Development onInside Out 2 began in early 2020, with Mann drawing inspiration from personal childhood experiences. The creative team initially explored a wider range of new emotions before narrowing the focus for narrative clarity, withAnxiety emerging as a central addition.Clinical psychologists, includingLisa Damour andDacher Keltner, were consulted to ensure an accurate portrayal of adolescent emotional development, while a group of teenagers provided feedback on character and story authenticity. The film's premise shifted during development from a talent show to Riley's involvement in hockey. The production also marked the first Pixar feature scored by a woman, Andrea Datzman. Animation development emphasized spatial consistency throughisometric mapping, and casting changes were driven in part by compensation disputes, resulting in the recasting of the characters Fear and Disgust.
Two years after her move to San Francisco,[d] 13-year-old Riley Andersen is entering high school. Her personified emotions—Joy,Sadness,Fear,Disgust, andAnger—now oversee a newly formed element of Riley's mind called her "Sense of Self", which houses memories and feelings that shape Riley's beliefs. Joy, aiming to fill the Sense of Self with only good memories, has created a spring-loaded mechanism that launches bad memories to the back of Riley's mind.
Riley and her best friends, Bree and Grace, are invited to a three-dayice hockey camp, where Riley hopes to qualify for her new school's team, the Fire Hawks. In Headquarters, a "puberty alarm" from the previous movie goes off the night before camp, and several mind workers abruptly upgrade the emotion console, whilst leaving Headquarters in disarray. The emotions find that Riley now overreacts to any inputs they make to the console. Four new emotions—Anxiety,Envy,Embarrassment, andEnnui—arrive and clash with the original emotions over their approaches. In particular, Joy wants Riley to have fun at camp, while Anxiety focuses on winning a spot on the team and making new friends, especially that Bree and Grace will be attending a different high school. Under Joy's control, Riley inadvertently gets the campers in trouble by the strict camp director, Coach Roberts. Anxiety, deciding that Riley needs to change to fit in with the older players, launches the Sense of Self to the back of the mind and has the old emotions bottled up and thrown into a memory vault. The new emotions then create a new anxiety-dominated Sense of Self and encourage Riley to befriend popular hockey player Valentina "Val" Ortiz, straining her friendship with Bree and Grace. After the original emotions escape the vault, Joy sends Sadness back to Headquarters with a two-way radio while she and the others retrieve the Sense of Self. Sadness is discovered by Embarrassment, who decides to help her remain hidden.
Under Anxiety's control, Riley sneaks into Coach Roberts' office and learns from her notebook that Riley is not considered ready yet to become a Fire Hawk. The four original emotions find the old Sense of Self on a mountain of bad memories deposited by Joy's mechanism. Anxiety, overhearing Joy's plan through the two-way radio, destroys the recall tube, stranding Joy and the other emotions in the back of Riley's mind. Joy breaks down as she cannot find out how to save Riley, who has grown into a self-conscious, self-hating individual. The emotions use dynamite to blow up the cliff supporting the bad memories, sending them careening into the belief pool. They ride the flood of memories to return to Headquarters. Anxiety realizes her plan to create a new Sense of Self has backfired, having generated one of self-doubt and inferiority, which causes Riley to perform poorly during her final tryout match, accidentally crash into Grace, and get sent to thepenalty box. Horrified, Anxiety tries to help Riley but frantically swarms the console in a blinding whirlwind, causing Riley to have ananxiety attack.
Returning to Headquarters, Joy finds Anxiety still in control but paralyzed and heavily distressed; Joy convinces her that Riley doesn't need to change to have a better future. Anxiety relents and Joy reinstates Riley's original Sense of Self, but the panic attack persists. Anxiety apologizes to Joy, admitting that neither she, nor any of the emotions, gets to choose who Riley is. Joy, realizing that Anxiety is telling the truth, removes the first Sense of Self, allowing a new one to form from both Riley's good and bad memories. The emotions embrace this third self, calming Riley and helping her reconcile with Bree and Grace. The console calls for Joy, who reassumes command and helps Riley happily finish the hockey tryouts.
