On June 15th, 2015, Pixar Animation Studios released their 15th animated feature released under the Walt Disney Pictures label, Inside Out. It was a blockbuster smash, grossing $858.8 million dollars at the box office, earning positive reviews from critics and audiences alike—receiving two Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Animated Feature (winning the latter!). Nine years later, Pixar has released a highly anticipated sequel to the film, Inside Out 2 (2024). Here is my review:
Riley Andersen recently turned 13 years old. Each of the emotions in her brain: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger, continue to run the brain’s control center. As Riley continues with teenage development, she learns that her two new best friends, Bree and Grace, are preparing to move away from San Francisco and that their Summer Hockey Camp trip will be the last time they get to hang together. As a result: new emotions enter the brain’s control center: Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment, and Nostalgia.
The first “Inside Out,” was special in the way that it portrayed competing and layered emotions: from leaving the familiar to the nervousness and excitement of a new place. “Inside Out 2,” is different from its predecessor because it’s about young kids maturing into teenagers. As that happens, they can become so overwhelmed by anxiety and insecurity, or just envy of those around them. As they start to loose their “sense of self,” they find that the friends/family who care about them help them get their true identity.
“Inside Out 2,” reunites the first film’s all-star voice cast of Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, and Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan as Riley’s Parents, Jill and Bill Andersen. Lisa Lapira and Tony Hale voice Disgust and Fear, respectively, replacing the first film’s Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader; and Kensington Tallman replaces Kaitlyn Dias as the voice of Riley Andersen. Maya Hawke voices Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri plays Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos portrays Ennui, Paul Walter Hauser does the voice of Embarrassment, and June Squibb plays Nostalgia. The film is directed by Kelsey Mann, who makes his feature film directorial debut at Pixar, and it is executive produced by the first film’s co-writer/co-director Pete Docter. Docter is also Pixar’s current head of Animation and was the writer/director of Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), and Soul (2020) (the latter two of which also won Best Animated Feature Oscars). The film is co-written by Mann, Dave Holstein, and Meg LeFauve who co-wrote the first film with Docter.
“Inside Out 2” cleverly reunites the iconic characters from the first film and tells another humorous and uplifting story that all fans can enjoy. It has currently grossed $1.015 billion dollars, and been critically and publicly well-reviewed. Whether or not it will be accoladed or even receive a third installment remains to be seen. Overall, Pixar has undoubtedly hit another home run with “Inside Out 2.”
