Joy (Inside Out)

Joy is the protagonist of the Disney/Pixar film mh:greatestmovies:Inside Out. She is one of the five emotions inside the mind of Riley Andersen. She always strives to remain joyful, hence her name, and is the leader of the emotions.

Why She Rocks

 * 1) Joy is, as her name states, the very essence of happiness and perkiness, and as such, she loves to look on the bright side of things.
 * 2) Joy’s goal has always been to make sure Riley stays happy.
 * 3) Joy gets some GREAT character development. She at first wanted Riley to be happy all the time until near the end of the movie she learned that endless happiness isn't always the solution, and that feeling sadness isn't always a bad thing and can be an important part of emotionally processing a problem in order to be able to fix it.
 * 4) She is lighthearted, optimistic and determined to find the fun in every situation.
 * 5) She is the oldest of all of the emotions, as she was the first one to appear, making her the wisest and the most experienced.
 * 6) She is a strong, optimistic Pixar character.
 * 7) She sees challenges in Riley’s life as opportunities, and the less happy moments as hiccups on the way back to something great.
 * 8) She regretted (unintentionally) mistreating Sadness near the end of the film, as she gets Sadness to remove the bulb from the control panel and have Riley show sadness to her parents so they can comfort her, proving Joy became humble near the end.
 * 9) Amy Poehler did a great job voicing her.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) She mistreats Sadness (albeit unintentionally) mainly because she did not understand why Sadness is a necessary emotion, due to nobody else knowing what her purpose for Riley is, and Joy wants Riley to be happy all the time.
 * 2) She is not above lying, as she told Fear that earthquakes don't exist, when they really do.
 * 3) She values Riley's happiness to the point where she does not want any of the other emotions to influence Riley. She does not want Riley to be sad at all, even when she needs to be.
 * 4) When Bing Bong lost his wagon and was grieving, she wanted him to not be sad when he had to be and tried doing childish and silly things to get him to stop without understanding that cheerfulness and positivity are not always what a sad person needs.

Trivia

 * According to Pete Docter, her appearance is based on that of a star/burst of energy. This can be seen in Abstract Thought, as, during the fourth stage, Joy and Sadness were reduced to a single shape and color - Joy was a yellow star and Sadness was a blue teardrop.