Riley befriends Val and the other Fire Hawks at high school, while maintaining her friendship with Bree and Grace. Living in peace, the nine emotions work together to protect Riley, as she happily checks her phone for the Fire Hawks' recruitment results.
Voice cast
Amy Poehler asJoy, a yellow emotion who often takes the lead in Riley's emotional life, and is reluctant to accept any influences that could detract from Riley's happiness[9]
Maya Hawke asAnxiety, a new orange emotion who catastrophizes every situation, with the stated intention of averting bad outcomes for Riley[9]
Kensington Tallman as Riley Andersen, a 13-year-old girl in whose mind the emotions live[10]
Liza Lapira asDisgust, a green emotion who deals with visceral aversion as well as gut reactions like responding to body language. Lapira replacesMindy Kaling from the first film.[9]
Tony Hale asFear, a purple emotion responsible for protecting Riley from threats in the physical world. Hale replacesBill Hader from the first film.[9]
Lewis Black asAnger, a red emotion who also governs aspects of Riley's hockey game when she plays aggressively[9]
Ayo Edebiri asEnvy, a new cyan emotion who motivates Riley to pursue what others have[10]
Adèle Exarchopoulos asEnnui, a new indigo emotion with a French accent who expresses Riley's boredom and also deflects uncomfortable situations with sarcasm, feigned disinterest, or taciturn responses.[10] Exarchopoulos reprised her role in both European French and Canadian French dubs of the movie.[11]
Paul Walter Hauser asEmbarrassment, a new pink emotion who, in response to Riley's embarrassment, hides his face inside a hoodie[10]
Lilimar asValentina "Val" Ortiz, a popular hockey player at Riley's high school[10]
June Squibb as Nostalgia, a new beige emotion who fondly recalls past events, which due to Riley's youth are always quite recent.[16][17]
Additionally, television personalitySam Thompson cameos in the UK version of the film as Security Man Sam, a character who finds himself on a chase with the emotions.[18]
Production
Development
After the critical and commercial success ofInside Out (2015),Entertainment Tonight andThe Guardian considered a sequel to be "inevitable".[19][20]Inside Out directorPete Docter was germinating ideas for a sequel while the original film's nominations were unveiled at the88th Academy Awards in January 2016.[21] Development onInside Out 2 began in January 2020,[22] after directorKelsey Mann revisited photos of one of his childhood birthday parties.[23]Pixar officially confirmed the sequel's development during theD23 Expo announcement in September 2022, withAmy Poehler coming on stage to discuss the film alongside Pete Docter.[24] Mann was announced as the director of the sequel, with Mark Nielsen producing, whileMeg LeFauve was announced to write the film's screenplay, returning from its predecessor.[25]
To utilize "truthful"worldbuilding, Mann used Docter's "five to 27 emotions" idea from the first film that hepitched during its production.[26] Mann's first pass included nine new emotions to make Joy feel overwhelmed with all the new emotions showing up, but felt that the story could not keep track with so many emotions taking the spotlight or not adding to the story, so after the first screening, he decided to simplify the number. Among those emotions wasSchadenfreude (having joy at someone's expense), Jealousy and Guilt, but the latter two influenced the film despite being removed, with Mann feeling that Envy could relate to Jealousy and how remnants of Guilt could be found within Anxiety's introduction, even giving Anxiety some of Guilt's baggage, which was inspired by that ofDisneyland hotels.[27] The 2019 filmUncut Gems was cited as an inspiration for all of Anxiety's scenes, especially the visually intensive ones.[28][29]
Research and writing
The production team frequently consulted author and clinical psychologistLisa Damour and used her books as guidance on accurately portraying how teenagers' emotions change during puberty. Professor ofpsychology at theUniversity of California, Berkeley,Dacher Keltner, who helped on the firstInside Out, returned as a consultant as well. Keltner played a key role in selecting which emotions should be introduced in the story. A character based on the emotion of shame was intended to be a part of the film but was axed, in part due to Keltner contesting that shame was not an emotion.[30] Following these researches, Riley's image is modified to signify her pubescent transition for the sequel, includinggrowth.[30]
To assist with the development of the film, Pixar enlisted a group of nine teenagers, who were dubbed "Riley's Crew", to provide feedback on the film to ensure it accurately portrayed modern teenage life. Their input led to the inclusion of the emotion Nostalgia and influenced various scenes, including everyday elements of the emotions' lives and the transition from middle school to high school.[31][32] Nielsen and Mann were also inspired by their own daughters when crafting the film. As development on the story began during lockdown due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the two were able to gather personal research from studying their children, some of whom were Riley's age in the film.[33] Their perspective as parents helped in shaping the film and characterizing the emotions, especially Joy.[30]
