Bing Bong Made Me Cry. Not once, but many times!

If you have small kids like me, chances are you know Bing-Bong. He is Riley Andersen's imaginary friend in the movie “Inside Out” (2015).

Bing-bong is a pink colored "animal" who is a part elephant, part cat, part dolphin. He has a magic wagon which would bring Riley to the moon!

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Then why would such an adorable creature make me cry?

You see, Bing Bong was kept deep inside Riley’s head (long-term memory) until Joy and Sadness found him. Joy and Sadness were two of the main emotions of Riley who were dispelled out of Headquarters when the girl had trouble adjusting to her new life when their family moved States.

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Riley's troubled emotions had led her "personality islands" to crumble down to Memory Dump, where every memory gets forgotten.

Bing Bong helped Joy and Sadness find their way back to Headquarters by riding the Train of Thought. However, this ride got de-railed when The Honesty Island collapsed (Riley stole her mom's credit card in an attempt to run away from home). Joy attempted to take the recall tube but tried to leave Sadness behind since close proximity with her makes the core memories turn sad. The recall tube broke when the ground below them shook, causing Joy and Bing Bong to fall down into the Memory Dump.

Down the dump, Bing Bong and Joy found Bing Bong's old rocket wagon and tried to use it several times in order to escape the Memory Dump. Bing Bong soon realized that their combined weight hindered the ascent and so decided to sacrifice himself.

True enough, Joy was able to escape- both she and Sadness were able to go back to Headquarters. Riley got her emotions in sync and she went back home to her worried parents. Riley's Emotions got themselves a bigger console to help them manage complexities of her growing up experiences.

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Bing Bong's Sacrifice (clip extracted from YouTube)

What do you think?

I have watched the movie with my children for the n^th time already but each time, this scene made me cry. Though he knew that this meant that he would soon be forgotten by Riley, Bing Bong still sacrificed himself so that Riley will have a chance to be happy again. THAT sacrifice shook me. Maybe you too?

To forget her imaginary friend may depict that Riley is really growing up into a more mature person. Me, as an adult, cannot remember if I even ever had an imaginary friend.

My girl, now 3, talks to herself sometimes when playing. I do not know if that counts as having an imaginary friend - I still have to ask her who she talks to. LOL.

I also found this article that talks about how accurate the movie is when compared to real life - The Psychology of “Inside Out”: How Accurate Is It? which may interest you too.

Raising Children

Parenting is an everyday job. No breaks, no turning back. As part of growing up, our children gather their own core memories. We have to always be there to support our children and let them know that we are behind them no matter what. What a great feeling it would be to know that our kids will have very happy memories in their lives!

No two, or three (or four, five, so on...) children are alike. They have to be treated differently so we can support them and make sure that they create their own personalities and gain control of their own emotions. Every day is a challenge for me as I seek to know each one of my children.