'Inside Out 2' Shows Riley Entering Her Teenage Years in Pixar's Eventful Sequel

As our daughter Riley enters her teenage years, the emotions of Upside down are back just in time for an eventful sequel to the beloved Pixar film.

In In reverse 2, Returning characters like Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), Disgust (Liza Lapira), and Joy (Amy Poehler) help Riley navigate her adolescence, but not without the help of newcomers: Anxiety (Maya Hawke) , Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Envy (Ayo Edebiri). Emotions find themselves at a crossroads, debating how to best help Riley as she faces new feelings and puberty. They quickly realize that the only person who really matters in all this is their sweet Riley.

Riley's age in “Inside Out 2”

“I think we wanted her to be at that age where she's just become a teenager,” director Kelsey Mann told Blavity. “When I started this film in January 2020, my daughter was 13 and my son was 14. It’s such an interesting time because we’re going through a lot of change. She had a growth spurt, she was suddenly taller than my wife, and we're starting to get braces… there's a lot of changes going on. You're also transitioning from middle school to high school, and I wanted to mark that age in relation to having been in high school for a few years. That’s why I chose 13.”

The new emotions in 'Inside Out 2'

Producer Mark Nielsen also explained the selection process for eliciting new emotions like anxiety.

“Kelsey and I talked a lot with experts about strong emotions at this age,” Nielsen said. “Anxiety was a concern that Kelsey thought about from the very beginning, even before the pandemic. It's something you might relate to from your childhood. Anxiety seemed like a very rich question to explore. Since the pandemic, it has increased among adolescents and adults. It's very relevant today, so we wanted to explore how to make this character able to stage some takeover in this film. But we also wanted to not treat it too meanly, because we want to be honest about anxiety and the fact that it has a place in our lives.

The distinction between fear and anxiety

It was important for the filmmakers and actors to understand each of the emotions and how they work together to coexist in a person's life.

“When I started this project, I really wanted to make a distinction between fear and anxiety,” said Tony Hale, who voices Fear in the original film. Upside down and the rest. “Fear is the reaction to a real threat and anxiety is the perceived threat. With Riley, just with hockey, it's all like, “She needs her mouthguard, be careful.” When sarcasm appears, he will react. While anxiety creates all these “what if” and “what if I do this” scenarios, it is more of the planner while fear focuses on what is in front of it.

“They’re cut from the same cloth,” he continued, emphasizing his character’s fascination with newcomer Anxiety. “Like everyone else, fear looks like, 'Is anyone else paying attention?' Is anyone else paying attention to this chaos we find ourselves in? And when she's the one paying attention to the chaos, he doesn't feel so alone. He says, “Yeah, I have a partner here. »

“I think it depends on the time period we're in,” Maya Hawke explained of Anxiety's place in the film and in Riley's life. “There are a lot of different emotions that take on different meanings at different times. The last few years have been brutal and it's a really anxious time to be a person. So I feel so lucky to be able to voice this character that feels so necessary to me right now.

As the new emotions learn their role in Riley's life, the old ones learn important lessons about how to grow alongside her.

“I think all of those core emotions from the first evolved in the sense that they understood, after the time that had passed and because of their maturity, how much everyone needs each other,” Lewis said Black. “So there is growth in this area. My character is starting to show some empathy, which is really amazing. But in reality, they begin to understand how to use their emotions to help other emotions.

Likewise, Liza Lapira shared that Disgust's role in Riley's life is more important than ever and extremely necessary as a teenager.

“She's most suitable for the teenage years because when I got the job I thought Disgust was the one most like a teenager. “I'm not going to do that. It's disgusting. I'm not going to wear this. It's disgusting. That's not cool enough. And it also now integrates emotions. They don't work alone. For example, Anger in this movie has a moment with Joy where they integrate and work together, and that's what happens with Disgust. She also works a lot with Anger and Fear.

Ultimately, the biggest lesson for all emotions, old and new, is learning that it's okay to take a backseat as Riley gets older. It will not be possible to always keep her happy and safe from danger.

“What she learned is that joy can’t be forced,” said Amy Poehler, who voices Joy. “And when it’s forced, it can actually make someone feel quite alone and unseen.” There is therefore room for Joy, as for all emotions, but we cannot force it. I think she also learns that change is inevitable. Just when we think we have something to do, there's a great start to the movie where Riley is 12 and Joy says, “We're done.” We did it.' And I think Joy learns that the only thing you can count on is change.

When “Inside Out 2” will be on Disney+ and more

Inside Out 2 is now playing in theaters nationwide and will be available to stream on Disney+ in the coming months.

Fans also have the opportunity to become more engaged with the film with new Disneyland offerings, including “Emotional Rollercoaster,” a limited-time short film premiering before “World of Color – ONE,” and a character experience with Anger at the Pixar Pier Band. Shell in Disney California Adventure park.