Inside Out 2 (2024)

[SeanC]

There's been a lot of discussion about Pixar's push to produce more sequels -- in this case, at least, the premise of Inside Out is such that new scenarios are plentiful and wholly natural extensions of the initial concept.

The original was, for my money, the best thing the studio has made since WALL-E. A tough act to follow, in other words. The mostly new creative team (original co-writer Meg LeFauve is back to again co-author the screenplay; Pete Docter has ceded the director's chair to Kelsey Mann, though since he now runs Pixar it's not like he wasn't heavily involved) delivers a very good followup entry that never manages the raw emotional power of the original, but is well worth your time.

The whole voice cast is good, but Maya Hawke is the MVP here. I also thought that Liza Lapira replaced Mindy Kaling quite seamlessly.

[Browncoat]

I saw it this afternoon, because, as we all know, I am Pixar's bitch, and will see any of their movies on opening weekend if possible.

I liked it.  They perfectly captured an anxiety attack, and how fraught that transition between middle school and high school can be.  But Joy keeps needing to learn the same lesson -- Riley needs all the emotions, not just Joy.

I did keep thinking about poor Bing Bong, though.

Incidentally, stay until the very end of the credits -- you find out what the deep dark secret is!

[SeanC]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

But Joy keeps needing to learn the same lesson -- Riley needs all the emotions, not just Joy.

That wasn’t what Joy decided. She learned to stop trying to curate which memories affected Riley’s sense of self; she didn’t have a problem working with the other emotions.

[Browncoat]

31 minutes ago, SeanC said:

she didn’t have a problem working with the other emotions.

She kind of did, though, with the new ones.  In this one, she wanted Riley to be happy and not experience anxiety, embarrassment or ennui (who was awesome, incidentally).  In the first one, she didn't want Riley to be sad.  And she was still curating memories, just like she did in the first one.  

[Shannon L.]

I just got back from seeing it and I really liked it.  There were a lot of laughs from adults, including myself, who obviously got the emotions and remembered what it was like to be 13.  

I did feel like something was missing this time, but I can't quite put my finger on it.  Overall, though, it was a great sequel.  

[SeanC]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

She kind of did, though, with the new ones.  In this one, she wanted Riley to be happy and not experience anxiety, embarrassment or ennui (who was awesome, incidentally).

Her objections in this weren't to Riley experiencing other emotions, she disagreed with Anxiety specifically over decision-making (and moral questions) and then got kicked out of headquarters when the latter unilaterally decided to take over.

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

And she was still curating memories, just like she did in the first one.  

She wasn't selectively curating memories in the first one, she was trying to keep Riley from being sad all the time.

[MadyGirl1987]

Great sequel. Thought it was a great continuation of what had been built upon in the first movie and thought the endgame of all the memories, good bad and ugly being integral to her sense of self was an inspired choice.

[nilyank]

I teared up when all the emotions hugged the essence of who Riley was (all parts of her) because all love that girl.

[Browncoat]

10 hours ago, SeanC said:

She wasn't selectively curating memories in the first one, she was trying to keep Riley from being sad all the time.

Curating by altering or hiding parts is still curating.

[SeanC]

26 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Curating by altering or hiding parts is still curating.

She wasn’t altering things in the first movie.

[MadyGirl1987]

Yeah, in the first movie she was trying to control things, make Riley happy all the time, but she wasn’t changing things. The closest she got to that was when she wasn’t going to put the new sad core memory in with the other core memories before Sadness and her were sucked up in that tube away from headquarters.

Edited June 15 by MadyGirl1987

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

The closest she got to that was when she wasn’t going to put the new sad core memory in with the other core memories

Which is curating.

[MadyGirl1987]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

Which is curating.

True, but she never got a chance to finish doing it. I guess since her attempt was interrupted and she ended up not doing it, I see her as not going beyond controlling, but I can see how intent can be interpreted as going beyond control.

[choclatechip45]

Great sequel. I thought they did a great job expanding beyond the original movie. Hopefully it won't be 9 years until Inside Out 3. 

[AimingforYoko]

Inside Out 2 scores second best domestic opening for an animated film.

Bested only by fellow Pixar film The Incredibles 2. And the Disney board heaves a sigh of relief. Plus they have the likely top-grossing movie of the year coming up in about 6 weeks.

