Inside Out 2

Nearly a decade ago, the animated Disney/Pixar production Inside Out was released.  Although this sequel does a brief “previously on” for families who might not have seen or remember the events of the original, you should probably watch that one to catch you up on before heading out to this one.  This film continues to deal with Riley, the protagonist of the predecessor whose emotions are anthropomorphic characters in her head.  Here, things have been going very well for her and her loving parents.

But then that fateful day comes when she hits puberty, and her life becomes a veritable nightmare not only for her, but for her Emotions.  Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith reprise their roles here as seemingly and perpetually optimistic Joy and Sadness, who really requires no further explanation.  Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling have been replaced by Tony Hale and Liza Lapira as Fear and Disgust (both entertaining in their own ways as well).  It’s rather fitting that Riley is now voiced by Kensington Tallman instead of Kaitlyn Dias here.  More importantly, blue maintenance workers completely change Headquarters, and new Emotions arrive, led by a googly-eyed orange control freak named Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke).

Now Joy, who has always been a control freak in her own way, trying to do what she thinks is best for Riley, is now usurped by Anxiety.  As you would expect, this leads to painful developments in the girl’s life.  For instance, while she has a seemingly unbreakable bond with her two friends, she harvests a growing desire to be one of the “cool kids”.  The popular girls are led by Valentina (Lilimar), who has a red streak in her hair and is a pro at hockey.  Her self-esteem has changed for the worse, too.  Meanwhile, Anxiety has taken over Headquarters and bottled up Joy and the others, sending them to the depths of Riley’s mind where they can’t interfere.

The other new Emotions are not as prominent, but include negative ones like Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), which also means Boredom (if they called her that in the first place, it would create less confusion for us).  They are all amusing, especially as they fight over the control board, changing Riley’s moods from one end of the spectrum to another.  While Pete Docter and co-director Ronnie Del Carmen don’t return, Kelsey Mann helms this well-animated sequel quite capably, effectively blending humor while tackling more difficult themes, juggling many more characters, while expanding on the creative worldbuilding from the predecessor.

The secondary plot concerning Joy and her friends going on another journey through halls filled with memories and crossing gorges feels a bit formulaic, the concept of visualizing these Emotions is inherently not as fresh as it was in the first film, and there is a bit too much going on here. However, this second outing has recaptured the magic of what made Pixar’s most beloved films (Up, Toy Story 3, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, etc.) so appealing and endearing for both children and their parents.  This one actually does something that its predecessor did not: giving children an entertaining adventure while teen and adult audiences (myself included) will walk out of the theater with much more emotional resonance. 

Inside Out 2 may not be the studio’s best film, but because anyone who has experienced these growing pains will have led different lives, they will not have the same takeaways (myself included). After this studio has given us too many disappointments and flops at the box office that have focused on delivering heavy-handed messages over great storytelling, this is a breath of fresh air.

96 minutes