‘Inside Out 2’ Delivers a Heartfelt Exploration of Adolescence!

 A coming-of-age film, Inside Out 2, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Disney Pictures, explores all the emotions that accompany a person while growing up. Similar to its sequel that was released in 2015, ‘Inside Out’ the film has been written by  Meg LeFauve, who wrote the first film, along with David Holstein, and is the directorial debut of Kelsey Mann who is known for having worked with Pixar.  

As 13-year-old Riley is about to enter high school, she is confronted with new emotions such as anxiety, guilt and other negative emotions. Drastically different from her basic- ‘personified’ emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust; Riley is confronted with puberty and a whole lot of new emotions besides anxiety such as envy, ennui and embarrassment. The real question is should only the new emotions take over Riley’s mind or can they co-exist with the personified emotions as well?

When Riley is invited to a hockey camp, she needs to stay focused to make it on the team; which means she has to control her former emotions and take charge of herself. This new Sense of Self – houses memories and feelings that shape her beliefs. The movie is a tug of war between Joy from her personified emotions and anxiety, from her new emotions.     

While Joy does everything in her capacity with the other emotions – Anger, Sadness, Fear and disgust; Anxiety too is riled up and out-of-control in an attempt to make Riley build new friendships and qualify for the new school team – Firehawks. The movie is full of exemplary examples of emotions and the thoughts that come along with it, that any person can identify with. It is a very realistic film that deals with adult emotions.   

Topics such as betraying best friends – (Bree and Grace just to be accepted by the popular hockey player, Val and the other popular Firehawks players) and even sneaking into her Coach’s office to read what has been written about her are used as concrete examples of how we all as adults behave in similar manners while confronted with negative emotions.

 

Although this is an animated movie, it has a great story to tell and is thoroughly entertaining! The film has actors - Amy Poehler depicting joy, Phyllis Smith depicting sadness, Lewis Black depicting anger, Diane Lane depicting Riley’s mother, Kyle MacLachlan depicting Riley’s father, Maya Hawke depicting anxiety, Kensington Tallman depicting 13-year-old Riley Anderson, Tony Hale depicting fear, Liza Lapira depicting disgust, Ayo Edebiri depicting envy, Lilimar depicting Valentina – a popular player hockey player, Grace Lu depicting Drace – Riley’s friend, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green as Bree – Riley’s friend, Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui - a new indigo emotion with a French accent expressing Riley's boredom, and Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment, a new pink emotion who, in response to Riley's embarrassment. 

  

The film is an absolute WIN, both domestically and internationally as it keeps the box office climbing higher and higher! Besides all of this, it is the first Disney film to have the first woman to score a Pixar feature film - Andrea Datzman!       

 

What is your take on this film how can emotions co-exist with one another?