Inside Out 2 is an animated coming-of-age film from Pixar studios.
We watched the first Inside Out the night before the premiere, so the characters and storyline were fresh in my memory. The first film is about five personified emotions as characters: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger.
In the follow up film, Riley hits puberty and is hit with a range of new emotions. You might remember that her experiences become memories (symbolised as coloured orbs). These are sent to long-term memory each night.
Illustrating how the inner workings of the brain is fantastic. You won’t be surprised to learn the producers consulted with psychologists and neuroscientists to accurately portray how our mind works.
But this storyline is a little more complicated with the extra emotions. New additions to the emotions are anxiety, embarrassment, ennui and envy. Riley is governed by anxiety rather than joy.
These new feelings begin when the family move from Minnesota to San Francisco. The old house is cramped and in need of a renovation. The local pizza join only serves broccoli pizza (slightly random).
As a result, Joy and Sadness are sucked out to Headquarters and have to find there way back to the control panel. In charge of Riley are Anger, Fear and Disgust who make some disastrous decisions. When Riley’s friends admit they are going to a different school, she befriends an older crowd at hockey camp, but struggles to fit in.
Younger children might find the storyline confusing. I recommend watching the first Inside Out one before this one. Inside Out 2 attempts to explain the confusing period of adolescence with some fun characters.
About Inside Out 2
Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as Headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment show up. The voice cast includes Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green,
Adèle Exarchopoulos, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paul Walter Hauser and Yvette Nicole Brown.
“Inside Out 2” is directed by Kelsey Mann, produced by Mark Nielsen and executive produced by Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera and Dan Scanlon. The film features a screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein and story by Mann and LeFauve. With music by Andrea Datzman, the all-new feature film releases only in Australian cinemas 13 June 2024.
Rated: (PG)
Consumer Advice: Mild themes
Final Runtime: 96 Minutes