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It didn’t take long Inside Out 2 to become one of the the best Disney Plus movies. Like a song stuck in your head, the movie charmed its way into our minds, resonating with so many of us at once across such a wide age range that it quickly became the biggest. new movie of 2024.
“I hoped it would do well, but I never thought it would do so well in so many places around the world – it’s incredible,” Kelsey Mann, writer and director of Inside Out 2he told me. It made such a splash when it premiered in theaters on June 14, 2024, in the United States and the United Kingdom (June 13 for those in Australia) that it broke numerous records.
Inside Out 2 it is not only the world’s highest-grossing animated film; it is the 13th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, the first animation to surpass $1 billion, and the number one film on the box office charts in 2024. On the streaming front, it is also the biggest. new Disney Plus movie to premiere this year, attracting 30.5 million views in its first five days.
“It’s really a testament to what Pete Doctor did in the first movie, with this idea of dealing with emotions, because everyone has them,” Mann says overwhelmed by his success. “I can’t tell you how many times people have stopped me to tell me how much this movie has meant to them, whether it’s for them or their kids, the teachers, the therapists, the psychologists. That’s the part that really gets to me “.
Taking over the reins from Pete Docter
Before Mann, it was like that Inside Out fans have to go to Pete Docter, the director of the first film, but now turned chief creative officer of Pixar, to express his joy and appreciation for the film and how it has impacted his life. His growing popularity is what, in fact, prompted Docter to talk to Mann in the first place.
“Pete was like, ‘I have no idea.’ [for a sequel] – go for it,’ so I started exploring different ideas, and I knew one of them would be when Riley is a teenager,” says Mann, adding “I met with a lot of experts from the first movie, asking what happens in the brain when we’re teenagers and suddenly it started to feel like the right answer.”
Before mapping history for Inside Out 2Mann says he first made a list of all his favorite movie sequences to try to work out what made him successful. The best advice he had received was that “the sooner you start thinking of this movie as an original, the better,” and that was true for his favorite sequels as well.
“There’s a sense of originality to them, and those I didn’t like just repeating the same story. I’m like, ‘that worked last time, we’re just doing the same thing,’ and it feels like I saw it, so I wanted to do something a little more original [by making] the heart of the staff,” Mann says, going on to explain why he decided to get into the project.
It has a lot of potential for drama, emotion, and being funny – and these are the three things we need in any Pixar movie, especially an Inside Out movie.
– Kelsey Mann, writer and director of Inside Out 2
“I watched as a teenager, what was going on, and really, a lot of it is inspired by [looking at] some of my birthday pictures when i was growing up. I was kind of scanning, because I wanted a digital copy of all my photos, and I saw a photo of myself when I was five years old. It’s my birthday. I am surrounded by my family, and I have the biggest smile on my face. It almost stopped me in my tracks.”
“I’m so happy, and it’s not just a random day, it’s a day to celebrate me. It’s my birthday, and from that smile on my face, I did this 100%. And then I turned eight and 11 and 13 years old, and you just saw that smile disappear, and I just look at my cake when I’m 13 years old, they sing me “Happy Birthday” from the same people, who are I wish you a happy birthday and singing, I hated that he sang happy birthday to me at that age.
“If I go back to the neuroscience of what I feel, you become really self-conscious at this age and start comparing yourself to others. So, if I really got down to it, I think it wasn’t really worth all this. celebrating if I go to the heart of what I really feel And so I wanted to make a film that deals with that feeling, the feeling of not being good enough, “says Mann, adding, “that’s what I ended up doing at the studio.”
Needless to say, Mann’s pitch was successful after going to Docter with: “It’s everything we want in a sequel. It has a lot of possibilities for drama, emotions, and to be funny – and that’s the three things we need in. every Pixar movie, especially an Inside Out movie”.
The pressures of making a sequel
Despite having Docter’s blessings, Mann still felt the enormous pressure to make a sequel to one of the highest rated Pixar films. “I feel like I’m leading The Empire Strikes Back“He shared, “I wanted to make a good follow-up to a movie that everyone loved and wanted to work with [director behind it].”
“I always say to Pete, you are the George Lucas of the Inside Out world; he knows the rules, he knows the world, and so I would constantly check in with him where I was—I would do that in every movie even if it wasn’t a movie. Inside Out movie, I’ll check in with him because he’s the chief creative officer at the studio, and I love working with the guy.
“He’s one of my favorite people in the studio, so having the opportunity to work closely with Pete Docter was really a dream come true. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he’s incredibly supportive. He allowed me to bring him to the film. , and gave me nothing but support from start to finish.”
As well as Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Inside Out 2 made more money at the box office than the original, marking its inclusion in another award in the film business and causing another rollercoaster of success when debuted on Disney Plus.
Using his personal experiences as a compass while consulting with Pixar and emotion experts such as neuroscientist Dr. Dacher Keltner, who advised on the first Inside Out film, Mann narrowed down all of his ideas for new emotions in the sequel to just four.
“The first note I received [after the first screening] it was to simplify it. The reason why the four [emotions] finished in the film is because they are all emotions that are self-conscious emotions, which goes back to what I was talking about before. You start comparing yourself to others when you’re this age, and you become very self-conscious.”
“You start thinking, how do you fit in? It’s all about that. It’s all about your peers. It’s all about how do you fit into this particular group of people? And so are the emotions that made the cut , the ones that really thrive on the console when you’re a teenager,” says Mann.
This also suggests that a lot could be left on the table for another follow-up film full of the initial thrills that Mann had previously considered for the sequel, but of course, nothing of potential. Inside out 3 was also discussed.
Instead, make sure to catch it Inside Out TV spin-off Dream productions on Disney Plus while we wait for more.
