Inside Out 2’s Puberty Storyline Detailed By Pixar Sequel Director

Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann reveals new details about the puberty storyline in the upcoming Pixar sequel. Inside Out’s narrative of Riley and her personified emotions was a critical and commercial success in 2015, leading to speculation and eventually confirmation that the story would continue in a sequel. Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust are all returning in Inside Out 2, but with Riley now entering her teenage years, her life experiences will change and introduce many new emotions.

In the January 2024 issue of Empire Magazine, shared via The Direct, Mann discusses how Inside Out 2 will pick up where the original film left off, specifically by exploring the effects of pressing the “Puberty” button. This will build on the development that both Riley and her emotions underwent in the first film while also challenging the characters in new and universally relatable ways. Read Mann’s comments below:

At the end of the first movie, you saw all these beautiful swirls of memory, where you get Joy and Sadness in the same memory, or Anger and Disgust. I wanted to open this movie with them all in sync with one another and feeling they’re a great team. Until puberty hits.

My original thought was to pitch three ideas … I want to see that thing [the Puberty button] go off. I explored other ideas, but I kept coming back to that. Eventually, I just pitched that to Pete. This is a gold mine for everything we love at Pixar … It’s got heart. It’s got emotion. It’s got humor. Puberty is hilarious, but it’s also a hard time in our lives. I want to say something meaningful about ourselves as humans, but told in an imaginative way.

Why Inside Out 2’s Puberty Storyline Is Promising

While Inside Out 2 is far from the first story to explore puberty, it does have the potential to explore the topic in truly unique and meaningful ways. The Inside Out 2 trailer introduced Anxiety, a new emotion Riley will experience throughout the film. As Mann highlights in his comments, puberty is a difficult experience. The many changes that it brings naturally lead to anxiety, which Inside Out 2 is already communicating by making Anxiety one of Riley’s most prominent emotions.

Pixar films generally do an outstanding job of appealing to viewers of all ages, and making sometimes difficult topics accessible for everyone. Inside Out 2 is poised to continue this tradition by focusing on the universal experience of puberty in a way that can be understandable for children and relatable for older audiences. By focusing not just on Riley, but also on her changing emotions, Inside Out 2‘s comedy can go beyond the usual tropes in stories that explore puberty, and instead be more creative with the comedic situations that arise between the various emotions during puberty.

Stories that explore this topic are usually coming-of-age narratives. Inside Out 2‘s teenage coming-of-age story can transcend its protagonist as it examines what coming of age means not just physically, but also psychologically. Riley’s emotions and their relationships with each other have the potential to change even more significantly than they did in the first film. The trailer, Mann’s comments, and these many possibilities tease how Inside Out 2 is a worthy continuation of the story that began in 2015.

Source: Empire Magazine (via The Direct)