Pixar is ready to make fans emotional over its latest feature by inviting them to reconnect with Riley in the highly-anticipated sequel, Inside Out 2. The follow-up to Pete Docter’s 2015 hit follows Riley into her teens when a torrent of new emotions takes control in more ways than one. With an all-star cast of new and returning voice talent, Inside Out 2 brings heart, humor, and heightened emotions to perhaps the most curious and terrifying stage of a young person’s life: puberty.

I visited Pixar Animation Studios in late March for a Press Day Event focusing on Inside Out 2. While there, I was blown away by the artistry, dedication, patience, and creativity poured into the studio’s latest feature film. In addition to touring the Pixar campus, I and an assembly of journalists met with critical contributors for a hands-on, behind-the-scenes look at the studio’s meticulous filmmaking process. While I’ve already shared many fun facts about Inside Out 2 here, I could not contain the information I learned in one article. Some experiences deserve room to breathe, so I’m back to share more details and get you excited for what I believe will be one of Pixar’s greatest sequels.

Story

At the start of the tour, Kelsey Mann (Director), John Hoffman (Head of Story), and Rebecca McVeigh (Story Artist) invited us to Pixar’s Story Fishbowl, where the writing team brainstorms ideas for the film. The room includes a massive desk with individual drawing tablets at every station, whiteboards lining the walls, and a screen for sharing work. After a brief introduction, Rebecca outlined the creative process of her essential work.

Pixar divides every movie it makes into sections or sequences. Each sequence includes a variety of scenes with a central focus. Inside Out 2 contains 25-28 sequences, and they name all of them. The sequence Rebecca showed us was called “The Alarm,” referring to a scene in which Riley wakes from slumber and learns she’s matured seemingly overnight. As her body comes to life, a construction crew destroys the barriers of Riley’s Mind World and alters the console that helps Joy and her friends influence Riley’s emotions. As Riley’s emotions test the new console, they discover it’s changed dramatically, creating confusion among the group.

Rebecca’s presentation was highly entertaining. She created verbal sound effects while narrating the sequence. Her drawing speed is also impressive. She was sketching new ideas on the spot, and they looked great. After a round of applause, John explained that the entire writing team would give detailed notes about the film’s progress. Sometimes, throw-away ideas create such an impact they make it to the final cut. It could be a sight gag, character quirk, or tonal shift in the voice work. If it serves the movie well, John sends word to the art team to start designing new assets for the idea. The story team will often watch a rough cut of the entire film to evaluate the narrative flow and approve ideas before sending them to the art team for digital fabrication.

Next, we visited Maurissa Horowitz (Lead Editor), whose first project at Pixar was Inside Out 2. Maurissa has been working on the film for three years because the story editorial team is on the project from start to finish. She helps move the story forward by making it funnier and more emotional. During the presentation, we rewatched “The Alarm” scene, emphasizing the construction crew making alterations to Riley’s Mind World against Joy’s wishes. With each iteration of the scene, Maurissa showed us examples of different gags, voice lines, plotlines, and use of the soundtrack. Watching the scene set to various songs was fascinating, as each changed the mood dramatically.

Maurissa also stressed how much work goes into the sound editing for Inside Out 2. For example, when the construction crew invades Riley’s Mind World to build a new console, Pixar uses nine different sound effects for the wrecking ball that starts the demolition. All the sounds combined give the object weight, momentum, and impact as it connects with the environment.

From a world perspective, everyone who’s a part of Riley’s Mind World is there to do a job, and they believe in their job, so you don’t want to be against the construction workers. At this moment, Joy confronts chaos, but she must remember to have patience and try to understand the situation, regardless of whether she’s opposed to it. The amount of work that went into creating the construction scene is remarkable. The process began with nearly 4000 storyboards, but the final version only has 408.

Voice Recording Studio

Our next stop on the tour was a trip to the voice recording studio. This portion of the day was a highlight, as I’ve always wanted to voice a character in an animated film. My group took turns reading lines from a scene featuring Anxiety’s introduction and Joy’s reaction to her moving into Riley’s Mind World. I read lines for Joy, doing my best to match the urgency of Joy’s predicament. Pixar was able to record and edit the audio into the film. Thus, I’ve voiced a character in a Pixar film! Well, kind of.

