ALMOST A DECADE AGO, PIXAR GAVE US A GROUNDBREAKING CLASSIC EXPLORING THE INNER-WORKINGS OF THE MIND. HOW ON EARTH DO YOU FOLLOW THAT ? AS THE INSIDE OUT 2 TEAM TELL US, THINGS GOT EMOTIONAL…

WORDS BEN TRAVIS

PETE DOCTER FINALLY FELT RELIEF.

For 2015’s Inside Out, the director had extrapolated personal experiences of parenthood and relocation into a moving, mind-melting adventure. Eventually arriving six years after being greenlit, it was instantly hailed a Pixar classic —the studio’s most emotionally intelligent work, in which intelligent emotions run amok in the head of youngster Riley. It delivered a whopping $858 million worldwide, won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, and was nominated for Best Original Screenplay to boot.

And then, Docter moved on. “I just said, ‘Alright, well that one’s done. Now, what’s next?’” the filmmaker-turned-Chief Creative Officer at Pixar tells Empire.

He wasn’t the only one feeling relieved. Amy Poehler, the voice of Joy —the chief emotion in Riley’s head, who’s forced to understand and embrace the role of Sadness (Phyllis Smith) in Riley’s life —was bowled over by the finished film. “It was super-emotional, and I felt so proud to be in it,” she recalls. “I still maintain it’s probably the best film I’ve ever been in.” And co-screenwriter Meg LeFauve never forgot the insane ambition of it all. “It was like writing a movie in an empty Apple Store, with no props, and nobody can leave,” she laughs. “Think about Nemo —at least let’s start in the ocean. There’s stuff in the ocean! But Pete was creating [Inside Out] out of whole cloth. As liberating as that is, there’s no foundation to stand on.”

Though Docter had moved on, Kelsey Mann couldn’t stop thinking about Inside Out. He had joined Pixar’s story team in 2009, and watched Docter spin his most ceaselessly imaginative film into existence. Once the credits rolled, its final line stayed with him: “After all, Riley’s 12 now,” says a confident Joy in Riley’s newly updated headquarters. “What could happen?”

“I wanted that question answered,” Mann tells Empire. “As an audience-member, I wanted the next chapter.” Being at Pixar, he had a unique opportunity to make it happen. Thinking of his own experiences of parenting older children, he started firing thoughts at Docter. “[Mann] said, ‘That film always spoke to me because, boy, my kids went through a lot of stuff,’” the studio head recalls. “‘And there’s more. There’s more!’”