New emotions storm the stage and our minds as Disney and Pixar release Inside Out 2. The prequel, Inside Out, introduces the audience to personified emotions that work inside Riley’s mind as she goes through life as a child.
These emotions are Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. However, in the newest movie, the focus shifts to a new set of emotions – Anxiety, Ennui (Boredom), Embarrassment, and Envy – as Riley goes through puberty and becomes a teenager. New problems, enhanced animation, and developed character dynamics make this movie enjoyable and branch off nicely from its predecessor.
The plot follows Riley as she and her friends are invited to a hockey camp. Joy, Anger, Disgust, Sadness, and fear get kicked out of headquarters as Anxiety says “I’m only doing what’s best for Riley.” Like in the first film, the goal is to get back to HQ to “save” Riley.
It wouldn’t be a Disney and Pixar movie if they didn’t try to sneak in a few funny, inappropriate jokes. In the first few minutes of the film, as Riley gets in the car with her friends, the dad, full of conceited suave, wiggles his eyebrows and bites his lip after saying “So, big weekend for us. What do you wanna do?”, insinuating “other” plans.
I love watching these “kid” movies now that I’m an adult. It’s hilarious to see and recognize jokes that would usually fly over my head if I watched them as a kid.
In my own life, like in the movie, I’ve internalized a bad moment and I’ve continued to use it to justify my actions. For instance, during the car ride, Riley learns that her best friends won’t be going to the same high school as her. From here on out, Riley goes on a downward spiral.
This shocking moment becomes a catalyst for the distance and separation we see between Riley and her friends. It becomes a tool for the main antagonist, Anxiety. She continually uses and references that moment in order to give grounds for her decisions that she claims are in Riley’s best interest, but instead it digs Riley into a deeper hole.
The new characters implemented add so much more nuance and fun, especially when we see them playing their role in small segments. For example, when Envy briefly touches the panel, she causes Riley to compliment and impulsively reach out for Val’s hair (a hockey player at camp whom Riley idolizes).
She has a burst of cringe when she tries to act cool. Her cheeks blush with red when Embarrassment slams his hands on the console. Anxiety exclaims that Riley should not express excitement when Val asks her to come with her to meet the other team members.
The French emotion Ennui (boredom), nonchalantly uses the console app on his phone to make sure Riley responds with an appropriate “meh” tone. It reminded me of when I was a freshman talking to upperclassmen; I was flustered and acting all over the place as I tried to recover from embarrassing moments.
The filmmakers did a fantastic job depicting the new emotions, especially Anxiety, through her awkward, overbearing, and quirky nature. When she first steps into the office, she is awkwardly energetic, kissing up to Joy, it was like she was seeking a nod of approval.
It starts a tug and pull, a conflict of interests between Joy and Anxiety. Joy plans on spending the next few days centered around Bree and Grace, Riley’s best friends, whilst Anxiety worries that Riley will be all alone, stating that “the next three days could determine the next four years of our lives.”
Anxiety touches the controls, leaving behind Riley’s old friends to follow Val. But then as the hockey training starts, and Riley starts succumbing to the intense pressure of fitting in, is when we start to see a more manic side of Anxiety.
Apart from the main emotions, there are always some fun side characters that we see throughout these Inside Out films. I’d say an upper edge that the first movie has is featuring Bing Bong, Riley’s imaginary friend.
The scene where Joy and Bing Bong sing the “Bing Bong” song to power the makeshift wagon rocket and Bing Bong ultimately sacrifices himself so that Joy can make it back up the cliff was so heart-touching to young me. I remember crying while watching that scene as a kid, and I still remember it to this day. Though the 2nd movie has some cool extra characters, a super emotional scene is lacking in this movie.
The dynamic of Anxiety and how she and the new emotions sweep in and take over HQ can be a resonating order of events for many teens. As we make that shift into adulthood, these feelings start to cloud our minds, affecting our lives without us even noticing sometimes. Other emotions like Joy can get pushed away as we hyper-fixate on the future.
Watching this movie made me much more aware of everything that I’ve gone through growing up and navigating through high school. Overall, Inside Out 2 was an incredible movie and lives up to the standards set by the first movie.