Initially, the plot of the film was to involve a talent show, but that idea ended up being scrapped. After about three test screenings, Nielsen, Mann, and LeFauve decided it was best to center the story on Riley playing hockey, as they felt it was a unique aspect of her character. The decision was also influenced by input Mann received fromTurning Red directorDomee Shi when he asked how to make the film unique from other teenage coming-of-age stories, including her own.[34] The scene where the old emotions are locked in a vault was originally longer but was trimmed down as several gags were cut out due to time constraints.[34]
During production, several Pixar employees felt concerned after several of their films, includingLightyear (2022) andElemental (2023), had financially underperformed, thus the box-office fate ofInside Out 2 was described as a "life or death situation".[5] Relatively late into the animation process, the production was affected by the concurring2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) andSAG-AFTRA strikes. WhileElio (2025) had its release pushed back a year, Pixar was adamant about retainingInside Out 2 to its scheduled release date, resulting in "the largest crunch in the studio's history."[5] According to multiple undisclosed sources, this resulted in "last-minute" changes, in which Docter stepped in as an uncredited co-director.[5]
Poehler accepted an offer of $5million with lucrative bonuses to reprise her role asJoy from the first film.Phyllis Smith andLewis Black also reprise their roles from the first film, voicing Sadness and Anger, respectively.[10] Following a dispute over pay, bothBill Hader andMindy Kaling declined to reprise their respective roles as Fear and Disgust; they and the rest of the returning cast were reportedly offered $100,000 each, equivalent to two percent of Poehler's salary.[35] On November 9, 2023, with the release of the teaser trailer, it was revealed thatTony Hale andLiza Lapira would replace Hader and Kaling as Fear and Disgust, respectively, whileMaya Hawke joined the cast as Anxiety, a new emotion.[9] Mann auditioned Hawke viaZoom at the office of a back room inEpcot during a family vacation with his kids after Nielsen told him that Hawke was available to audition just then, with her anxious performance driving him to tears.[36] On January 16, 2024, it was revealed thatJune Squibb had joined the cast in an undisclosed role,[17] later revealed to be Nostalgia.[16]
On March 7, 2024, Disney revealed that bothDiane Lane, andKyle MacLachlan would reprise their roles as Mr. and Mrs. Anderson respectively, along withAyo Edebiri,Adèle Exarchopoulos,Paul Walter Hauser, and Kensington Tallman joining the cast, with Edebiri, Exarchopoulos, and Hauser playing the other new emotions, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment, respectively.[10] In addition, Tallman replaces Kaitlyn Dias as Riley Andersen, while Lane reprises her role as Mrs. Andersen, and MacLachlan also reprises his role as Mr. Andersen.[10]John Ratzenberger reprises his role as Fritz, marking his first role in a Pixar film sinceOnward (2020).[37] Also joining the cast in supporting roles areLilimar, who plays a hockey player named Valentina, andYvette Nicole Brown, who plays the coach of the hockey team, while Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green and Grace Lu play Bree and Grace, Riley's friends.[10][12]
Animation
Story artist Rebecca McVeigh and lead editor Maurissa Horwitz played key roles in refining the film's emotional beats. Due to the iterative nature of animated filmmaking,[38] sequences were frequently revised, with entire story segments being cut or reworked. Unlike live-action films, where editing primarily takes place after shooting, animation requires continuous interaction between departments.[38] One of the major challenges in animatingInside Out 2 was maintaining consistency in the film's three-dimensional space while working with hand-drawn storyboards. McVeigh noted that early in her career,[38] she primarily thought in 2D, but working at Pixar required her to adapt to a more spatially aware approach. To ensure accuracy, she often createdisometric maps of environments to determine camera placement and background visibility.[38]
On March 7, 2024, with the release of the second trailer, it was reported that Andrea Datzman had composed the film's score, taking over forMichael Giacchino.[39] This made Datzman the first woman to score a Pixar feature film.[30][40] The soundtrack album was released byWalt Disney Records on June 14, 2024, the same day as the film.
