Riley's First Date?

Riley's First Date? is a 2015 Pixar computer animated short directed by Josh Cooley. It was attached to the home media release of Inside Out. The short involves Riley's parents and their emotions suspecting that Riley is going on a date with a boy named Jordan.

Plot

Riley, now 12, is relaxing with her parents at home when a school friend, a boy named Jordan (seen briefly at the end of the film), shows up to take her skating. 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. Riley's father tries to intimidate and interrogate Jordan. When Jordan mentions he plays in a band, Riley's father recalls his own memories of being in a band, and the two begin to bond over their shared love of AC/DC. Riley and her mother come downstairs to see her father and Jordan playing air guitar to AC/DC's "Back in Black", causing much embarrassment for Riley. 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 celebration once again to AC/DC's "Back in Black".

Voice cast

• 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 Jill Andersen, Riley's Mother
• Kyle MacLachlan as Bill Andersen, 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

During the final year of Inside Out's production, Pixar got together to discuss a short based on the film.^[2] 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."^[3]

Given most of Pixar's crew are fathers with daughters, and that editor Jason Brodkey 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.^[1] 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.^[4] 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 10 months, employing the same character models and scenery from the feature, to the point the same camera shot is used in the take where Mother's head is visited.^[1] While exploring various song choices, the producers eventually settled on AC/DC,^[5] which Cooley considered a band that connected generations: "I went to their concert and there was a 7-year-old in front of me and an 80-year-old behind me".^[4]

References

External links

• Riley's First Date? at the Internet Movie Database