A FRESH LOOK AT HOME ENTERTAINMENT

WITH INSIDE OUT 2, PIXAR’S SLUMP OFFICIALLY ENDED — AND ALL-TIME RECORDS WERE SHATTERED. DIRECTOR KELSEY MANN REFLECTS ON ITS RUNAWAY SUCCESS

WORDS BEN TRAVIS

EDITED BY CHRIS HEWITT

DECEMBER 2024

Joy (Amy Poehler) welcomes Anxiety (Maya Hawke).

IT’S UNDENIABLE: INSIDE Out is emotional dynamite for audiences. Pete Docter’s lauded original made $858 million in 2015. Against all the odds, follow-up Inside Out 2 almost doubled it, raking in more than $1.68 billion. More importantly, it delivered a compelling continuation of young Riley’s adolescence, introducing brand-new emotions in her mind —including Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui —as puberty kicks in, and social pressures cause newcomer Anxiety to overhaul her HQ.

It was a colossal hit, just when Pixar really needed one —post-pandemic, when several Pixar features debuted directly on Disney+, the likes of Lightyear and Elemental struggled to make a cinematic splash. Now, the studio boasts the highest-grossing animated film of all time. For filmmaker Kelsey Mann, it’s a result beyond anything his wildest dreams —or anything Dream Productions in Riley’s mind —could have conjured up…

Inside Out 2 is the biggest film of the year so far — and the biggest animated film of all time. I can’t imagine anyone but Joy being at your console today.

I am blown away, even hearing you say that out loud. It still feels like a dream. It’s hard to make these movies. Every Pixar movie takes years, and hundreds of really talented people. I was happy to get it done. It’s a little bit like taking the lessons of the movie: I can’t control what people think, and how they react to it; all I can control is making the best movie I can. And then it’s up to everyone else. It was freeing. I let go. To have it be so embraced and have it be so meaningful to people, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.