Pixar Era Analysis – Inside Out 2
As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’ll be writing analysis content on all 28 of Pixar’s animated feature films and their film making eras.
The fourth era is the Personal Era, which is the current Era, and started in 2020 with Onward. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Personal Era is known for its film releases being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, its films being based on the personal lives of the directors and writers who were making them, and its varied animation.
So how did Inside Out 2 measure up to the above features of the Personal Era?
Release being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic:
Inside Out 2’s release was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was given a theatrical release, however its production began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Being based on the personal lives of the directors and writers making the film:
According to the film’s Wikipedia page, Kelsey Mann (the film’s Director) used his childhood experiences, as well as those of his daughter’s, for inspiration when co-writing and directing the film. Producer, Mark Nielsen, was also inspired by his daughter during the film’s production.
As well as being inspired by their own personal experiences, Mann and Nielsen also consulted with clinical psychologists to ensure that adolescent emotional and psychological development was portrayed accurately. They also consulted with a group of girls around Riley’s age, who were nicknamed “Riley’s Crew”, for feedback to ensure that the film accurately portrayed modern teenage life.
Varied animation:
According to the film’s IMDb page, animation for this film focused on and emphasised spatial consistency through isometric mapping, forcing animators to think beyond 2D animation.
A variety of animation can be seen in one scene in particular – the vault. The characters of Bloofy and Pouchy are 2D, Lance is 3D but pixelated to reflect his video game origins, and the main characters, as well as the vault itself, are 3D.
Joy’s plan to get back to headquarters via the Stream of Consciousness is shown in 2D and is more sketch-like.
My overall thoughts:
Full disclosure, I saw this film for the first time when it was released a year ago. I couldn’t wait to watch it as I loved its predecessor. When I watched it both a year ago and today for this blog post, it didn’t disappoint.
The crew’s choice to have the story focus on Riley going through changes due to puberty and moving on to high school was unsurprising, as the end of this film’s predecessor ended on this note and hinted that it would be territory that a sequel would explore. However, despite this somewhat predictability, I enjoyed the film’s multiple ways of exploring Riley’s growth between films and in this one: from the introduction of the additional emotions, to the exploration of how anxiety can affect a person both positively and negatively, to the introduction of a belief system and sense of self and how they are connected to emotions and memories.
Fun Facts and Trivia (from the film’s IMDb page):
- Anger has a small swear jar with coins in it, on the shelf next to his bed.
- Joy has a clay sculpture of Bing Bong by her bed.
- Envy is the only emotion who only has four fingers on each hand, the rest have five.
- ‘Ennui’ is a French loan word that combines the feeling of tiredness and boredom. The character, Ennui, is voiced by French actress, Adele Exarchopoulos. Exarchopoulos provided the voice of Ennui in both English and French.
- Inside Out ended with Riley playing hockey, this film starts with her playing hockey.
- This film is Pixar’s first film to be scored by a woman, Andrea Datzman.
References:
Loveday Writing 