Summary
Inside Out 2 continues the franchise’s exploration of the subconsciousness, this time focusing on Riley as a newly-turned teenager. The sequel delves into the changes that occur in Riley’s mind as she transitions into young adulthood, highlighting the emotional turbulence of her teenage years. The risk of focusing on a teenager is significant, but provides a natural transition for the series, opening up the possibility for future installments to explore different stages of life.
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Inside Out 2 continues the franchise’s deep-dive into the subconsciousness of human beings with a glimpse at what it would look like in the mind of a newly-turned teenager. Pixar’s coming-of-age franchise has released a heartwarming and hysterical Inside Out 2 teaser trailer to promote the sequel to the original 2015 film. The first Inside Out followed the basic emotions that made up the mind of a young girl named Riley, and did so through anthropomorphic characterizations of Joy, Sadness, Anger, and more.
The upcoming Inside Out 2 looks set to carry on investigating the profound inner workings of human beings by tracking the changes of the mind that occur as Riley moves into her teenage years. Like anyone’s transition into this new phase of life, Inside Out 2’s teaser trailer suggests that Riley’s adjustment to becoming a teenager will be one bumpy ride, as her emotions are forced to calibrate to the shift into young adulthood. Inside Out 2 expresses this significant change with a scene of how Riley’s mind becomes completely altered the moment she turns thirteen.
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Inside Out 2’s Demolition Scene Is The Perfect Depiction Of A Teenager’s Mind
Upon Riley’s 13th birthday, Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and the rest of the primary emotions introduced in Inside Out are alerted by an alarm in the headquarters of Riley’s mind. The alarm brings on a raucous team of construction workers in a demolition scene perfectly suited to describe what growing into teenage adolescence is like. The demolition team completely wrecks Riley’s headquarters, indicating how the makeup of the mind changes when a child moves into this turbulent stage of their development.
Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader will not be returning as Disgust and Fear, respectively.
When Riley’s emotions believe the worst is over, they discover a new console has been installed at headquarters. In the biggest reveal Inside Out 2’s teaser discloses, it is unveiled that in the life transition of adolescence, new emotions are discovered, felt, and introduced into the existing team. While this opens up a whole universe of emotions that Riley could feel and that the franchise could introduce, the teaser brings the new emotion of Anxiety into the Inside Out 2 cast, but hesitates to divulge much beyond that.
Inside Out 2 Focusing On A Teenager Is Risky For Pixar (But Necessary)
The choice to focus on a teenager could prove risky for the Pixar franchise, but also seems like the most natural transition for the series to take. The teenage phase is the most emotionally turbulent life stage of human beings. Inside Out 2 will have to be mindful of how it deals with the more sensitive aspects of the teenage era, and how it will make Riley’s teenage years compelling enough to reward audiences after an almost nine-year wait for an Inside Out sequel.
Despite the risks, Riley’s natural transition into young adulthood is a great premise for the sequel, and the best way to continue Inside Out’s exploration of the human psyche. By developing Riley’s mind as she ages, Inside Out 2 opens up the opportunity for new Inside Out emotions to evolve within Riley and be introduced across future installments. What could eventually transpire after Inside Out 2 is a franchise that takes audiences through the many various stages of life with everyone’s favorite anthropomorphic emotions in tow.
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