Theteaser trailer for the film, along with the poster, was released on November 9, 2023. James Withbrook ofGizmodo andInverse's Rotem Rusak highlighted the introduction of three other emotions in the poster: Embarrassment, Ennui, and Envy.[44][45] The teaser was viewed 157million times in its first 24 hours, it was the most-watched animated film trailer until the teaser ofMoana 2 surpassed that record in May 2024.[e][46] A clip from the film was also aired during theSuper Bowl LVIII.[47] The second trailer, along with a new poster, was released on March 7, 2024.[48] This trailer also marked the debut of the "standard" variant of the 2023 Walt Disney Pictures logo, which was introduced the year before for the studio's centennial anniversary.[49] The first 35 minutes of the film were screened duringthe Walt Disney Studios' presentation of first looks at their 2024 theatrical release slate atCinemaCon on April 11, 2024.[50] As part of a partnership withAirbnb, a new rental home inNevada just outside ofLas Vegas modeled after "headquarters" in the film was listed on the website beginning on June 12, 2024.[51]
Inside Out 2 generated 30.5 million views worldwide on Disney+ within its first five days. The release became the No. 1 film premiere year-to-date and marked the platform's most successful film premiere since Walt Disney Animation Studios'Encanto (2021).Inside Out 2 set records as the top film premiere of all time in both theEMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) and LATAM (Latin America) regions.[54][55]Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on some U.S. television screens, reported thatInside Out 2 amassed 1.818 billion minutes of watch time from September 23–29, ranking as the most-streamed film of the week.[56][57] The following week, from September 30 to October 6, the movie was streamed for 908 million minutes, maintaining its position as the most-streamed film.[58][59] From October 7–13,Inside Out 2 was watched for 513 million minutes, making it the third most-streamed film that week.[60][61] During October 14–20, it recorded 386 million minutes of watch time, making it the fourth most-streamed film of the week.[62][63] Between from October 21–27, it garnered 309 million minutes, ranking fifth for the week.[64][65]
Reception
Box office
Inside Out 2 grossed $653 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.046 billion in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.699 billion.[3][4]Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $650million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations and other costs; box office grosses, television and streaming, and home media revenues, placingInside Out 2 first on their list of most profitable films of 2024.[66]
On a budget of $200 million,Inside Out 2 was initially projected to gross $80–90 million in its domestic opening weekend. The sub-$100 million industry projections were partially due to the notion that general audiences remained hesitant to return to theaters, given the direct-to-streaming releases of the Pixar filmsSoul (2020),Luca (2021), andTurning Red (2022) onDisney+, the underperformance of Pixar'sLightyear at the box office in 2022, and the lackluster box office results of several films in 2024.[2][67][68] After making $63.6 million on its first day,[69] including an estimated $13 million from Thursday night previews, projections were raised to $140–150 million for the weekend.[70] It ended up grossing $154.2 million in the United States and Canada from 4,440 theaters and an estimated $140 million from 38 international markets, for a worldwide debut of $294.2 million, the highest in Pixar history.[71][72]
