Riley's First Date? is a 2015 animated romantic comedy short film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It was written and directed by Josh Cooley. The short premiered on August 14, 2015, at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, and was included in the October 13, Digital HD release of Inside Out (2015), as well as the November 3, Blu-ray release.[2] Riley's First Date? follows the events of Inside Out and involves Riley's parents and their emotions, suspecting that Riley is going out on a date with a boy named Jordan.
| Riley's First Date? | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Josh Cooley |
| Written by | Josh Cooley |
| Story by | Yung-han Chang Bobby Alcio Rubio |
| Produced by | Mark Nielsen |
| Starring | Amy Poehler Phyllis Smith Bill Hader Lewis Black Mindy Kaling Kaitlyn Dias Diane Lane Kyle MacLachlan |
| Edited by | Jason Brodkey |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 5 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
editRiley, now 12, is relaxing with her parents at home when a school friend, a boy named Jordan (seen briefly at the end of Inside Out), shows up to go skating with her and her friends. Riley's parents suspect their daughter is going out on a date, and their emotions react. Riley's mother attempts to get the information out of her, by attempting to sound cool and using slang terms, much to Riley's (and her emotions') chagrin.
Meanwhile, Riley's father tries to intimidate and interrogate Jordan. His patience wanes with Jordan's absentmindedness, which he (and his emotions) believe is backtalk, and he is just about ready to kick Jordan out of the house when Jordan mentions he is the bass player in a band. Riley's father recalls his own memories of being in a band as lead guitarist, and the two begin to bond over their shared love of AC/DC. Riley comes downstairs to see her father and Jordan jamming out to AC/DC's "Back in Black", knocking over the table and chairs in the process.
An embarrassed Riley quickly rushes Jordan out the door as her parents watch, concluding that Jordan is a "good kid" and feeling nostalgic about their own love.
The short ends with Riley's parents sharing a kiss, causing Riley's dad's emotional center to erupt in excitement, and celebrate once again to AC/DC's "Back in Black".
After the credits, we again see things from inside Riley's mother's head, as she enjoys the kiss to the music of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". She breaks off the kiss after a moment, and Riley's father goes to fix the table he knocked over.
Voice cast
edit- Amy Poehler as Joy
- Phyllis Smith as Sadness
- Bill Hader as Fear and Jordan's Joy
- Lewis Black as Anger
- Mindy Kaling as Disgust
- Kaitlyn Dias as Riley Andersen
- Diane Lane as Riley's Mother
- Kyle MacLachlan as Riley's Father
- Ben Cox as Jordan
- Sherry Lynn as Mother's Joy and Mother's Disgust
- Lori Alan as Mother's Sadness
- Laraine Newman as Mother's Fear
- Paula Pell as Mother's Anger
- Patrick Seitz as Father's Joy
- Josh Cooley as Father's Sadness
- Pete Docter as Father's Anger
- Carlos Alazraqui as Father's Fear
- Flea as Jordan's Fear
- Mona Marshall as Jordan's Disgust
- Gregg Berger as Jordan's Anger
- Keith Ferguson as Jordan's Sadness and Father's Disgust
Production
editIf this kid just shows up and dad has no idea who he is, your mind goes crazy. 'Who is this person? What are they doing here?' Already the voices in your head are talking.
–Josh Cooley, summing up how the plot was created.[3]
During the final year of Inside Out's production, Pixar got together to discuss a short based on the film.[4] According to Josh Cooley, "We had so much fun with the boy at the end of the movie that I wanted to put them in a situation and see what would happen there. I treated Riley's First Date? as if you were just watching more of Inside Out."[5]
Given most of Pixar's crew are fathers with daughters, and that Inside Out editor, Kevin Nolting, stated at the meeting that "Just wait until the first boy shows up", the plot was then developed into how Riley's parents would react to the boy, now named Jordan.[3]
Cooley started off from a personal anecdote, as the first time he met his father-in-law: "he was a little standoffish" until Cooley told he was in a band, and both started to connect as the father-in-law played drums.[6] Jordan's emotional immaturity was played for comedy and also in how "boys are behind. It felt right to have him be catching up, to have his mind act like a kid does."
Riley's First Date? was done in about ten months, employing the same character models and scenery from the feature, to the point the same camera shot is used in the take where Riley's mother's head is visited.[3]
While exploring various song choices, the producers eventually settled on AC/DC,[7] which Cooley considered a band that connected generations: "I went to their concert and there was a seven-year-old in front of me and an eighty-year-old behind me".[6]
Reception
editCineMagazine rated the short 4 stars.[8]
References
edit- ^ "Riley's First Date?". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
- ^ Wolfe, Jennifer (August 14, 2015). "Pixar Debuts 'Inside Out' Short at D23 EXPO". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ a b c Mcfarland, K. M. (October 16, 2015). "4 Things Riley's First Date? Reveals About Pixar". Wired. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ BackstageOL (November 25, 2015). "RILEY'S FIRST DATE: Josh Cooley & Mark Nielsen". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ McKittrick, Christopher (February 16, 2016). ""Is this the best story we can tell?" – Inside Out". Creative Screenwriting. Archived from the original on February 18, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Desowitz, Bill (October 29, 2015). "Immersed in Movies: Talking the Adult Appeal of Pixar's 'Inside Out'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ "Pixar team explains the rockin' music choices in 'Riley's First Date?'". HitFix. October 14, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ Meijer, Monica. "Riley's First Date? (2015)". CineMagazine. Retrieved June 13, 2024.