The creators at Pixar really know how to tap into their audience’s emotions and there is no greater evidence of that than INSIDE OUT. The 2015 film which was beloved by critics and audiences alike and won the Academy AwardⓇ for Best Animated Feature, was about an 11-year-old girl named Riley – voiced by Kaitlyn Dias – and how her personified inner feelings try to help her cope with recent changes in her life.
It looks like the animation studio is ready to tackle another chapter of life and all the new emotions that come with it in a follow-up tentatively titled INSIDE OUT 2. Very little is known about what the story of this sequel will entail, but we can fill you in on all the major details that have been confirmed to prepare you for when it comes to AMC Theatres.
Inside Out 2 Comes Out In 2024
It will have been nearly a decade since the original INSIDE OUT was released when Pixar will invite audiences back into the world that exists in Riley’s head in the sequel. As Variety reports, it was announced during the 2022 D23 Expo in September that INSIDE OUT 2 has been greenlit and is currently set to open on Friday, June 15, 2024.
The sequel will follow 2022’s LIGHTYEAR and the upcoming ELEMENTAL from 2023 as the animation studio’s third theatrically released feature following a string of Disney+ exclusives. The OscarⓇ winner SOUL from 2020, 2021’s LUCA and fellow 2022 release TURNING RED were among the Pixar movies distributed on the streaming platform.
Riley Is A Teen Now
As seen through the eyes of Riley, the first INSIDE OUT explored common struggles that the audience could easily relate to, especially young people. Well, those younger fans have since grown older and so has the film’s protagonist.
INSIDE OUT 2 will explore common struggles associated with one’s teenage years and will once again be told from the perspective of Riley who has entered this new phase in her own life. Of course, she will, luckily, not be alone on this journey.
Amy Poehler Returns As Joy
Once again, Riley – whom Kaitlyn Dias is reprising in INSIDE OUT 2 – will have a little help coming to terms with her personal problems from her own inner emotions, including Joy. Emmy nominee and former “Saturday Night Live” star Amy Poehler, who officially announced the sequel was in development at D23, is coming back to voice the personification of Riley’s happiness.
The original INSIDE OUT cast also included Phyllis Smith of “The Office” fame as Sadness, Bill Hader as Fear, Mindy Kaling as Disgust and Lewis Black, who was perfectly cast as Anger. There is no official word at the moment if these actors are reprising their roles in INSIDE OUT 2, but we do know that other new emotions are slated to appear that have yet to be announced.
Kelsey Mann Will Direct
The original INSIDE OUT was one of three films that earned Pixar veteran Pete Docter an Oscar, along with 2009’s UP and the aforementioned SOUL. The movie was also the feature-length directorial debut for his co-director, Ronnie Carmen, and the sequel will also be helmed by a first-time feature director, but as a solo affair.
Helming INSIDE OUT 2 is Kelsey Mann, who will have been working in animation for two decades by the time the film is released. Some of her most notable credits include “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” as a storyboard artist, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” as a 3D story artist and movies like MONSTERS UNIVERSITY and ONWARD as a story supervisor.
Meg LeFauve Writes The Sequel
The Academy Award-nominated screenplay for INSIDE OUT was written by Meg LeFauve in collaboration with Josh Cooley and Pete Docter, from an original story by Docter and Ronnie Carmen. LeFauve is returning to pen INSIDE OUT 2 on her own.
Her previous, most notable screenwriting credits for animated movies include another Pixar original from 2015 called THE GOOD DINOSAUR and 2022’s MY FATHER’S DRAGON – a Netflix film from another Oscar-nominated animation studio called Cartoon Saloon. LeFauve also helped write the story for one of Disney’s biggest live-action hits in recent years, CAPTAIN MARVEL from 2019.
Will INSIDE OUT 2 turn Riley’s world upside down and change the way audiences think of Pixar movies forever? Just wait until it comes to an AMC Theatres location in near you in 2024 to find out.