Disney's made some missteps, but the effects of the pandemic cannot be overstated.

[Sarah 103]

Overall, I throughly enjoyed the movie, but I do have some nitpicky issues with the set-up. I don't believe the last minute nature of the invite to the hockey camp. Also, if it's essentially try-outs for one high-school's team, why would students from other high-schools be invited?

I would have established that the girls were already going to the hockey camp before the game that opens the movie. Have the high-school coach show up to the game, which is when Riley and her friends realize that the coach of the Firehawks is the one running the camp. 

I thought this was the rare sequel that was as good as or better than the original. It expanded the world of the original and told its own unique story instead of just being a rehash of the first movie. 

I like that Val seems like a good decent person and someone that would be a positive influence on Riley. 

Here's my guess as to what was in the email at the end (posted with spoiler tags just in case)

Spoiler

It was always about making varsity specifically, not making the team, which implies there is a varsity team and a junior varsity team. I think Riley made junior varsity, not varsity, because she was smiling at the end. I can't imagine she would be smiling if she was not going to be on either team.

 

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, Sarah 103 said:

Overall, I throughly enjoyed the movie, but I do have some nitpicky issues with the set-up. I don't believe the last minute nature of the invite to the hockey camp. Also, if it's essentially try-outs for one high-school's team, why would students from other high-schools be invited?

Good point and I like the changes you would have made.  My nitpicky thing is that, unless I missed something, I can't believe that Riley would have been accepted onto a team after the stunts she pulled on the ice.  Yes, she was anxious and that's a very real emotion, but, while it explains her behavior, it doesn't excuse it.  To me, it showed that she was a bit too young to handle the pressures a more advanced team. 

[Spartan Girl]

Anxiety was the MVP: a well-intentioned extremist that winds up causing more harm than good. She and Joy were two sides of the same coin, and I loved that it was Joy’s moment of realization at the end. I also thought the part where she finally broke down and snapped at all the other emotions was gratifying because her endless perkiness could get annoying and yeah, it really is that freaking hard to act happy all the time.

That being said, the part where she was upset that Riley didn’t need her as much as she needed her hit me where I lived. I’m going through something similar with a friend at the moment. And it hurts.

Enjoyed the different animation styles, and I laughed my butt off at Bloofy and Pouchy.

Anger is still the funniest, especially when he actually came up with a very positive projection fantasy. “What, I can’t be the ragey guy all the time!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

The “pencils down projection off” reminded me of the writers strike. That can’t be a coincidence.

Still prefer Bill Hader to Tony Hale, though Hale did a good job.

The part with all the emotions hugging Riley’s new sense of self made me well up. Just like the first one taught us that it’s okay to be sad, this one taught us we need to embrace all the messy parts of ourselves, anxiety and all.

So I loved it. Disney and Pixar’s still got it. And you can miss me with the people complaining about the endless sequels/remakes, but don’t bother to support the original Disney stuff when it isn’t their cup of tea.

 

[Sarah 103]

6 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

My nitpicky thing is that, unless I missed something, I can't believe that Riley would have been accepted onto a team after the stunts she pulled on the ice.  Yes, she was anxious and that's a very real emotion, but, while it explains her behavior, it doesn't excuse it.  To me, it showed that she was a bit too young to handle the pressures a more advanced team. 

I think I agree with you. This is part of why I think she ends up on junior varsity and not varsity as a freshman. I think the notation in coach's notebook meant she wasn't ready for the varsity team. The fact that they kept referring specifically to the varsity team and not the team in general to me at least, implied at least two teams. 

[Spartan Girl]

So was I the only one that thought Riley’s Deep Dark Secret was going to be something else?

Should've known Disney/Pixar would never be that ballsy. Especially after all the crap Disney got from Strange World. 

[Sarah 103]

15 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

So was I the only one that thought Riley’s Deep Dark Secret was going to be something else?

Should've known Disney/Pixar would never be that ballsy. Especially after all the crap Disney got from Strange World. 

Briefly yes but then I remembered that Mount Crushmore was all young men.

It is kind of amazing that the internet (or at least certain corners of it) totally freaked out because a character in Strange World was openly gay and held hands with a boy. The movie was banned in multiple countries. I think that, more than internet outrage, effectively killed any chance for LGBTQ representation in any animated theatrical release going forward. Disney cares about foreign box office (not that this is a new concern. In the 1930s, Germany was a big market for Hollywood movies so that had an influence on what the studios would or would not make). 