In the United States and Canada, the $154.2 million opening weekend was the best of 2024, surpassingDune: Part Two ($82.5 million) andGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($80 million) to become the first film of the year to open above $100 million, and the third-best for an animated film behind Pixar's ownIncredibles 2 (2018; $182.7 million) and Disney'sThe Lion King (2019; $191.7 million).[e] It was also the fourth-best opening for aPG film afterThe Lion King,Incredibles 2, andBeauty and the Beast ($174 million). With an average ticket price of $12.53 overall and $10.36 for children, twelve million moviegoers saw the film in its first weekend, nearing the thirteen million admissions forBarbie (2023) in its first three days. It played strongly throughout the day (22% of viewers attended before 1pm, 35% between 1pm and 5pm, 26% between 5pm and 8pm, and 17% after 8pm), benefiting from substantial walk-up business credited to its multi-cultural pull (of the opening weekend audience, 36% identified as Hispanic and Latino). IMAX and Premium Large Formats (PLFs) accounted for 43% of the earnings, while 14% came from 3D showings.[70][71][73] The film found momentum during the weekday, bringing its seven-day total to $255.2 million and reaching multiple box-office milestones,[75] including the second-highest-grossing first Monday for a Pixar film (at $22.4 million),[76][77] the highest-grossing first Tuesday for an animated film (at $28.8 million),[78][79] the third highest non-opening Wednesday afterStar Wars: The Force Awakens (2015; $38 million) andStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019; $32.2 million) that doubled as a record for theJuneteenth federal holiday since it began in 2021 (at $30.1 million),[80][81] and the highest-grossing first Thursday for a Pixar film (at $19.6 million).[82][83]
The film made $101.2 million in its second weekend, a mere 34.4% drop to become the most profitable second weekend for an animated film, topping the $92.3 million earned byThe Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), and the seventh-best second weekend overall.Deadline Hollywood's Anthony D'Alessandro attributed the feat toheat waves and rainstorms prompting people to visit air-conditioned theaters.[84][85] During its third weekend, it beat newcomerA Quiet Place: Day One to remain at the top of the box office with $57.5 million.[86][87] On theFourth of July, it crossed $500 million domestically, and during its fourth weekend, the film made $30.3 million, finishing in second behindDespicable Me 4.[88][89]
Worldwide, the film surpassed the gross of its predecessor ($858.8 million) on June 27, 2024, after sixteen days of release.[90] On June 30, 2024, it crossed the $1 billion threshold, becoming the first Disney animated film to do so sinceFrozen II in 2019. With this,Inside Out 2 equalled the record ofThe Lion King as the fastest animated film to cross $1 billion, doing so in 19 days.[e][91] On July 10, 2024, the film surpassed the global box office ofIncredibles 2 ($1.242 billion) to become the highest-grossing Pixar film.[92] The film broke various international box office records in Latin America, becoming the highest-grossing film in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay.[93] On July 28, 2024, it surpassedIncredibles 2 as the highest domestic grossing animated film of all time.[94] On August 25, 2024, it became the second animated film to gross $1 billion internationally.[95][e] On September 1, 2024, it surpassedThe Lion King to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the highest-grossing film released under the Walt Disney Pictures label.[e][74][96]
The film remained as the highest grossing animated film untilNe Zha 2, a Chinese animated film, overtook that position in February 2025, though the film remains as the highest-grossing American-produced animated film of all time.[97][98]
Critical response
The film received positive reviews.[f] According toAnimation Magazine, most critics praised its color palette, storyline, and the introduction of new emotions, but some expressed dissatisfaction with the predictability of the external plot related to Riley's acceptance by her new hockey team.[103] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 91% of 319 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Spicing things up with the wrinkle of teen angst,Inside Out 2 clears the head and warms the heart by living up to its predecessor's emotional intelligence."[104]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 59 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[105] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale (the same as the first film), while those surveyed byPostTrak gave the film an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars, with 71% saying they would definitely recommend it.[70]
