When “Inside Out” was released in 2015, it was such a breath of fresh air. Pixar’s track record had been solid for years, but after a few misfires, they were back and better than ever. To think of such a genius premise and execute it so cleverly, made Inside Out an instant classic. The world it created of young Riley’s mind, populated by the five core emotions – Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear – was a lot of fun.
With Inside Out 2, Riley is now a teenager, falling into
puberty and trying to make sense of her life. The five emotions are running
things fairly well, but as Riley changes so does her mind, and cue four new
emotions – Embarrassment, Boredom, Envy and Anxiety.
Anxiety wants to take full control of Riley’s life, as she
navigates her way through hockey camp, new friendships and trying to be liked
and successful.
Everything you love about the first film is back, with a few
new surprises in terms of the ever expanding world of Riley’s mind. The
references, environments and set pieces are clever and funny.
What I love about the first film was its creative and respectful way of exploring the topic of emotions. Joy learns she couldn’t have full control and Sadness was also important to Riley’s mind, and their own experience running her mind. When Anxiety comes along in Inside Out 2, she really upsets the apple cart. She means well, but her own anxiety creates anxiety in everyone, and she becomes controlling, obsessive and has to do everything her way. This really puts Joy out, and her and the original gang of feelings have to fight their way back to Headquarters and set everything right
Pixar have really done it again, giving us a film that is entertaining first and foremost, but also explores the important issue of anxiety. Whether that’s a 13 ear old girl feeling anxious about hockey try outs, or anyone feeling anxiety for that matter, it can happen to us all. Sometimes, a little anxiety is okay, as it can be the quick whim of motivation to get you to do something you’ve forgotten about. But when it’s running the show, it’s not good for us, or anyone for that matter. Riley learns this, and the emotions learn it too.
How lucky are we in today’s movie making world that the good
folks at Pixar are brave enough and smart enough to make movies like this, that
deal with a topic that has been shunned and swept under the rug for many years.
Here, it is explored in a respectful way and made understandable for kids, and
relatable for parents, so families can sit down and talk about it afterwards.
And when it comes to anxiety, it should always be talked about, no matter when,
where or how.
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