Disney and Pixar’s long awaited Inside Out 2 will bring fans back into Riley’s head on June 14th. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are back, however there are also some new emotions in town. At the end of Inside Out, the big scary puberty button appeared, perfectly setting up for a wave of feelings and hormones to take over Riley in the sequel.
Director Kelsey Mann has two kids, who are 15 and 16, so he admits he is smack dab in the middle of all this. “But I really zeroed in on the idea of Riley being a teenager because that was a hard time in my own life. The first film did a lot of good in this world – giving people a new way to talk about their feelings, and if we can do something like that for teenagers around the world, then sign me up – I want to be part of that.”
As seen in the Inside Out 2 trailer, Riley’s mind undergoes a renovation when a construction team shows up to make way for new emotions. According to production designer Jason Deamer, the emotions were originally designed to feature specific color and shape language.
Joy is yellow and shaped like a star. Anger is red with a solid rectangular shape and unmovable sharp corners. Sadness is blue and shaped like a teardrop. Fear is purple and shaped like a cowering nerve. Disgust is green. She’s sharp and acute with angles out.
“I wanted to make sure that we honored the visual canon of the first film when we revisited the world of ‘Inside Out’ for this second film,” says Deamer, who describes the new emotions:
- “Anxiety is orange with electric shape language – tense and shaky. You always see the whites of her eyes and her feather-like hair betrays her constant movements.”
- “Embarrassment is pink like blush with a soft and round shape to evoke his reticence and timidness. He’s a gentle giant, and unfortunately for him, he wants to hide but he’s hard to miss.”
- “Ennui has the posture of a limp noodle. She’s rarely interested enough to lift her own head.”
- “Envy is teal in color and a smaller, sprouting-mushroom shape to juxtapose against the rest of the cast. Naturally, she wishes she were taller and less childlike.”
Meet Anxiety
A bundle of frazzled energy, Anxiety enthusiastically ensures Riley’s prepared for every possible negative outcome. Protecting the new teen from the dangers she can’t see; Anxiety is determined to make sure Riley fits in with her high school peers at all costs.
Armed with meticulously organized lists and plans to make sure Riley never makes a mistake, Anxiety thinks ten steps ahead and isn’t shy about sharing worst-case scenarios. Anxiety knows she’s a lot to deal with but feels pushing Riley toward perfection means being that much closer to achieving her goals.
Anxiety plays a big role when it comes to Riley’s social game. Says Mann, “In an attempt to make sure that Riley is safe, protected and ultimately accepted by others, Anxiety pushes Riley to change. I think a lot of teenagers do that – I know I did. We shift who we are, morph a little to gain that acceptance. But should we have to change who we are to be liked?”
Story supervisor McKenna Harris insists that even if Anxiety is the antagonist, she’s not the enemy.
“From the beginning there was always this strong sense of wishing to tackle that battle against perfectionism that a lot of young girls face – that we all face,” Harris says. “We felt that anxiety can’t be all bad – it serves a purpose in our lives – so we treat Anxiety with empathy and compassion in our story to make sure that the character isn’t a classic film villain. She’s someone who wants the best for Riley.”
“Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, might be new to the crew, but she’s not really the type to take a back seat,” said Kelsie Mann. “That makes a lot of sense if you think about it in terms of what goes on inside all our minds.”
Maya Hawke lends her voice to Anxiety.
Meet Envy
Envy may be small, but she sure knows what she wants. She’s perpetually jealous of everything everyone else has, and she’s not afraid to pine over it. Envy’s wishful thinking and fascination with the newest, coolest thing pulls her attention in all directions and longs for what Riley doesn’t have.
Director Kelsie Mann says Envy represents the “I wish” feeling that teens know all too well. “We really lean into social comparisons at this age,” he says. “So Envy being tiny comes from the idea that she would always be wishing she was as tall as everyone else.”
Adds Nielsen, “Dr. Dacher Keltner, who’s a professor at Berkeley, a psychologist and an author, was a great partner to us for the first film and we workshopped with him extensively: jealousy came up a lot and ended up becoming Envy because nobody really wanted to spend time with jealousy as a character.”
Ayo Edebiri lends her voice to Envy.
Meet Ennui
Ennui is one of Riley’s new Emotions, and she couldn’t care any less. Bored and lethargic with a well-practiced eyeroll, Ennui adds the perfect amount of teenage apathy to Riley’s personality, when she feels like it. The best part? She doesn’t even have to get up off the couch – Ennui can work the console remotely using her mobile app.
According to story supervisor John Hoffman, Ennui will feel all too familiar. “It’s that every-teen feeling that you don’t care or don’t want to deal,” he says. “I could relate when I was a teenager. Ennui has that droopy noodle posture and she’s committed to her technology.”
LeFauve points out that even though Ennui seems to be checked out, she’s there to help their girl by providing a protective mechanism that allows Riley to downshift from high drama to none at all. “Ennui also serves an important function by building a little distance between Riley and her parents,” says LeFauve. “I know that’s not fun if you’re the parent.”
Adèle Exarchopoulos lends her voice to Ennui.
Meet Embarrassment
Embarrassment likes to lay low, which isn’t easy for this burly guy with a bright blush-pink complexion. Shy and decidedly quiet, Embarrassment is ready to flop onto the Headquarters console at the first sight of social awkwardness. Embarrassment is quiet to be sure and uses his hoodie as a built-in hiding place.
According to Hoffman, the largest Emotion may be shy, but he packs a punch. “Embarrassment is often an exclamation point to interactions Riley has with other characters,” he says. “But he really comes to life when his relationship with Sadness takes off. She really sees Embarrassment. There’s a kinship. Embarrassment is a very sensitive character and kind of an outsider like Sadness was in the first film.”
Paul Walter Hauser lends his voice to Embarrassment.
About Inside Out 2
The little voices inside Riley’s head know her inside and out – but on June 14th, everything changes. Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 introduces a new emotion: Anxiety. According to director Kelsey Mann, the new character promises to stir things up within headquarters.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She owns Mama’s Geeky, but also is a freelance writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for more than ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association. Her passion for film, television, video games, and comic books started when she was a little girl and has only continued to grow.
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