Moira Macdonald ofThe Seattle Times awarded the film3+1⁄2 stars out of four, commending the voice cast and the film as "a happy head trip, for any age".[106]Robbie Collin ofThe Daily Telegraph gave the film four stars out of five, praising the animation, metaphors, and wit while saying "the cast-iron ontological brilliance of Docter's original premise bears expansion well".[107]Owen Gleiberman ofVariety praised Hawke's performance as Anxiety and the film's emotional impact, calling it "the most poignantly perceptive tale of the conundrums of early adolescence sinceEighth Grade".[108]Manhola Dargis, inThe New York Times, praised "Pixar's skill for turning ideas into images, some of which actually manage to slip past the safety of its nice worldview with shocks of the sublime."[109] Other positive reviews includeThe Observer[110] andEmpire,[111] while reviews from theBBC[112] andLos Angeles Times[113] were more mixed. Among the mixed reviews, Siddhant Adlakha, writing forIGN, found the film was "surprising and disappointing in equal measure".[114] David Ehrlich ofIndieWire gave the film a 'C–' rating, writing that the film "so perfectly ticks Pixar's boxes in a way that forces the sincerity of its storytelling into a losing battle with the cynicism of its existence".[14]
Various reviewers, including Cindy White forAV Club,[115] unfavorably compared the film to its predecessor and the new characters received a diverse appraisal. Anxiety was the new emotion attracting most attention, for example from Alison Willmore inVulture[116] or Jordan Hoffman forEntertainment Weekly,[117] whilePeter Bradshaw inThe Guardian[118] and Odie Henderson in theBoston Globe[119] particularly praised the character of Ennui, voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos. In his review forNPR, Justin Chang analysed the nostalgia at work in the film but, precisely, criticised theretro sequence based oncartoon images.[120]
Robert Daniels, in his review onRogerEbert.com, felt that the film effectively used Anxiety to transform Riley into a blank character, while Joy and other emotions navigate her mind. For Daniels, this structure allowed the film to blend visually stunning scenes with a whimsical style that is both gentle and entertaining, addressing the pressures faced by teenage girls. Daniels noted that the new emotions introduced were not as memorable as the main emotions.[121]
Writing forDeadline, Damon Wise, however, was rather negative about the film and concluded, "Battle-weary parents of surly teens will have some fun here and there, especially when Ennui's blasé influence opens up a 'sar-chasm' in Riley's brain that makes everything sound, well, sarcastic. But, when all's said and done, the stakes are so minor, it's hard to imagine anyone will leave this desperate to see anInside Out 3."[122]
Following the success ofInside Out 2, co-writer Dave Holstein revealed that discussions on at least one more potential sequel,Inside Out 3, were taking place at Pixar.[160][161]
^While Mann is the final film's sole credited director, multiple anonymous ex-Pixar employees who worked on the film and were subsequently laid off in May 2024 without receiving a bonus reported that just after the end of the2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in September 2023, Pixar CCO Pete Docter "stepped in as uncredited co-director, working heavily alongside credited director Kelsey Mann".[5] This was later confirmed by Docter himself, admitting to having directed "a little bit onInside Out 2" following an unfavorable audience preview after the end of the actors strike,[6] and also having admitted to animating "[...]a pivotal moment" in the film when acting "[...]as an animator for a day."[7]
^abcdeSeveral publications reporting the film's box office and trailer listedThe Lion King as live-action when considering records for animated films.[70][73] While photorealistic,The Lion King was computer-animated.[74]
_cropped.jpg)
_Logo.svg){kind=logo}
.svg)
_Dec_2024.jpg){kind=icon}