Pixar has finally brought us the sequel to the 2015 megahit, Inside Out. This is the first sequel from Pixar in five years, which is a major accomplishment as we live in an age where sequels are rapidly releasing, but the best thing about Pixar is that they’ve proven time and time again that they don’t move into development on a sequel unless they feel it’s needed. I can say with great confidence that Inside Out 2 was a well-needed sequel that had all the thought, love, and time put into it.
Inside Out 2 is set two years after the end of the first film. We follow Riley (Kensington Tallman) as she enters a new stage of her life, puberty. In the mind of a newly minted teenager, Riley, her emotions, Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) have to deal with the arrival of new emotions: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), who decide that they’re what Riley needs in life to survive the next few years of her life.
‘Inside Out 2’ Explores More Mature Themes Compared To The Original
What Inside Out did in 2015 for animation was generational; it was able to tell a story that focuses on the five core emotions and teaches both kids and adults alike the value of each emotion and their importance to life. Inside Out 2 continues this but handles these themes on a more mature level, as we now have to deal with Riley, who’s going through puberty. With that, we get the introduction of new emotions—emotions that are more complex than the five we knew prior to this film. Once Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui are introduced, our original five emotions take a backseat as they’re bottled up and sent away by anxiety. She believes that she’s what Riley needs in life to actually move forward and not be held back, which is what she believes Joy is doing.
Inside Out 2 retreads some story plot lines from the original, as the first film dealt with Joy not understanding sadness’s importance to Riley’s life, and with this film, Joy and Anxiety don’t seem to really understand each other and how important they both are for Riley. While it may seem unoriginal to go over this lesson again, they manage to express it in a different manner that doesn’t make it truly feel like they’re repeating the same story. Anxiety is an emotion that a lot of people suffer from, and it’s even harder when a teenager has to deal with it. It’s also statistically known that 1 in 3 of all adolescents aged 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder, which is a very high statistic. While we’ve had our fair share of panic attacks in numerous animation films, Inside Out 2 truly depicts a panic attack in the best way possible in a scene that truly packs an emotional punch, with animation that was beyond anything I’ve seen in a Pixar movie. The best way to describe this scene is to imagine The Flash using the speed force to run frantically; it’ll make sense once you’ve seen it for yourself.
‘Inside Out 2’ Reaches New Emotional Heights
Inside Out was held so highly for the simple matter that it brought many of its audience members to tears with its iconic “Fly me to the moon” scene. There isn’t any scene in Inside Out 2 that’s unfortunately on that same level, but I personally believe that the film manages to still pull tears with some scenes that hold the same emotional weight. The film focuses a great deal on Riley wanting to make it on this new hockey team called the Firehawks, and with Anxiety worried that she might not impress her new friends, we deal with her making all the wrong decisions that we usually wouldn’t expect the Riley we know to make. Unlike the previous film, Riley seems to have a lot more depth with her character, and that is simply due to these more complex emotions.
Make Way For Some New Emotions
Anxiety, who wants the best for Riley, just like Joy but also worries about her future, Embarrassment, who, well, it’s in the name, really; Ennui, who is the embodiment of boredom and allows Riley to now be sarcastic; and finally, Envy, who feels jealousy for Riley. All of these emotions that are now in charge of Riley end up making her a truly different person, and while Inside Out never truly has an antagonist, you never root for Anxiety as you witness the harm it’s dealing to Riley and how easily Anxiety can take over someone, especially a teenager whose emotions can take control of them much easier.
It’s a truly emotional film that was able to bring me to tears, which is a hard feat that even the first Inside Out failed to do. Inside Out 2 is a film that will resonate with everyone that watches it, as we’ve either lived through that portion of our lives where we couldn’t keep control of our emotions or maybe you’re currently in that stage of your life, which I know I’m personally dealing with at the moment with my niece, who constantly talks about how she’s going to a different school than her friends, and Riley was just able to remind me of my own teen years and also remind me that I currently have someone in my life who’s going through the same thing.
Pixar’s Unique Artstyle Is On Full Display in ‘Inside Out 2’
Pixar has showcased with Inside Out 2 that they’re capable of stepping out of their shell and experimenting with animation. I’m a massive fan of the unique Pixar art style that we’ve all come to love, but while Joy and Co. are trapped outside of headquarters and trying to make their way back, we come across some uniquely designed characters that all have their own animation styles. The first of which is Lance Slashblade, Riley’s old video game crush from a fighting game that she used to play. Instead of looking like all the other characters, he has this retro look to him that makes it seem like he’s been pulled out of a PS2 game, which might seem out of Riley’s age range, but maybe she’s a retro gal.
The second character that we get introduced to is Bloofy, a character from a preschool cartoon that Riley used to watch but secretly still likes. This is a very obvious spoof of Bluey and just how preschool cartoon characters interact with their audience, which is utilised incredibly well in the writing to pull off some of the greatest jokes in the film. As expected, Bloofy is animated to look like Bluey, sporting a 2D look compared to all the other characters that surround him. It was great to see Pixar take this step with Inside Out 2, and I can only hope that we get to see more of this in their upcoming films.
We have some returning faces and some new faces when it comes to the voice cast of Inside Out 2, some of them replacing certain characters. Riley, Disgust, and Fear are the three main characters who have been replaced, with Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, and Tony Hale, respectively, replacing those characters. Fortunately, aside from Riley, who you would expect to sound different as she has now grown up and is going through puberty, Disgust and Fear sound identical to Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader’s performances from the first film, so thankfully, you’re never distracted by these characters sounding drastically different. With new emotions come new additions to the voice cast: Maya Hawke voices Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri voices Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos voices Ennui, and Paul Walter Hauser voices Embarrassment. Each and every single one of them perfectly fits the characters they’re playing and does a magnificent job, but the standouts are Maya Hawke and Ayo Edebiri. They steal the film with their performances, especially Maya Hawke, who expresses so much range with Anxiety, which is to be expected as you never know what Anxiety’s next move may be.
‘Inside Out 2’ – Final Thoughts
Inside Out 2 is undeniably the best Pixar film of the decade. It not only reaches the same heights as its predecessor but also manages to break them and reach new heights. The voice cast does an outstanding job, bringing so much vocal range and emotion to their respective roles. The animation is groundbreaking and unlike anything we’ve gotten before in a Pixar film, with more than one animation style being used to express the different characters that we come across. The film showcases perfectly how we’re made up of so many emotions and shows how quickly we can be taken over by anxiety. It shares the same profound message as the first film but puts its own twist on it by introducing mature themes to the story.
Inside Out 2 is now streaming on Disney+. Check out the trailer below.
