Father Upset Over ‘Inside Out’ Sadness Doll’s ‘Suicidal Remarks’ [Video]
Andrew Smith was both shocked and horrified to find that the Sadness doll he bought for his daughter expressed suicidal thoughts. The doll represents a character from the Disney animated movie, Inside Out, which tells the tale of the “little voices” inside both the main character, Riley, and her parents’ heads.
When his 11-year-old daughter pressed the Sadness doll’s right hand, a series of gloomy and virtually “suicidal comments” emanated from the Inside Out toy.
According to the Daily Record, Smith, 34, bought the doll from a Disney store in the U.K. Sadness is one of five dolls in the collection, each representing a character from the Inside Out animated film. Each character represents an emotion felt by Riley, the young main character in the movie.
Dad’s horror as talking @Disney ‘Sadness’ doll bought for daughter makes “suicidal comments” http://t.co/eFiPzYY7HJ pic.twitter.com/uCTCqgPn6c
— The Daily Record (@Daily_Record) July 23, 2015
Smith, from Dingwall in Highlands, said his eldest daughter chose the Sadness doll from the various characters on offer.
“I wasn’t terribly keen on her buying a doll called Sadness having spent the last year at uni doing psychology.
I didn’t think it was a terribly good idea for mental well-being but then I thought because it was Disney, ‘what’s the harm?’ “
Explaining that he is a psychology student at the University of Highlands and Islands, he now says that buying the doll was definitely the wrong thing to do.
Shocked father slams ‘suicidal’ Inside Out doll http://t.co/dgaUyuS6m2 pic.twitter.com/gLWI5F7mTS
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) July 23, 2015
The Mirror reports that while some of the phrases uttered by the Sadness doll were generic and harmless, others were very depressing.
Among the various phrases were the words, “Crying makes me slow down and obsess over the weight of life’s problems.”
Another example is, “I’m in an emotional slump — my legs don’t work. Give me an hour.”
And yet another, “Goodbye friendship, hello loneliness.” Not exactly the words Smith wanted his daughter to hear.
Smith has now branded the phrases uttered by the Inside Out Sadness doll as toxic, and is demanding Disney recall the toy from sale.
He said these are “absolutely crazy messages” for young children to hear.
“The doll speaks in a very slow, depressed, melancholic tone and myself and my partner sat listening to it and we thought ‘That’s heavy, even for an adult’.”
While he tried to contact Disney about the problem, they merely told him the movie isn’t out yet in the U.K. and that maybe when he sees Inside Out, he will be able to put it all into context.
Smith continues to say that he made a very bad purchase and that it is “horrendous that we are marketing that kind of toy at young children.”
“I feel they should do some kind of recall on the toy and make it right.
I think it is a really damaging message for young children, in particular pre-teens who maybe struggling with hormones anyway.
To have something telling them their legs aren’t working because they are in an emotional slump, it’s almost putting a suggestion onto somebody that this could happen to them.”
Smith says that once the film is released in the U.K., he will go and see it before taking his daughters to the theater to see the animated comedy-drama, Inside Out.
What do you think, readers? Would you like your child to listen to a series of virtually “suicidal” comments coming from a toy?
A trailer for the Pixar movie is included below, and the Inquisitr recently gave a sneak peak into the various emotions behind Inside Out.
[Images: Screengrab from YouTube video]
