In case you needed to feel old, it’s been 9 years since Inside Out released in theaters (excuse me while I whither into dust). At the time, Inside Out was just one more high-quality hit for Disney at its peak, coming off such successes as Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the box office titan that was The Force Awakens. Marvel releases were must-watch events, and Disney was promising great things with their newly acquired Star Wars series. If you’re reading this around the time of Disney’s fan-breaking The Acolyte show releasing, these are now very funny statements, as Disney has since taken a dump on both franchises with poor writing and aimless direction. Heck, even Pixar took a black eye with a line of disappointing flops such as Lightyear and Elemental. However, after a long series of financial and story misfires, Disney can finally claim a win with Inside Out 2. The sequel movie about emotions recently reached a domestic total of $286 million, which is just enough to surpass Dune: Part Two (which I reviewed here) to become the highest-grossing North American release of 2024 so far. But how does Inside Out 2 as a movie hold up so long after the original?
Perhaps surprisingly, it holds up quite well. As movie studios long ago discovered, animated franchises can handle lapses of time between entries effortlessly because cartoon characters are more age-proof than Tom Cruise. Jumping back into the world of young girl Riley’s mind and her resident emotions felt seamless with the only noticeable difference being the technological jump that makes the animation look even prettier than it did before.
Heck, they didn’t even need to bring back the same voice actors, as Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling were apparently too expensive for Disney to afford paying a salary increase. Seeing Mickey Mouse acting like he’s too broke to give stars their fair share is hilarious to anyone who’s paid for a day at Disney World, but the good news is that Tony Hale and Liza Lapira do an almost-undetectable replacement job as Fear and Disgust respectively. Thankfully, Amy Poehler returns as the lead character Joy, and she still perfectly delivers the bubbly, upbeat performance required by the emotion who just wants Riley to be happy even as she enters puberty (Riley, that is). Lewis Black also returns as Anger, claiming some of the funniest moments of the movie for me, and Phyllis Smith reprises her role as Sadness. Overall, the core cast of emotions gets more to do this time around, and it was fun watching more interaction with Anger, Disgust, and Fear as they traverse from one colorful end of Riley’s mind to the other.
The alterations that Riley’s mind goes through during puberty present a natural premise to make a sequel. The mental landscape and its themed islands are all changing as Riley starts shifting out of the simplicity of childhood. The introduction of elements such as sarcasm and repressed emotions are all done in creatively hilarious ways and with more dad puns than I was expecting. With the more nuanced social interactions and mental growth also come more complicated emotions such Ennui, Envy, Embarrassment, and (destroying the “E” theme) Anxiety. Voiced by Stranger Things’ Maya Hawke, Anxiety is by far the most memorable of the new emotion characters, showing both the necessity and danger of the emotion, and let me tell you, some of those social interactions hit a little too close to home for high school me. Thanks for bringing back the repressed memories, Pixar!
I know some of you love a good cry during a Pixar movie, so you’ll be happy to know that Inside Out 2 offers the sweetness and heartstring-pulling moments that the best Pixar entries are known for. The original explosion of new ideas that the original had is of course lessened due to this being a sequel, but you can’t fault Pixar for playing it safer with familiar sequels as the studio strives to bring back audiences. Speaking of safe, there’s nothing included that families might find objectionable, which has become something of a lost art with children’s media (except you, Bluey, you can do no wrong). Creative as it is relevant, Inside Out 2 successfully delivers an entertaining kids movie with great lessons while also taking adults down an emotional trip down memory lane.
Jason Talks Movies 
A great review. I had a chance to see this film recently and loved it. It’s an amazing sequel which managed to improve on the first film. That being said, I thought the first movie was a little better.
Here’s my thoughts on the movie:
A great review once again. I just thought I would share my review on the sequel. I absolutely loved the film and thought it did an incredible job depicting anxiety. As someone facing severe anxiety, the film resonated deeply with me.
Here’s why I loved it: