- “The point is, the Islands of Personality are what makes Riley, Riley.”
- ―Joy
Islands of Personality are locations in the mind of Riley Andersen in the Disney/Pixar film Inside Out. They make up someone's personality and are created when a Core Memory is formed.
History[]
All the Islands were created from the crucial memories Riley had accumulated in her childhood, and each are powered by a specific Core memory. After Joy tries to get rid of a core memory created by Sadness, they are both vacuumed out of Headquarters through a tube that sends newly created memories down to Long Term Memory, accidentally bringing all of the core memories with them. Since the Core Memories are absent from Headquarters, the Islands are shut down, eventually breaking down and falling into the Memory Dump, causing Riley to gradually lose her personality.
When Riley's father comes up to her room and tries to make her happy, Disgust and Anger are unable to make her laugh as she declines joining her father's silliness. This causes the Goofball Island to crumble, as Joy and Sadness try to make their way out of it. The Island is destroyed and it falls into the Memory Dump, which makes Riley lose the Goofy part of her personality. Later on, during a video chat between Riley and Meg, Meg reveals that she's made a new friend back in Minnesota, making Riley feel replaced, causing Friendship to fall as well.
After Riley attempts to join the San Francisco hockey team, Hockey Island crumbles at the time, which costs Riley her skills as a formidable hockey player. With Riley becoming more and more desperate to return to Minnesota, she resorts to stealing her mother's credit card to get a bus ticket back to Minnesota, condemning Honesty Island.
Family Island becomes the last Personality Island to go down, and the slowest to go down. It begins to fall after Riley doesn't greet her parents and leaves to run away. As it goes down while Riley is at the bus stop, Joy uses the trampoline on the Island to catch Sadness and return to Headquarters. Once Sadness and Joy get back to Headquarters, Sadness removes the idea from the console, which causes Riley to realize what she's been doing and return home.
After Riley reunites with her parents, a new Core Memory is made containing both Joy and Sadness at the same time, recreating and establishing a larger Family Island (with the Golden Gate Bridge now part of the Island) and saving Riley's personality.
New Islands form over the year from composite Core Memories as Riley's personality develops, which include restored Hockey, Friendship, Honesty and Goofball Islands, as well as brand new Islands like Fashion, Boy Band and Tragic Vampire Romance.
Appearance[]
Islands[]
Five Personality islands are located within Riley's mind at the beginning of the film. These islands are:
Goofball Island - A recompilation of everything that can be considered "goofy": it has a Jack-in-the box, air horns, and a boot wheel. It also features theme park-like neon lights, just like the rest of the islands. The island was formed with a core memory of Riley running naked from her father after taking a bath, and reflects all of the times Riley ever acted goofy and funny during her childhood. It was the first island to collapse, when Riley does not laugh after her father tried to cheer her up after dinner. After the emotions create mixed core memories, Goofball Island is slightly smaller. It is Joy's favorite island.
Friendship Island - An island that represents Riley's friendships. It was created from a Core Memory Orb of the first time Riley became best friends with Meg. It collapsed when Anger made Riley get mad at Meg for making a new friend. At the end of the movie it gets a friendly argument section that Anger likes.
Hockey Island - First conceived when Riley was a young girl. While playing hockey with her family on the ice, she (accidentally) scored her very first goal, and a new Core Memory was formed. It led to the creation of this island. It collapsed when Riley failed at her hockey tryouts and Anger made her give up. By the end of the movie Hockey received a new core which has Joy and Anger making Riley more aggressive in the way she plays hockey. It consists of a variety of hockey equipment and arenas, and has a winter atmosphere.
Honesty Island - Represents Riley's inclination towards truth and integrity. It was first created from a Core Memory Orb after Riley became honest with her parents as a toddler about breaking a vase. It collapsed when Riley stole her mother's credit card. It consists of neoclassical buildings, a judge's gavel and a giant pair of scales, all symbols of justice and integrity.
Family Island - The center of all the islands and their foundation. It was created from a Core Memory of Riley baking cookies and having fun with her parents. The center of the island features a big sculpture of Riley embraced by her parents, which is surrounded by things related to Riley's family activities: a board game, Riley's house, her family tree and a van used to go on vacation. It was the last island to collapse, when Riley was running away; unlike the other islands, it went down piece by piece instead of all at once. It collapsed completely some time after Joy and Sadness returned to Headquarters. After Joy and Sadness created a brand new yellow and blue core memory, Family Island was expanded. It now featured the Golden Gate Bridge, indicating that Riley has accepted San Francisco as her new home. All the emotions love this island.
When Riley turns twelve, new islands are created, expanding her personality even more:
Tragic Vampire Romance Island - First conceived when Riley was twelve, it represents Riley's obsession with the vampire literature. It is Sadness' favorite island.
Boy Band Island - Created when Riley was twelve, it represents all of the bands that she is a fan of. Fear hopes "it is just a phase".
Fashion Island - Disgust's favorite island, represents all of Riley's ideas for being accepted in the society. Created when Riley was twelve.
Science Island - Created when Riley was twelve.
Social Media Island - Created when Riley was twelve.
Notes and Trivia[]
- Each of Riley's Islands of Personality are playable maps in the game Inside Out: Thought Bubbles.
- It is unknown if there is a limit to how many Personality Islands someone can have. While Riley has five at the beginning of the film, several more are created at the end. This suggests that as someone grows up, more of their personality develops, allowing for the creation of more Personality Islands. This is evidenced by the renovations made to Emotions' Headquarters at the end of the film, such as the larger control board.
- Honesty Island features a balance scale (symbolic of the court justice system) and a building modeled after the United States Supreme Court.
- The unnamed island is called Science Island in Inside Out: Thought Bubbles.
- While Fashion Island is mentioned at the end of the film, it is the only island that doesn’t appear in the film.