Back to Inside Out 2. I'm disappointed we never got to see inside Val's head. I was hoping that would be part of the end credits. I need a Pixar Short (I'm okay with something that goes directly to Disney+) that's set inside Val's head. 

[Spartan Girl]

6 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

Briefly yes but then I remembered that Mount Crushmore was all young men.

She could still be bi, I’m just saying…

And we are getting an Inside Out series on Disney+

Edited June 21 by Spartan Girl

[Browncoat]

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

She could still be bi, I’m just saying…

Riley is the only one we've seen whose emotions are both male- and female-presenting, right?  All of Mom's are female-presenting, and all of Dad's are male-presenting.

[Morrigan2575]

Just watched it, it was good, I'd say on par with the first movie.  I do think Joy had to learn the same lesson over again which thematically could be annoying but it is realistic to growing up, IMO

Edited June 21 by Morrigan2575

[tennisgurl]

I went into this a bit nervous, Inside Out is one of my favorite Pixar movies and Disney has been pretty hit or miss lately, but I loved this. It had some similar beats to the first movie but it also very much felt like a natural continuation of the first movie. I really liked how they went from a child understanding emotions, the good and the bad, to a young teenager understanding themselves, the good and the bad. 

That anxiety attack felt way too real, it really hit when the emotions all hugged Riley's sense of self and helped Anxiety calm down. My biggest laughs were the dark secrets different animation styles (especially her Final Fantasy crush) and the sarcasm. 

 

[Sarah 103]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Riley is the only one we've seen whose emotions are both male- and female-presenting, right?  All of Mom's are female-presenting, and all of Dad's are male-presenting.

I'm not saying I absolutely believe that Riley is bi, but I am open to it as a possibility and this presents the strongest evidence I've seen of that so far.

While you can make the argument that sometime between childhood or adolescence and adulthood all the emotions somehow become all male-presenting or all female-presenting, this theory does not hold up based on what we have seen. 

We have seen the emotions of her peers (Jordan, Bree, and Grace) and none of them have the mix of male- and female-presenting emotions that Riley does. 

As @Spartan Girl pointed out, based on the backlash from Strange World, they are unlikely to do anything like that again in a theatrical release, so any LGBTQ representation is probably going to be on Disney+. 

[AimingforYoko]

Pixar's back in the 10-figure club, and all is right with the world.

[tv echo]

Weekend Box Office: INSIDE OUT 2 Three-peats at No 1, A QUIET PLACE DAY ONE Posts Franchise-High Debut
Boxoffice Staff • June 30 2024
https://www.boxofficepro.com/weekend-box-office-inside-out-2-three-peats-at-no-1-a-quiet-place-day-one-posts-franchise-high-debut/ 

Quote

This weekend was always going to be a nail-biter regarding who came out on top, as Inside Out 2 squared up against the opening weekend of A Quiet Place: Day One. Disney/Pixar prevailed again as Inside Out 2 took the #1 spot for the third frame in a row with $57.4M from 4,440 locations (n/c) for a $12,928 Per Screen Average. While Friday takes made it look like Paramount’s A Quiet Place: Day One had the edge with $22.5M over Inside Out 2‘s $17.1M, the Pixar film had a massive 31% rebound thanks to an impressive Saturday.
*  *  *
Meanwhile, Inside Out 2 crossed a slew of milestones including:

• It became one of only 11 animated titles to cross a billion dollars globally ($1,014.8B), 8 of which are Disney titles, and it was the fastest to $1B in just 19 days of release.
• The 8th best third weekend of all-time, beating Spider-Man: No Way Home ($56M) and just under The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($59.9M), with Incredibles 2 ($46.4M) being Pixar’s previous holder of this title.
• Currently the #3 Pixar movie of all-time domestically under Incredibles 2 ($608.5M) and Finding Dory ($486.2M), and their #5 globally.

Edited July 1 by tv echo

[BetterButter]

 

[paramitch]

I liked this a lot, although it didn't have the ordinary gravitas of the first one for me. It felt much more tunnel-visioned and narrow, whereas one of the things I loved about the first was how ordinary and big it felt -- it was simply about a child in a very sweet, well-intentioned family trying to acclimate to a difficult move to a new place. Whereas this was just so, so focused on hockey and sports as the frame, and I don't find those very interesting, although I do like that we have a little girl who plays hockey (more stereotypically a 'tougher' or 'male' sport in pop culture).

