Inside Out is one of Pixar’s most popular movies. It’s the studio’s second highest-grossing non-sequel ever and was nominated for two Oscars, including a win for Best Animated Feature. The film also has a strong theme park presence in Disneyland, the home of Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind and Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff candy shop (love and miss you, Bing Bong).
It’s a favorite among child and adults alike. But what about moody, in-the-throes-of-puberty teenagers? Well, Inside Out 2 is for them — and about them. (Kids and adults will like it, too).
In the upcoming months, we’ll have a lot more on Inside Out 2, including an interview with the director and producer. But for now, here’s everything to know about the Pixar sequel, including plot details and the release date. Be sure to stick around to the end to see some adoringly animated concept art.
Plot
Inside Out ended with Riley accepting her new life in San Francisco and the emotions in her head — Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger — working together as a balanced unit. The sequel is set roughly a year later and catches up with Riley as a now-teenager who’s off to spend the summer at hockey camp. But then: puberty hits. Uh oh. Joy & Co’s harmonious way of doing things is upended by new emotions: Anxiety, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment.
Will so many emotions be able to coexist in one teenage girl’s mind?
The Inside Out 2 team, including director Kelsey Mann, producer Mark Nielsen, and writer Meg LeFauve, felt it was a natural fit for Riley to enter adolescence in the sequel. “We read a lot of books and spoke with psychologists about what happens to the teenage brain — the expansion of their minds at that time,” explained Nielsen. “It became clear pretty quickly that there would be a lot of potential for entertainment with a new group of Emotions coming in and disrupting the core five that have just hit their stride in figuring out how to work together.” He added, “There are definitely more complex Emotions that come with being a teenager.” Anyone who was ever a jerk to their parents for no reason when they were 13 is silently nodding along.
I recently visited Pixar HQ in Emeryville, California, and watched the first 30 minutes of Inside Out 2. The sequel wastes no time in re-establishing the personality dynamics from the first film in clever ways, while successfully introducing the new characters — especially Anxiety. Maya Hawke, of Stranger Things fame, is perfect casting as personified worry.
“I’d zeroed in on the idea of Anxiety being a major character,” said Mann. “It’s something that really starts to appear as we become teenagers — we can all relate. I remember doing a lot of research early on about what happens in our brains at this age that triggered this idea of a wrecking ball coming through Headquarters — a bunch of workers piling in and tearing everything down. It’s a renovation — that’s kind of what it feels like to be a teenager. It’s chaotic.”
To make sure the chaos was accurate, a braintrust of actual-teenage girls, dubbed Riley’s Crew, was put together while developing Inside Out 2. They were all between the ages of 13 and 19, “and every four months we would show the movie to them and we would meet with them and have a notes session and get their thoughts on like the characters, Riley’s relationship with her friend group, what’s going on with them emotionally, and does that resonate?” explained Nielsen. Mann added, “That group was incredibly helpful. And man, did they give great notes. They gave sometimes greater, better notes than the people who work here. They were fantastic with it. They treated it like an assignment.”
Based on what I’ve seen, they understood the assignment.
Cast
Amy Poehler returns from the first movie as Joy, as does Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, and Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan as Riley’s parents (don’t worry, “hot dad” Mr. Andersen still has his mustache). Tony Hale and Liza Lapira replaced Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling as the new voices of Fear and Disgust, while Riley is now played by Kensington Tallman.
The new emotions are voiced by Maya Hawke (Anxiety), Ayo Edebiri (Envy), Adèle Exarchopoulos (Ennui), and Emmy winner/wrestler Paul Walter Hauser (Embarrassment). The rest of the cast includes Lilimar, Paula Pell, Yvette Nicole Brown, June Squibb, Pixar good luck charm John Ratzenberger, and in a very funny scene, Ron Funches as Bloofy and Yong Yea as Lance Slashblade.
Release Date
Inside Out 2 comes out on June 14.
Trailer
Inside Out 2 had the biggest animated trailer launch in Disney history with over 157 million views in its first 24 hours of release, including a whopping 78 million from TikTok (would you believe Anxiety is a hit on there?). That shatters the previous record set by Frozen 2 (116.4 million). “We are thrilled so many people have tuned in to check out the new trailer for Inside Out 2,” said Pete Docter, who directed the first Inside Out and is now Pixar’s chief creative officer. “When the first film came out, we knew that by telling a story where we could see our emotions — those little voices inside your head — there would be so much more to explore than we could possibly fit into one film.”
You can watch the trailer below.
Concept Art
Below, you can find concept art from Inside Out 2.
