Inside Out 2

 

Disney / Pixar's Inside Out was all eye-popping braininess in 2015, as it took audiences on a fantastic ride through a young girl's excitement and angst and she makes adjustments after her family moves from the Midwest to San Francisco.

The ingenious concept behind the Oscar-winning first film was the anthropomorphizing of young Riley's emotions -- Disgust, Anger, Fear, Sadness with Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) at the helm of the control panel in Riley headquarters. Joy keeps the others in line, tempering their destruction and offering insight into how emotions contribute to building Riley's sense of self.

In 2, Riley, voiced by Kensington Tallman, finds herself confronting puberty, preparing for high school and hoping to join its kickass hockey team. New teenager emotions arrive -- Envy, Ennui, Embarrassment and their boss Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke / daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke).

Anxiety sidelines Riley's Joy and other trusted emotions and commandeers the girl's thinking and responses during a hockey skills camp, during which she confronts darker sides of her personality.

Inside Out 2 is pretty heady stuff (pun intended), and I believe might be beyond the understanding of those younger than tweens. But, like its predecessor, it's a beautifully written extended metaphor that is brilliantly animated and contains an intriguing hint about Riley and a dark secret filmmakers aren't ready to reveal just yet.

We'll have to wait for 3.