Art Department

While visiting the art department, Jason Deamer (Production Designer) and Keiko Murayama (Character Art Director) gave us an overarching look at Inside Out 2‘s design process. During the presentation, Deamer stressed the importance of honoring the original film’s presentation while elevating it with new techniques and evolved software tools. “If it’s a sequel, you need to honor the first film,” said Deamer. “My favorite sequels are ones that expand the world and don’t try to repeat what the first one did.”

Inside Out was made with 13-year-old software, leaving the Pixar team with no reusable assets. Everything you see in Inside Out 2 is brand-new, as the artists worked for a year and a half to create versions of the original characters that could react to the new lighting system. Shape language and color are paramount to creating character designs that tell a story, and the foundation for building the cast of Inside Out 2 is remarkable. Anger is square, immovable, and red, while Disgust is a sickly green pointy triangle, prickly and sharp. Joy is an exploding star, a gesture of victory and celebration. A teardrop informs Sadness’s design, while Anxiety is tense like a spring.

Layout & Staging

While visiting the Layout and Staging department, Adam Habib (Director of Photography) and Ryan Heuett (Camera & Staging Lead) demonstrated the staging elements and unique cameras used to film Inside Out 2. The team uses different types of camera styles to film the alternate worlds in the movie. The human world uses a handheld effect to introduce a physical, imperfect vibe, while the camera in the mind world is stationary and unmoving. An exception to the rule is Anxiety. When Anxiety is dictating Riley’s decision-making process (driving), Pixar uses the handheld effect to reflect the character’s apprehensiveness. The filmmakers also manipulate the camera’s focus when Anxiety is in control to reflect Riley’s hesitance and confusion about her next steps.

After learning about the camera, I was fortunate to test-drive the rig inside Riley’s Mind World. As I held the camera before me and walked around the motion capture stage, I could investigate the Mind World in great detail. Pixar built the Mind World to be a 360-degree environment, meaning you can walk inside it like an actual room. I examined the characters, Mind World control console, and Memory Storage up close using the camera. I also discovered a few Easter eggs during my tour.

If you look carefully at Riley’s Mind World, you might glimpse Anger’s Steam Room, where he goes to cool off after getting heated up. Pixar cut a scene of Anger using the room for the first film, but the door leading to the area still exists. The bedroom, where the emotions rest while Riley is asleep, almost made it into Inside Out, but there was no time to feature it. Inside Out 2 includes scenes in this space, and each sleeping area is tailor-made to suit the respective character. Amazingly, the environments extend beyond the limits of what you see with the camera. In other words, the entire arena where Riley plays hockey exists. You can walk around in it, even after you’ve left the filming environment.

Another example is Mind World, which is more than the room that houses the control console. You can explore the doors and rooms you see in the background. The artists and animators create these rooms so they can film in them if needed. Imagine writing a new scene and expecting the art team to design a new environment on the fly. It’s easier if those environments already exist.

Dovi Anderson (Animation Supervisor) walked us through the polish process, in which artists and animators execute the final touches of a shot. The polish team analyzes each shot in the film and determines if the material needs any alterations. After several evaluations, the director typically tasks the polish team with bringing the shot across the finish line. Once the shot is polished, the simulation team takes over, adding finite details, including hair movement, shifts in body weight, particle effects, and more.

The polish department also determines whether the characters remain on model throughout the shot. Consistency is crucial to making animated characters feel real, as animators want audiences to connect with them on many levels. Animation experts like Anderson analyze mouth movements in the film, determining if the correct gestures appear in the appropriate frames. 

To wrap the presentation, Dovi Anderson, Dave Torres (Directing Animator), Rob Thompson (Sketch Artist), Cody Lyon (Animator), and Erin M. Kinda (Department Manager) evaluated a scene of Riley playing hockey with her friends. While characters performed the same motion repeatedly, the team discussed possible alterations to the shot, including Riley’s stick placement, puck trajectory, hip placement, and positioning of other players.

By the end of the day, I had an intimate knowledge of the tireless work and focus that goes into making a Pixar film. What blew my mind was that what I saw was just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve gained a new appreciation for Pixar’s artistry, and I hope you learned a thing or two from this recap of the tour. Inside Out 2 looks fantastic, and I look forward to seeing the final cut of the film. I hope audiences show up when the film arrives in theaters on June 14, as it leaves an impression I will remember forever.