I thought it was a really smart, well-written story, I just wish the entire thing hadn't been hockey, but more focused around a similar conundrum at school (which is much more fraught and stressful in some ways) and with her life and parents and expectations pressing in around her need to be liked, etc. The hockey made this feel very simple (and simplified) as a story, not that that's a bad thing.

Regardless, I did think some of the worldbuilding additions were truly inspired and even brilliant -- especially, for me, the subterranean "Sense of Self" was wonderful, and I loved the way all of those beliefs combined to create that self. So I thought it was genius when Anxiety's manipulations began to replace Riley's previous elements ("I am a good person," "I am a good friend," "I am kind") with more fragile and shaky ones ("I need everyone to like me," "I am a winner!" etc.).

I teared up a little bit at the end when all of the emotions hugged because of their love for Riley, and again when Riley's friends forgave her.

It's interesting to know about this movie's payscale behind the scenes because I'm very conflicted on it. Amy Poehler was paid $5 million plus bonuses/percentages to reprise Joy, while all the other emotions were offered $100,000 apiece. That's why Hader and Kaling declined to return -- and I can't say I blame them. That is a ridiculous gap in pay, and it really bothers me. Yes, Poehler's character is arguably the "main" character (certainly the main emotional character), but the disparity is SO huge, I can't blame people for being hurt and offended. It's everything wrong with Hollywood to me. Yes, Poehler deserves millions. But maybe Disney could've spread the wealth a little better here? Surely Phyllis Smith deserved more to play Sadness, definitely a major returning character, etc. Anyway, it's Hollywood, whaddaya gonna do.

On 6/19/2024 at 10:50 AM, Sarah 103 said:

I like that Val seems like a good decent person and someone that would be a positive influence on Riley. 

I liked that too -- and it would have been such an easy trope to have her be a Mean Girl. So I really appreciated that Val was a kind, nice person.

On 6/19/2024 at 12:34 PM, Shannon L. said:

unless I missed something, I can't believe that Riley would have been accepted onto a team after the stunts she pulled on the ice.  Yes, she was anxious and that's a very real emotion, but, while it explains her behavior, it doesn't excuse it.  To me, it showed that she was a bit too young to handle the pressures a more advanced team. 

I agree. What I was expecting was that Riley would have made those THREE goals -- and the coach would kindly say, "Yes, but how you got them shows me you're not ready. I don't want players like that on my team."

I mean, we did get this overall vibe in the end. But then again, I just don't care that much about hockey anyway or whether Riley makes the team. It's a good thing if she does, it's a good thing if she doesn't.

On 6/19/2024 at 3:30 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Anxiety was the MVP: a well-intentioned extremist that winds up causing more harm than good. She and Joy were two sides of the same coin, and I loved that it was Joy’s moment of realization at the end. I also thought the part where she finally broke down and snapped at all the other emotions was gratifying because her endless perkiness could get annoying and yeah, it really is that freaking hard to act happy all the time.

That being said, the part where she was upset that Riley didn’t need her as much as she needed her hit me where I lived. I’m going through something similar with a friend at the moment. And it hurts.

Anger is still the funniest, especially when he actually came up with a very positive projection fantasy. “What, I can’t be the ragey guy all the time!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I liked Anxiety and her place in the story, and thought those elements were really brilliantly written -- my minor nitpick would be that it wasn't much different from Joy's extreme self-focus in the first story. But as someone with lifelong anxiety, it definitely hit home!

My favorite thing here was what you point out -- that our Emotional characters got to show much, much more texture and variety this time. I loved Sadness's continued closeness to Joy. I loved Joy admitting weakness and being exhausted by being SO DAMN POSITIVE all the time. I loved Anger coming up with a sweetie-pie solution, etc.

One thing I rewound and watched again was the little scene where we saw where all the emotions sleep in their own little decorated nooks, and it was so adorable! You can see that Joy has stars on her ceiling just like Riley (and a statue of Bing Bong!) and laughs in her sleep, you can see that Anger (punching in his sleep, under a punching bag, a sprinkler, and a banner that just says GRRRRR) sleeps next to a cinderblock under a "fire" blanket and has a "swear jar" next to his bed (!!), that Fear sleeps with a teddy bear, a smoke alarm, and like 10 night lights, Disgust wears goggles and sleeps with her lip curled in disgust, and Sadness sleeps under a soft blue blanket with shapes including teardrops and has a box of tissues behind her, with just one picture in the lower niche (I wish we could see what the picture is of!).

