-exist peacefully. When Riley finally got the email, she smiled.
Personality
Sadness, as her name states, is the literal embodiment of sorrow, gloom and general hurt or down feelings. She's shown to be very sensitive and melancholic out of all the emotions, and is prone to tears very easily when distraught or hurt, crying out literal sprinkles of tears when weeping. Sadness also complains a lot and has a tendency to never want to walk or do anything when she's "too sad", much to Joy's frustration. Despite her slowness, this is often a benefit for her, since she likes to observe and read, Sadness is also smarter, has more common sense, and is more pragmatic than the others, which proved expedient in the journey through Riley's mind, such as when she kept trying to warn Joy at the dangers of taking Bing Bong's "shortcut" through Abstract Thought, which was really a dangerous place to go through (though Joy did not listen at the time), and when she also suggested scaring Riley to wake her up (but Joy thought that giving her a fun dream would wake her up, which it did not).
In the first film, her emotion is almost never used because Joy did not understand Sadness nor want Riley to ever be sad, even when she needs to be. Because of this, Joy treated Sadness badly through out the majority of the film, but Sadness still yearned to earn her place among the other emotions, even though the others did not believe Sadness had a purpose in the mind and almost always prevented her from trying. As a result, she was very insecure and shy, and often felt ashamed for who she was, feeling like she was a burden who only made things worse. This belief reached it's boiling point when she felt genuinely hurt by Joy's abandonment because "Riley needs to be happy", which made Sadness felt like she was truly useless and unneeded and spiraled into despair.
Despite her pessimistic disposition, shyness, sarcastic demeanor, and negative attitude, she is very considerate and compassionate toward others; when Bing Bong was sad about losing his rocket, she sympathizes with him and lets him reveal his true feelings, which makes him feel much better. Unknowingly, this is because of Sadness's true purpose - she helps Riley come to terms with the situations that hurt her and move on. When Sadness is requested to take control after Riley's sorrow becomes evident, she is able to let Riley express her true feelings and helps Riley find happiness at last. After the other emotions finally trust and accept Sadness, not only does Joy start treating her better, but Sadness gains more confidence in herself as well, now that she has finally found her place.
Despite her personality, Sadness is actually a fan of romance-related things. This can be seen when she smiles when she sees the Imaginary Boyfriend and Tragic Vampire Romance Island. This appears to be one of the few things that make her happy.
Notes and Trivia
- Official description: None of the other Emotions really understand what Sadness's role is. Sadness would love to be more optimistic and helpful in keeping Riley happy, but she finds it so hard to be positive. Sometimes it seems like the best thing to do is just lie on the floor and have a good cry.
- According to Pete Docter, her appearance is based on that of a teardrop.[source?]
- This can be seen in Abstract Thought, as during the fourth stage, Joy and Sadness were reduced to a shape and color - Sadness was a blue teardrop and Joy was a yellow star.
- In an early draft for the film, Sadness wasn't originally going to get lost with Joy in Riley's mind, but instead, her role would have been given to Fear.[source?]
- Phyllis Smith, Sadness' voice actress, was chosen for the role of Sadness after Jonas Rivera, Inside Out's producer, noticed her performance in the 2011 film Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.[source?]
- Sadness is the lead emotion in Riley's mom's head.
- In the Disney Infinity 3.0 spinoff of Inside Out, Sadness mentions that lightning reminds her of a time Riley was caught in a rainstorm, which hints she might have astraphobia. This was previously hinted in Inside Out as she mentioned that she dislikes that part of rainy weather (aside from liking rain itself).
Gallery
Quotes
- (When Friendship Island collapsed) Goodbye, friendship. Hello, loneliness.
- Okay. Only I'm too sad to walk. Just give me a few... hours.
- I like Tragic Vampire Romance Island.
- (on being dragged around) This actually feels kinda nice!
- If anyone has concerns about going back to Imagination Land, I'm willing to listen.
- Oh, remember the funny movie where the dog dies?
- We gotta get out of here-ow!-before we're nothing but shape and color-ow! We'll get stuck here forever! (in Abstract Thought)
- Okay, I need to keep busy or I might get overwhelmed and start to cry.
References
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