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At the end of March, I had the thrilling opportunity to travel to San Francisco, California, to visit Pixar Animation Studios for a Press Day preview of the upcoming animated sequel, Inside Out 2. Kelsey Mann directs Inside Out 2 for his feature directorial debut after helming episodes of the Megas XLR TV series, an episode of the Green Screen Show, and the Pixar short Party Central, featuring characters from Pete Docter’s Monsters Inc.

Riley (Kensington Tallman), the central character of 2015’s Inside Out, returns for the sequel. She’s entering her “terrible teens,” and the emotions inside her head – Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), Disgust (Liza Lapira) – are frantically trying to course-correct as new emotions – Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) – arrive in Riley’s Mind Space.

The story finds Riley attending a Hockey camp after an influential coach notices her skills on the ice. As she and her friends explore new surroundings, Riley begins to experience the onset of bodily maturity and mood swings. New emotions take control of her every move, compelling her to make questionable choices and cloud her judgment. While the emotions should work together, it’s not long before Joy and her friends are bottled up and cast into the far corner of Riley’s mind, forgotten and unable to influence the young woman’s actions.

It’s been a dream of mine to visit Pixar Animation Studios since 1995’s Toy Story changed the film industry forever. During my eleven-year tenure with JoBlo, I’ve established myself as the site’s “animation expert,” this was essentially my trip to Graceland. During the first press day, Pixar screened the film’s first half hour for myself and a rag-tag collective of journalists from other entertainment outlets.

Pixar CEO and filmmaker Pete Docter introduced the preview, speaking passionately about Pixar’s mission to bring impactful films to audiences and the thrill of watching Mann take the Inside Out ball and run with it. Regarding the importance of continuing Riley’s story, Docter emphasized that Pixar always aims to push the boundaries of emotions and animation through its generation-defining films. When the lights dimmed in Pixar’s plush, private theater, reality dawned that I was finally among the creators of some of my all-time favorite films. After many years, close calls, and expressing my love of animation through the JoBlo platform, I achieved one of my career (and lifetime) goals.

After the screening, Pixar turned us loose inside the hallowed halls of the Steve Jobs Building on the Pixar Animation Studios campus. Unlike other Press Day events, Pixar gave us free rein on the second floor, where the studio’s friendly staff served themed hors d’oeuvres and specialty cocktails to help everyone unwind after a long day of travel. While dining and rubbing elbows with other journalists, I toured several galleries showcasing Pixar’s films and shorts. While there was plenty of concept art for Inside Out 2 on display, the art included paintings, animation cels, concept art, statues, and video materials for films like Elemental, Turning Red, Coco, and others.

Taking photos with the different displays was another highlight of the trip. The level of detail on each one is positively insane, as you’d expect from a studio like Pixar. I was thrilled to see characters from previous films stationed around the building rather than limiting the display to Inside Out characters exclusively. If you ever visit Pixar Studios, pay close attention when walking through hallways; you might catch some of your favorite characters hidden in clever spots around the building.

After touring several departments throughout the Pixar campus and learning about the creativity, dedication, and artistic harmony of Inside Out 2, my most treasured moment of the trip was yet to come. While waiting for the shuttle back to SFO, I bumped into Pete Docter in the main lobby of Pixar Headquarters. Seizing the moment, I made good on a promise to my wife by telling Pete he made her cry with Inside Out. Instead of regret, Pete’s mouth stretched into a Cheshire grin as he pumped his fist in the air and said, “Yesssssss!” We shared a good laugh at this, and I thanked him for welcoming us into the studio and bringing light and laughter into the world.

While we have more coverage coming as we get closer to the film’s June 14 release, here are some interesting facts we learned about the movie during the press day event:

• Kelsey Mann and Pete Docter (director of Inside Out) grew up in Minnesota, one town over from each other.
• Kelsey’s first pitch idea for Inside Out 2 was to reintroduce Riley as a teenager. Filmmakers typically pitch three ideas when developing a film, and Kelsey nailed it in one.
• Many emotions didn’t make the cut in Inside Out and Inside Out 2. Mann watched every screening of the original film to see if there were any “gems” he could feature in the sequel. One emotion that did not make it into either film is Schadenfreude, the feeling of deriving pleasure from another person’s misfortune.
• The first screening of Inside Out 2 included nine new emotions that overwhelmed Joy. As the film progressed, the team couldn’t keep track of all the new characters, so they scaled the number back.
• Mann brought Dachner Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkley, who worked with Docter on the original film, to Pixar to help decide which new emotions to include in Inside Out 2. Keltner recommended using all the self-conscious emotions to depict a teenager’s mindset.
• Mann relied heavily on Dr. Lisa Damour, an author and clinical psychologist who graduated from Yale, to explore the female teenage mind. The Inside Out 2 team also established a trust of nine adolescent girls, ages 13-19, to help evaluate the film’s authenticity and progress. Mann would screen every film version for the trust while the girls would take notes and submit input. Mann says there were times when the trust gave better notes about the film than anyone working at Pixar. Some notes would arrive at Pixar in a book report-style format, complete with a cover letter.
• Mann used a blind casting method for some of the character voices in Inside Out 2, meaning he listened to recordings of actors reading lines without knowing who they were. The idea is to match the character with the voice purely on performance instead of Hollywood status or influence.
• Mann auditioned Maya Hawke for the Anxiety character from EPCOT at Walt Disney World. Mann was on vacation with his family when he met with Hawke via Zoom in a random office in the Mexico Pavillion. Mann says Maya connected with the film immediately and got the part after that meeting.
• Mann began work on Inside Out 2 in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns. With his teenage daughters just outside his home office door, he had plenty of inspiration to draw from, as he had a front-row seat to their growing pains and drama.
• Mann says Inside Out 2 is a “parental story” with Riley as a set piece for the emotions to “parent” her through adolescent curiosity and trauma. Pete Docter’s daughter helped inspire Inside Out, while Inside Out 2 takes cues from Mann’s children.
• Mann jokes that Clive Barker’s Hellraiser inspired Inside Out 2. Still, because the sequel is a “takeover” movie, Mann says Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 drama All About Eve, starring Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Baxter, and George Sanders, inspired the film.
• The production entered Panic Mode when SAG-AFTRA announced an imminent actors’ strike. Pixar rushed to record everyone’s lines before the Hollywood shutdown to combat the circumstances. The sound designers recorded 30 sessions in 30 days to ensure that work on the film could continue through the strikes.
• Three hundred seventy-five people worked on Inside Out 2 over four years.
• One of the lands in Riley’s Mind Space that didn’t make the cut is Procrastination Land. The joke was that Procrastination Land was always under construction. The territory was cut from the film because it didn’t fit into the story naturally. Mann says that as much as he loves the gag, the film needs to prioritize forward momentum, and Procrastination Land is the opposite. He hopes to revisit the idea somewhere down the road.
• At least ten versions of Inside Out 2 include different emotions and aspects of Riley’s interests. Versions exist where emotions like Guilt and Jealousy are a part of the story. The baggage that Anxiety presents to Joy in the trailer comes from Guilt.
• There’s an Easter egg dedicated to Caroll Spinney, who plays Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird on Sesame Street, somewhere in the film.
• One of the reasons Inside Out 2 takes place at a Hockey Camp is because some camps take away your phone, and Riley’s coach does this at the start of the program. Removing Riley’s phone from the story limits her options to call home and lean on her parents’ guidance. Therefore, Riley must face her new challenges and emotions mostly alone.
• Inside Out 2 introduces two new characters outside of the emotional spectrum. The first character is Bloofy, voiced by Ron Funches, a Dora the Explorer-like dog who directly addresses the audience as if you’re watching a kid’s show, and Lance Slashblade, voiced by Yong Yea, Riley’s first anime character crush. Bloofy and Lance are an absolute riot. Lance is extremely dramatic and dedicated. If I had to describe Lance, I’d say he’s a mix of Marth from Fire Emblem and Dio Brando from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

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Disney is closing out CinemaCon 2024 with extended looks at upcoming films, including Pixar’s highly anticipated sequel, Inside Out 2. Coincidentally, I visited Pixar Studios at the end of March for an in-depth look at the emotionally driven sequel, which finds audiences getting reacquainted with Riley, the same young woman who let us walk around inside her head in the Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen original in 2015.

During Disney’s CinemaCon panel, the Mouse House screened 35 emotional minutes of Inside Out 2 for the crowd. JoBlo’s editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, was in the crowd, detailing elements of the preview for us to share.

THIS PORTION OF THE ARTICLE CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS FOR PIXAR’S INSIDE OUT 2:

Riley (Kensington Tallman), the central character of 2015’s Inside Out, returns for the sequel. She’s entering her “terrible teens,” and the emotions inside her head -Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), Disgust (Liza Lapira) – are frantically trying to course-correct as new emotions – Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) – arrive in Riley’s Mind Space.