On 6/20/2024 at 4:15 AM, Spartan Girl said:

So was I the only one that thought Riley’s Deep Dark Secret was going to be something else?

Should've known Disney/Pixar would never be that ballsy. Especially after all the crap Disney got from Strange World. 

I was hoping for that too.

On 6/20/2024 at 7:50 PM, Sarah 103 said:

Briefly yes but then I remembered that Mount Crushmore was all young men.

It is kind of amazing that the internet (or at least certain corners of it) totally freaked out because a character in Strange World was openly gay and held hands with a boy. The movie was banned in multiple countries. I think that, more than internet outrage, effectively killed any chance for LGBTQ representation in any animated theatrical release going forward. Disney cares about foreign box office (not that this is a new concern. In the 1930s, Germany was a big market for Hollywood movies so that had an influence on what the studios would or would not make). 

Back to Inside Out 2. I'm disappointed we never got to see inside Val's head. I was hoping that would be part of the end credits. I need a Pixar Short (I'm okay with something that goes directly to Disney+) that's set inside Val's head. 

I was disappointed that the movie -- which in its series can be so nuanced about its view of psychology and human nature -- didn't at least try to present the complexity of crushes at that age, and how you can have intense crushes that are not romantic, if that makes sense?

You know -- those teenaged crushes where you just adored and admired certain people intensely and wanted to BE them, that weren't romantic or sexual so much as just pure adoration. And I felt like the movie did kind of give us that with Val for Riley and then back off in a way that disappointed me, out of some fear of Riley being perceived as bi, etc. (As a bi woman, I would LOVE for Riley to be confirmed as bi, but I just think it would have been cool to have Riley crush on Val either way.)

On 6/21/2024 at 7:28 AM, Browncoat said:

Riley is the only one we've seen whose emotions are both male- and female-presenting, right?  All of Mom's are female-presenting, and all of Dad's are male-presenting.

This is such a clever detail to notice! I can't believe I never noticed that -- I really think that's fascinating, and I wonder how much thought went into the gender representations there in writing the first movie. It certainly suggests for me that Riley may have slightly fluid gender and/or sexual identity, and that would be awesome if it's just there as a detail, even if it's never spelled out in detail. For me, you've just given me a greater understanding of her character that is now canon.

[Sarah 103]

15 hours ago, paramitch said:

I liked this a lot, although it didn't have the ordinary gravitas of the first one for me. It felt much more tunnel-visioned and narrow, whereas one of the things I loved about the first was how ordinary and big it felt -- it was simply about a child in a very sweet, well-intentioned family trying to acclimate to a difficult move to a new place. Whereas this was just so, so focused on hockey and sports as the frame, and I don't find those very interesting, although I do like that we have a little girl who plays hockey (more stereotypically a 'tougher' or 'male' sport in pop culture).

I'm not into sports, but I understand why they went with the hockey camp storyline. They wanted Riley to be away from her parents and therefore completely/totally enmeshed (not sure that's the right word but I couldn't come up with a better one) in peer culture. Her parents would have no ability to directly influence her or talk to her because she was away from home and too busy to talk to them. Also, the way they set it up the hockey camp creates natural stakes and a clear objective for Riley, so from a narrative/storytelling perspective it makes sense. 

Edited September 29 by Sarah 103

[paramitch]

20 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I'm not into sports, but I understand why they went with the hockey camp storyline. They wanted Riley to be away from her parents and therefore completely/totally enmeshed (not sure that's the right word but I couldn't come up with a better one) in peer culture. Her parents would have no ability to directly influence her or talk to her because she was away from home and too busy to talk to them. Also, the way they set it up the hockey camp creates natural stakes and a clear objective for Riley, so from a narrative/storytelling perspective it makes sense. 

I definitely get this -- it's smart scriptwriting, for sure. I just found school so stressful by itself that it would have been richer for me if it hadn't been about athletics and more about simply getting through the stress of being 13 and navigating the changing social world of being a teenager.

But I absolutely get it. And it is a terrific movie, regardless.