Inside Out 2 is an upcoming American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to Inside Out (2015), it is being directed by Kelsey Mann (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screenplay written by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein. The film stars Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan reprising their roles from the first film with Tony Hale (replacing Bill Hader), Liza Lapira (replacing Mindy Kaling), Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, and Kensington Tallman (replacing Kaitlyn Dias) joining the cast.
| Inside Out 2 | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kelsey Mann |
| Screenplay by |
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| Produced by | Mark Nielsen |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Maurissa Horwitz |
| Music by | Andrea Datzman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Inside Out 2 was first announced in September 2022 during the D23 Expo announcement, with Mann, Nielsen, and LeFauve attached as director, producer, and writer, respectively, while Poehler was revealed to reprise her role in the film, along with Smith, Black, Lane, and MacLachlan. Hale, Lapira, and Hawke joined the cast in November 2023, while Edebiri, Exarchopoulos, Hauser, and Tallman's roles were confirmed in March 2024. That same month, Holstein was confirmed to have co-written the screenplay with LeFauve. The film features Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter's "five to 27 emotions" idea from the first film that Mann pitched during its production to utilize "truthful" worldbuilding.
Inside Out 2 is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on June 14, 2024.
Premise
Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who've long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren't sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she's not alone.
— Pixar Animation Studios
Voice cast
- Amy Poehler as Joy, a yellow happy emotion.
- Phyllis Smith as Sadness, a blue sad emotion.
- Lewis Black as Anger, a red angry emotion.
- Tony Hale as Fear, a purple nervous emotion. Hale replaces Bill Hader from the first film.
- Liza Lapira as Disgust, a green disgusted emotion. Lapira replaces Mindy Kaling from the first film.
- Maya Hawke as Anxiety, a new orange anxious emotion.
- Ayo Edebiri as Envy, a new cyan envious emotion.
- Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui, a new indigo bored emotion.
- Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment, a new pink embarrassed emotion.
- Kensington Tallman as Riley Andersen, a 13-year-old girl. Tallman replaces Kaitlyn Dias from the first film.
- Diane Lane as Mrs. Andersen, Riley's mother.
- Kyle MacLachlan as Mr. Andersen, Riley's father.
- Lilimar as Valentina "Val" Ortiz, a popular hockey player at Riley's high school.
- Paula Pell as Mom's Anger.
- Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green as Bree, Riley's friend
- Grace Lu as Grace, Riley's friend
- Yvette Nicole Brown as Coach Roberts, the head of the summer hockey camp.
- John Ratzenberger as Fritz. This is Ratzenberger's first role in a Pixar film since Onward (2020).
- June Squibb as Nostalgia, a new gray nostalgic emotion.
- Ron Funches as Bloofy, a character from Riley's favorite childhood TV show.
- Yong Yea as Lance Slashblade, a heroic video game character whom Riley had a crush on when she was younger.
In addition, Sarayu Blue, Flea, Dave Goelz, James Austin Johnson, Bobby Moynihan, Frank Oz, Paula Poundstone, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Kirk Thatcher have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Production
Development
After the success of Inside Out (2015), the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2015, Entertainment Tonight and The Guardian considered a sequel to be "inevitable". Inside Out director Pete Docter was germinating ideas for a sequel while the original film's nominations were unveiled at the 88th Academy Awards in January 2016. Pixar officially confirmed the sequel's development during the D23 Expo announcement in September 2022, with Amy Poehler coming on stage to discuss the film alongside Docter. Kelsey Mann was announced as the director of the sequel (making it his feature directorial debut as he previously directed the short film Party Central in 2013), with Mark Nielsen producing, while Meg LeFauve was announced to write the film's screenplay, returning from its predecessor.
To utilize "truthful" worldbuilding, Mann used Docter's "five to 27 emotions" idea from the first film that he pitched during its production. Mann's first pass included nine new emotions to make Joy feel overwhelmed with all the new emotions showing up, but felt that the story couldn't keep track with so many emotions taking the spotlight or not adding to the story, so after the first screening he decided to simplify the number. Among those emotions was Schadenfreude (having joy at someone's expense), Jealousy and Guilt, but the latter two influenced the film despite being removed, with Mann feeling that Envy could relate to Jealousy and how remnants of Guilt could be found within Anxiety's introduction, even giving Anxiety some of Guilt's baggage, which was inspired by that of Disneyland hotels.
Casting
Poehler accepted an offer of $5 million with lucrative bonuses to reprise her role as Joy from the first movie. Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black also reprise their roles from the first film, voicing Sadness and Anger, respectively. Following a dispute over pay, both Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader declined to reprise their respective roles as Disgust and Fear; they and the rest of the returning cast were reportedly offered $100,000 each, equivalent to two percent of Poehler's salary. On November 9, 2023, with the release of the teaser trailer, it was revealed that Tony Hale and Liza Lapira would replace Hader and Kaling as Fear and Disgust, respectively, while Maya Hawke joined the cast as Anxiety, a new emotion. Mann auditioned Hawke via Zoom at the office of a back room in Epcot during a family vacation with his kids after Nielsen told him that Hawke was available to audition just then, with her anxious performance driving him to tears. On January 16, 2024, it was revealed that June Squibb had joined the cast in an undisclosed role, later revealed to be Nostalgia.
On March 7, 2024, Disney revealed that Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan joined the cast, with Edebiri, Exarchopoulos, and Hauser playing the other new emotions, Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment, respectively. In addition, Tallman replaces Kaitlyn Dias as Riley Andersen, while Lane reprises her role as Mrs. Andersen, and MacLachlan also reprises his role as Mr. Andersen. Also joining the cast in supporting roles are Lilimar, who plays a hockey player named Valentina, and Yvette Nicole Brown, who plays the leader of the hockey team, while Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green and Grace Lu play Bree and Grace, Riley's friends.
Music
On March 7, 2024, with the release of the second trailer and poster, it was revealed that Andrea Datzman had composed the film's score, taking over for Michael Giacchino.
Release
Inside Out 2 is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on June 14, 2024, with engagements in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Cinema. It will also screen at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that same day.
Marketing
The teaser trailer for the film, along with the poster, was released on November 9, 2023. James Withbrook of Gizmodo and Inverse's Rotem Rusak highlighted the introduction of three other emotions in the poster: Embarrassment, Ennui, and Envy. The teaser was viewed over 157 million times in the first 24 hours across all social media platforms—including over 78 million from TikTok—becoming the most-watched animated film trailer launch in the Walt Disney Company's history, surpassing the previous record holder, Frozen II (2019). A clip from the film was also aired during the Super Bowl LVIII, named "Team". The second trailer, along with a new poster, was released on March 7, 2024. This trailer also marked the debut of the "standard" variant of the 2023 Walt Disney Pictures logo, which was introduced the year before for the studio's centennial anniversary. The first 35 minutes of the film were screened during The Walt Disney Studios' presentation of first looks at their 2024 theatrical release slate at CinemaCon on April 11, 2024.