The story finds Riley attending a Hockey camp after an influential coach notices her skills on the ice. As she and her friends explore new surroundings, Riley begins to experience the onset of bodily maturity and mood swings. New emotions take control of her every move, compelling her to make questionable choices and cloud her judgment. While the emotions should work together, it’s not long before Joy and her friends are bottled up and cast into the far corner of Riley’s mind, forgotten and unable to influence the young woman’s actions.

JoBlo’s editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, said he found the preview positively hilarious as Riley displays some BIG feelings during the onset of her teen years. Like Pete Docter, Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann goes to great lengths to understand and represent what it’s like to be a young girl on the verge of womanhood. Easily overwhelmed by the tornado of change around her, Riley begins making poor life choices when Anxiety (Maya Hawke) seizes control from Joy, who considers herself the boss of Riley’s Mind Space. While Sadness proved to be a necessary element of Riley’s growing pains, Anxiety gives villain vibes as she allows a mixture of fear and apprehension to dominate Riley’s decision-making.

The CinemaCon preview for Inside Out 2 has the film looking positively brilliant and is a must-see in theaters this summer. We’ll have much more to share soon when the first part of our Inside Out 2 Press Day coverage goes live here.

Inside Out 2 arrives in theaters on June 14, 2024.

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Emotions are high this afternoon as Pixar debuts a full Inside Out 2 trailer, teasing more of the plot while introducing several new elements to Riley’s psyche. The new trailer arrived just as Pixar Studios invited us to visit their studio later this month to explore Pixar’s highly-anticipated sequel to Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen’s 2015 animated original. I’ll be representing JoBlo during the event and could not be more excited! It’s been a dream of mine to visit Pixar Studios for decades. Make sure you visit the site closer to the film’s release as I report what I saw and share more details about the upcoming sequel!

Kelsey Mann (Onward, Lightyear, The Good Dinosaur) makes her feature directorial debut with Inside Out 2, which includes a script by Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, Captain Marvel, My Father’s Dragon). Pixar announced Inside Out 2 in 2022 at Disney’s D23 Expo. The sequel will wreak havoc on your emotions in theaters on June 14, 2024.

In today’s Inside Out 2 trailer, a teenage Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) attempts to make new friends while navigating a foreign environment and social pressures. Her emotions, Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) return to aid Riley in her mission to fit in. However, with fresh experiences come new emotions, and Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) are moving into Riley’s head. As Riley’s brain becomes crowded with possibilities, unknowns, and what-ifs, she spirals out of control while trying to make sense of her hormones, mood swings, and fight-or-flight intuition.

Many things can trigger these volatile emotions in the human brain, paving the way for other complications. I trust Riley can navigate the storm, though I believe we’re in for nasty weather before she sorts her feelings.

What do you think about today’s Inside Out 2 trailer? Do you think Pixar is choosing the right emotions to explore for this challenging sequel? Let us know in the comments below.

Inside Out 2 will wreak havoc on your emotions in theaters on June 14, 2024.

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Disney has been in the headlines already in 2024 with the copyright for their first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie, falling into the public domain. The studio powerhouse had a pretty flat 2023 as just about every big release from them underperformed at the box office. They are hoping to shake that off and hit 2024 running. What can we expect from the House Of Mouse this year? Let’s take a look at the Disney 2024 release schedule.

The First Omen – April 5th

It has been 18 years since we’ve had a theatrical film in the Omen series. Well, they are trying again with this prequel that will set the stage for Damien’s arrival. With the buzz that The Exorcist: Believer was getting when it was announced that it was on the way had to get executives wondering what religious horror IP they had sitting in the vault. Since Disney had acquired Fox Studios, it dusted the series off and pushed it into production. After how The Exorcist sequel underperformed, they probably wished they hadn’t.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes – May 24th

We’re going back to the Planet Of The Apes this summer. The previous three entries in the series were enjoyed by critics and fans alike. Some miss the fun masks of the original series, which is understandable. This film will push the series further into the future, where apes remain the dominant species. Will fans turn out for a new set of characters even if it’s still the setting we have seen before? More than likely. The series has built goodwill with fans, and the creative teams have told some great stories so far.

Inside Out 2 – June 14th

This Pixar sequel will travel to one of the scariest places ever seen. The emotions of a teenager. Those of us who made it to the other side of adolescence shiver at the thought of reliving those years over again. The first film was a big hit, and exploring new emerging emotions would be fun to watch. This will probably be a pretty big hit for the studio, but will it be in the theater or on Disney+ after it hits streaming? Many people wait until streaming now, which could be a scenario that happens here.

