Inside Out 2 (2024) | REVIEW

Directed by Kelsey Mann — Screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein.

Following a string of films that were either dumped onto Disney+ or that disappointed critics and/or audiences, I think it is fair to say that, earlier this year, Pixar got its groove back. With the long-awaited release of Inside Out 2, Pixar had one of its golden internal properties back out in theaters, and it certainly felt like they had something here as it did well with critics, as well as found the type of audience that propelled it to breaking records. Eventually, Inside Out 2 became the biggest animated film ever made based on its box office numbers. But, as a major fan of the original film, which I declared a masterpiece when it was released, I was curious if the long-awaited sequel was actually as good as its reputation suggested. Well, I’ve now finally seen the emotionally-driven sequel. While I don’t think it is as novel of a film as the first one, or a masterpiece for that matter, I definitely think the sequel is a worthy follow-up to Pixar’s emotionally rich sensation.

Set two years after the events of the original film, Kelsey Mann’s Inside Out 2 follows 13-year-old Riley Andersen and her innermost emotions — Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), and Disgust (voiced by Liza Lapira) — as she experiences the start of puberty, saying goodbye to good friends as you cross an educational threshold, and going to a hockey camp that, at least to Riley, feels like a make-or-break event. Meanwhile, inside her head, a number of new and more complex emotions — Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke), Envy (voiced by Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos), Nostalgia (voiced by June Squibb), and Embarrassment (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser) — make their presence known and threaten to change Riley’s sense of self, as they decide to cast out and lock away Riley’s long-time simplistic emotion. Hoping to save their girl’s sense of self, we follow the group of simplistic emotions on their way back to the control room, where the new emotions may be steering Riley in the wrong direction.

There is so much about the narrative design and premise that feels like a natural and obvious expansion to the original film, as this sequel is about complex teenage emotions that can upend relationships and your identity. But just because it is ‘natural’ and ‘obvious’ does not mean it is easy to execute in a satisfying way, but this film certainly delivers. Despite it having certain elements that feel quite familiar (both surrounding the ending and the original journey that the emotions go on), Pixar’s latest sequel has plenty of greatness hidden up its sleeves including new ways to bring human character, emotion, and/or identity to life, but also some genuinely funny animated metaphors or visualizations that should be fun for all ages (and especially crack up older viewers). In addition to this, with this film, they’ve found new ways to illustrate how childhood memories or interests stick with you, and they bring them to life through different animation styles that bring your mind back to childhood cartoons or rpg-video games in hilarious ways.

And this new focus on puberty, of course, also allowed the people at Pixar to introduce a number of new emotion characters. Although not all of them have as big of a part to play as others do, they are uniformly well-designed. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought Edebiri’s Envy almost felt like their character design had been specifically based on the voice actor. Meanwhile, Maya Hawke brings a note-perfect unhinged energy to Anxiety, which is arguably the most important new character as Anxiety is sort of a quasi-antagonist. Hawke and Edebiri’s voices and energies feel right at home in this universe. Squibb, Hauser, and Exarchopoulos also leave positive impressions, but they do so with much less room to make an impression, with Paul Walter Hauser getting very little to do despite his character being present for quite some time. All of these new characters drew out great laughs from myself, and the same can be said for most of the returning emotional voices. 

One notable creative distinction between the original and the sequel is that the original director Pete Docter, who has since become the CCO of Pixar, has not directed the long-awaited sequel, as they, instead, opted to give Kelsey Mann the opportunity to make this as her feature directorial debut after having worked on so many Pixar films over the years, though in a lesser role. It’s not just Docter who’s missing, though. The absence that may be felt or noticed the most by audiences is that of Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling, the original voices of Fear and Disgust, who have declined to reappear due to pay disputes. That begs the question, how do Tony Hale and Liza Lapira stack up? Do they fill out their shoes or do they seem off? Hale and Lapira are perfectly adequate in their roles, and I think most young viewers won’t notice the difference, but as someone who knows Kaling and Hader’s voices quite well, it was a little bit difficult not to notice the changes, despite Hale and Lapira’s positive efforts.

All in all, Inside Out 2 is a really well-designed Pixar sequel that hits on all of the elements that made the first film great. It may be somewhat familiar and it may not be as emotionally impactful, but it still features inventive animation, great comedy, and exceptional and well-chosen vocal performances. And, as if that wasn’t enough, I also think this film does a phenomenal job of telling a story that may ultimately teach young viewers something about the value of anxiety and imperfect experiences in shaping us as people. The film delivers a nuanced and complex take on the value of puberty’s complicated sense of self that helps to illustrate that anxiety as well as simplistic joy are both integral to who you are and that the memories that you’d rather forget also help to steer you in ways that can be beneficial. Inside Out 2 reaches for a level of emotional maturity that is not just earned, I also think it actually succeeds in communicating said maturity in ways that people of all ages can understand in some way.

8.5 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.