Save for that movie where Larry the Cable Guy supposedly urinated in public, Pixar sequels are rarely terrible. Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, and Monsters University are vastly preferable to the average Minions or Hotel Transylvania follow-up. Even Cars 3 wrung more pathos than expected out of its ill-conceived universe. The greatest problem with these sequels has been that they’re merely competent. They’re serviceable watches, but many are safe retreads of the familiar. Risks are minimal, idiosyncratic animation flourishes are scarce.
When absorbing these follow-ups, it’s hard not to yearn for more challenging original Pixar titles like Turning Red, Ratatouille, or WALL-E. Still, details like the unexpected third-act detour of Monsters University or the charming new characters in Finding Dory are absent from your standard Ice Age or Illumination sequels. If we must live in this franchise-dominated pop culture landscape, Pixar has delivered more hits than most. Goodness knows the Toy Story sequels are outright masterpieces of long-form cinematic storytelling.
The newest example of the label’s pleasant, if far from groundbreaking, sequels, is Inside Out 2. Directed by Kelsey Mann (a new feature film helmer taking over for previous director Pete Docter), the sequel expands on the world of Riley’s mind established in 2015’s Inside Out.
“After all, Riley’s twelve now. What could happen?” Those were the final words of Joy (Amy Poehler) in the original Inside Out. That contentment seems to have endured into the start of Inside Out 2. Riley (Kensington Tallman) is now thirteen. The emotions in her head, Joy, Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Envy (Liza Lapira), Fear (Tony Hale), and Anger (Lewis Black) couldn’t be prouder of their girl. Everything looks great for Riley, especially as an exciting trip to a hockey camp with her two best friends fast approaches.
However, the world of these emotions changes forever one fateful night when the “puberty” alarm goes off. A new console is installed in their headquarters, and a quartet of new emotions complicates Riley’s world. These include Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos, a clear pander to Passages fans), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and the very excitable Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Joy learned her lesson about dismissing the value of Sadness in the original Inside Out. This perky being is open to these new emotions playing valuable roles in Riley’s life.
However, Anxiety fears this teenager making every possible mistake and ruining her future. With these concerns, she sees Joy and the other original emotions as only a hindrance. Conflict inevitably breaks out amongst these beings. Simultaneously, Riley feels torn between her old friends and a gaggle of cool High Schoolers. Conflict rages both in her head and with her physical being.
Inside Out 2 gets lots of mileage from the enduring amusement of running commentary, explanations, and visual manifestations of human behavior. After just the first movie, the well should be running dry on this material. However, Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein’s screenplay keeps uncovering new fun comedic possibilities within our minds. A scene of Anxiety, Envy, and Ennui trying to navigate how Riley should position her arms while walking with her older idols is a hysterical example of this.
It’s thoroughly impressive how well the human and emotion elements function as standalone entities in this sequence. The animation of Riley’s awkward arm movements is incredibly real. Her body language doesn’t feel like it’s guided by tiny beings in her head. If you removed Anxiety and company’s dialogue, this teenager’s physicality would still be humorous and coherent. Meanwhile, observational comedy dialogue delivered by the emotions is sharply written. Much like in the first Inside Out, this sequel realizes a fascinating relationship between the heightened and mundane that allows each element to soar.
LeFauve and Holstein’s script has many amusing comedic flights of fancy, sometimes to Inside Out 2’s detriment. The second act gets a little lost in the woods, representing how puberty impacts areas of Riley’s mind. Some changes inspire titters and are impressively in turn with reality. However, the narrative and emotional stakes get lost in the meandering pacing. It’s also a shame Sadness lies on the sidelines during the middle section: Smith’s voicework remains impeccable, and getting more of this adorably morose being would’ve been a treat.
While some familiar faces could’ve withstood more screen time, the new characters are a treat. Mann and company continue the Muppet-inspired character designs of the original five emotions for the distinctive profiles of Anxiety, Ennui, Envy, and Embarrassment. Simpsons creator Matt Groening once said, “The secret of designing cartoon characters is: you make a character that you can tell who it is in silhouette.” This quartet of emotions passes that test with flying colors thanks to enjoyably stylized features like a swordfish nose or broccoli tuff hair. Anxiety is an especially fun-looking creation, with her bulging eyes and fluttering hands; their jagged, energetic movements provide the film’s most hysterical moments.
Inside Riley’s head, Inside Out 2’s animation and character designs look terrifically stylized. Out in the “real world,” the movie emphasizes an unfortunately growing problem with Pixar’s features; the innate uncanniness of cartoony characters inhabiting ultra-realistic backdrops. Nine years of animation advancements since the original Inside Out gives this sequel incredibly detailed backgrounds. However, human characters rarely appear to belong in those environments. They often look like stickers placed on top of a screensaver.
It doesn’t help matters when the filmmakers repeatedly deploy shallow depth of field to parodically interesting results, which only enhances Inside Out 2’s disconnect between the humans and the backgrounds they inhabit. The former figures come to life through generic character designs. These are a far cry from the idiosyncratic humans populating Soul and Turning Red. Inside Out 2’s colorful sequences set within Riley’s mind are incredibly beautiful achievements that are well worth experiencing on the big screen. It’s a crying shame that trips to “reality” exemplify recurring modern issues with Pixar’s animation style.
The greatest compliment to Inside Out 2, though, is that these complaints are minor; a visually inspired and emotionally gripping finale takes things home in a mighty satisfying way. This sequel takes a great lesson from the first movie’s ending in scope. Keeping things intimate but emotionally expansive can be more captivating than endless physical escalation in scale.
Is Inside Out 2 an essential sequel? Of course not. But its charms and moving observations on the messiness of growing up are impossible to deny. Inside Out 2 is bound to win over devotees of the first, and the overall quality is also better than the typical Pixar sequel. Best of all, there’s no Larry the Cable Guy tow truck in sight. Trading that guy in for Ayo Edebiri…now there’s a sign of cinematic progress!
Inside Out 2 inhabits theaters June 14th.