How Inside Out 2’s New Emotions Were Chosen (& Why 5 Were Cut) Explained By Director

Summary Director Kelsey Mann carefully selected Anxiety, Ennui, Envy, and Embarrassment as new emotions for Inside Out 2 to depict teenage self-consciousness.

The deliberate choice of just four new emotions allows the sequel to explore balance and dynamics of original characters in a teenage setting.

Inside Out 2's focus on adolescence and universal human emotions aims to resonate with viewers through a meticulously crafted narrative.

The Inside Out 2 team explains how the emotions were chosen for the sequel film. Following up the hit 2015 Pixar film Inside Out, Inside Out 2 follows protagonist Riley as she goes through puberty, experiencing a new slate of emotions that go along with that. Inside Out 2 is directed by Kelsey Mann and features a leading cast including Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Paul Walter Hauser, and Adele Exarchopoulos. It is set for release on June 14.

As per an Inside Out 2 press conference that Screen Rant attended, director Mann and producer Mark Nielsen explain how the emotions were chosen for the sequel. The team explained the process of selecting the new emotions, which did not come easily, as they were originally toying with nine different new emotions to introduce to Inside Out 2. The quantity of emotions was meant to make Joy feel “overwhelmed.” When told to simplify, Mann explained that she spoke with an expert, who directed her to focus on self-conscious emotions that typify teenagers. Check out the full explanation below:

MANN: But my first pass, my first screening that we did, nine emotions. Nine new emotions showed up. I really wanted Joy to feel overwhelmed by all of these new emotions that showed up. And I was like well, let’s have a lot show up. And then you couldn’t keep track. There were so many emotions and they all canceled each other out because you couldn’t keep up with everybody. And my first note from the first screening was simplify. NIELSEN: Too many ingredients. MANN: But yeah, there was a ton of emotions. And then we ended up like why did we end up with the ones we ended up with? First and foremost, I knew Riley was gonna be dealing with becoming a teenager. So, I’m like it’s gotta be the emotions that show up and drive at the console when we’re teenagers. And I remember meeting with Dacher Keltner. He’s a professor over here at Berkeley and he was our emotional expert on the first film. So, I brought him back in when it was just me by myself in development. I brought Dacher in and I had a list of emotions. And he saw them over my shoulders. I had written them all down on the wall and he’s like what are those? I go, oh, those are the new emotions I’m thinking about options of what I can do. And I go which ones feel right for a teenager? And he goes, he looked at the list and he’s like it’s all the ones that are the self-conscious emotions. All the ones, at this age, you start, we’re hard wired at this age to start to become really self-conscious. And in part we’re doing it because when you’re a kid, you’ve got your parents and your caregivers taking care of you. And eventually, you’re gonna have to take care of yourself. And that’s why we’re hard wired to like push our parents and our caregivers away is so that we can become independent people that can take care of ourselves. And so that’s why you worry so much about what you all are thinking of me. How do I fit in? Do you like me? You know, it’s all about fitting in at that age. And it’s part of our design of who we are because if you don’t like me, you’re gonna banish me and I’m gonna go out into the woods and die alone. And so, that’s why we kind of worry so much about what others think about us at that age. And it kinda turns on and it kinda never goes away. You kinda have to manage it, which is a big reason why I’m making this movie. So, that’s why we ended up going towards the emotions that we have in the film now.

Which Emotions Were Chosen For Inside Out 2?

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Mann’s explanation of how the Inside Out 2 characters were chosen makes it clear that the story was plotted out methodically and intentionally. Mann and her team carefully crafted a story that will, if its intentions are well executed, catapult viewers into the mind of a teenage girl like Riley. The director’s point that the worry about judgment “kinda turns on and it kinda never goes away” is also an astute point towards Inside Out 2’s theme. The Pixar film is not just about Riley, nor about the teenage experience, but a universal tale of human emotion.

In order to capture these themes, the Inside Out 2 team chose just four new emotions: Anxiety, Ennui, Envy, and Embarrassment. While settling on four emotions avoids the audience being inundated with too many emotions in the film, the Inside Out 2 trailers make it clear that the quartet is still dominant in this teenage brain. Embarrassment and Anxiety take the stage away from Joy and the other emotions, and even cause the original set of emotions to become, literally, bottled up.

Related Inside Out 2 Brings Back The Most Underused Part Of Pixar's Original 2015 Movie The trailer for Inside Out 2 reveals that the 2024 animated coming-of-age movie is bringing back one exciting element from the first film.

By introducing this highly intentionally-laid-out set of new emotions, Inside Out 2 will be able to strengthen the dynamics of the existing characters while introducing new variables. Unlike the first film, which tracked Riley in a period of transition as her family experienced moving, Inside Out 2 will focus more strictly on her budding adolescence. Hopefully, Mann and the team have achieved this with a good sense of balance, as new emotions are introduced in Inside Out 2.