DUBAI: Nine years after Pixar’s animated feature “Inside Out” gave the world a new way to talk about feelings and emotions, the sequel is set to release with a bang.
“Inside Out 2” returns to cinemas on June 13 with filmmaker Kelsey Mann introducing new emotions as the film’s protagonist Riley takes on her teen years.
The film opens with Riley hitting adolescence just as the headquarters inside her mind undergoes a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected — new emotions. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who have long been running a successful operation, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And she’s not alone, she’s brought Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment with her.
“I’d zeroed in on the idea of Anxiety being a major character,” Mann told Arab News. “It’s something that really starts to appear as we become teenagers — we can all relate. I remember doing a lot of research early on about what happens in our brains at this age that triggered this idea of a wrecking ball coming through Headquarters — a bunch of workers piling in and tearing everything down. It’s a renovation — that’s kind of what it feels like to be a teenager. It’s chaotic.”
Like its predecessor, “Inside Out 2” features two settings: The real world, where Riley interacts with her family, friends and hockey players; and the mind world, where Riley’s Emotions help her navigate the new challenges she’s facing as a teenager.
The concept of memories was a core idea that was dealt with in the original film, while the sequel introduces the idea of a belief system.
“In the first film, they took a concept like memories and gave it a visual and now it's become vocabulary out in the world. And we got excited about, like, ‘Yes, I want memories in the movie.’ But for me, in doing a sequel, I want to make sure that we're doing new things and introducing new concepts and going to new places,” said Mann.
“We're looking at Riley and what age she is and what she's going through and she's a teenager. And what's happening at that time is that you're starting to develop who you are as an individual, which means you're starting to create your own beliefs. And we're like, ‘Oh, beliefs, that'd be so cool to see what beliefs look like.’ And then I got really excited about the belief system. It's exciting. It's also daunting, because it could look like anything. And so, there's a lot of exploration you can do but I'm really happy with what we ended up with,” he added.
The sequel features Amy Poehler (Joy), Phyllis Smith (Sadness) and Lewis Black (Anger) in their original roles. Ayo Edebiri (Envy), Maya Hawke (Anxiety) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Ennui) join the cast while “Veep “star Tony Hale takes over as Fear from Bill Hader and Liza Lapira voices Disgust.
