On June 14th, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 hit theaters. It was a massive success, being the first animated film to reach $1 billion at the international box office within just 19 days of its release. It has maintained a tremendous 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and sits at a sturdy 7.8/10 on IMDb. It’s safe to say the movie is one of Pixar’s most successful. It is this author’s opinion that there’s more to its success than just being a good movie, and even more genius behind the details of its release.
Starting with the animation quality, Pixar Animation Studios magnificently portrays both realistic and flamboyant animation styles. The colorful characters and detailed designs help get the overall theme of each new and old character across. For example, Anxiety, the emotion mainly explored in the movie, has a very spindly and expressive design, making the viewer slightly uneasy when she is seen. Her movements are often fast and snappy, portraying the emotion of her namesake very well. The scenes often switch between reality and fantasy, which the animators more than keep up with.
One of the best aspects of Inside Out 2 is the star-studded cast of voice actors that bring even more life to the characters. Every single actor did their best work on this film, but since Anxiety is the main focus of this sequel, it is important that she is vocally portrayed with more finesse. This was done amazingly by Maya Hawke, known primarily for her role as Robin Buckley in Stranger Things. By all accounts, she is new to voice acting, but she still managed to blow this role out of the park.
Although these aspects combined made Inside Out 2 a major success, there is a detail that this author believes made it so popular with the older demographic; the date of its release. The sequel was released about nine years after the original film. That said, most of the children who watched the first movie have grown up with Riley, or at the very least, felt nostalgic about her story when watching the sequel. This emotional connection is what made this movie such a success, and a stroke of genius on behalf of Pixar Animation Studios.
These opinions are not just expressed by this author, however. Many students at BIC also have a good view of this movie. Kelly Mendez, a Junior, stated: “I felt really connected to Riley when she was trying to fit in with the popular girls. I think I haven’t really been a good friend to my friends as well, and when Riley went through that, it made me feel connected to her.”
It can certainly be said that Inside Out 2 was an amazing film, both in the money it made and how people felt about it when watching. The genius of this film will hopefully live on for years to come, for new generations to see.