Deadpool 3 – July 26th

This is the only theatrical film Marvel is putting out in 2024 (unless something slides up into later summer here soon), and fans will probably appreciate the breather. It’s probably a good idea since the excitement of Deadpool finally coming to the MCU will bring people out in droves. With the plot seeming to be around the destruction of the Fox Marvel brand, this could pull a Spider-Man: No Way Home and be a crossover fans have wanted to see for a while. Fox had control of The X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Daredevil. With this film, it seems like we’ll get a taste of all of them before Deadpool hops off for greener pastures. This might be the most anticipated movie on Disney’s 2024 release schedule.

Alien: Romulus – August 16th

After this many films featuring the xenomorph, has the luster worn off? When Ridley Scott returned to the franchise with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, fans were less than impressed. They are setting this film between Alien and Aliens somewhere else in the galaxy. Maybe that will add enough freshness to make fans want to check it out again. Director Fede Alvarez has shown with his films Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe that he can craft a suspenseful story. Maybe this franchise will benefit from adding some of the horror back into it.

The Amateur – November 8th

John Wick has been ruling the assassin genre for a bit now, and it seems like some studios are catching up with them. The Beekeeper and Argylle are coming out this year, delving into the world of spies and assassins. This film is an adaptation of a book that was previously done in 1981. It would seem this might be another subgenre that runs into the ground before it’s all said and done. Luckily, this one has a frequent comeback, so a new film of this ilk is always coming out. The cast seems fun, with Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburn leading the charge.

Mufasa: The Lion King – December 20th

Disney has never been afraid of remaking its own content if that means fans will drop some dollars on it. The big trend now is doing live-action remakes of their animated catalog. This sequel to The Lion King lives outside the live-action part since it’s all CGI but falls into what Disney has been trying to accomplish over the last decade. With The Little Mermaid underperforming last year, it’s only a matter of time before they pull back on these types of remakes and find something else to do. It would be nice if it were something original, as you’ll notice every title on this list across three of the studio’s brands are sequels, remakes, or a prequel.

Are you looking forward to anything on Disney’s 2024 release schedule? Let us know in the comments.

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Please keep your hands and feet inside the cart at all times as we prepare to ride another roller coaster of emotions with Pixar‘s Inside Out 2! Debuting the day after the actors’ guild reached a tentative agreement to end the ongoing actors’ strike, an Inside Out 2 teaser trailer reminds audiences how much the 2015 animated original added to their therapy bills.

Amy Poehler (Joy), Phyllis Smith (Sadness), Mindy Kaling (Disgust), Bill Hader (Fear), and Lewis Black (Anger) played the emotions in 2015’s Inside Out. However, Hader and Kaling won’t be returning for the sequel, with Tony Hale and Liza Lapira replacing them, respectively. The Inside Out 2 teaser introduces a new emotion to the mix, Anxiety, voiced by Stranger Things and Asteroid City star Maya Hawke. The first film revolves around 11-year-old Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and the five emotions creating whirlwinds inside her developing brain. 

While preparing to move from Minnesota to San Francisco, Riley is overwhelmed by change and expectation, causing her to spiral in the face of infinite possibilities. As Riley’s emotional journey progresses, the Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen-directed feature finds Joy and Sadness embarking on a mission to help Riley adjust to her new home. Gripping, powerful, and beautifully animated, Inside Out explores the emotions of a young woman like few movies ever have, resulting in one of Pixar’s most extraordinary efforts to date.

Today’s Inside Out 2 trailer hints at Riley experiencing a new rash of emotions, including anxiety. Many things can trigger this volatile emotion in the human brain, paving the way for other complications. I trust Riley can navigate the storm, though I believe we’re in for nasty weather before she sorts her feelings.

Kelsey Mann (Onward, Lightyear, The Good Dinosaur) makes her feature directorial debut with Inside Out 2, which includes a script by Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, Captain Marvel, My Father’s Dragon). Pixar announced Inside Out 2 in 2022 at Disney’s D23 Expo. The sequel will wreak havoc on your emotions in theaters on June 14, 2024.

What do you think about today’s Inside Out 2 teaser trailer? Do you find it interesting how a particular character who “faded” in the original appears on the new poster? I have so many questions! Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

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