The new Disney Pixar movie, ‘Inside Out 2’, is soon here and we at The Movie Clubhouse have gotten an early look at it.

The movie revolves around Riley and her emotions as she starts going through puberty. After her growth in the original movie she starts developing a self image of herself where she sees herself as a good person. Now the emotions aren’t the only ones in control but her own self image can act based on her own convictions. The night before she goes on an important hockey camp, she suddenly gets 4 new colorful emotions as she enters puberty: Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. The newer emotions decide that original emotions aren’t sophisticated enough for Rileys needs and bottle them up and throw away Rileys self image to create a new one. It's up to Joy and the other old emotions to retrieve her positive self image and save Riley from the new emotions.

Image courtesy of © 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The movie has a lot of creative humor mostly centered around puns which is a delight. Sometimes the jokes are just some small and subtle nods that you will find funny but in other scenarios the jokes are a little on the nose. At one point the emotions gets put in a bottle which makes fear scream that they are “bottled up emotions”. This is harmless and is probably more directed at the kids in the audience but as an adult it feels a little too obvious.

I absolutely adore the new emotions. They are all fun characters that move the plot forward. Although there are 4 new emotions it doesn’t feel too crowded. Anxiety is the story's antagonist who discards old emotions and takes control. Even though she plays the role as the villain she never really feels like a bad person and it is clear what her use is inside of Riley's mind. While the other emotions are portrayed as impulsive and basic, Anxiety is portrayed as an evolved version of fear that can plan for the future. Where Fear is afraid of emergent danger, Anxiety is afraid of upcoming issues. They make it evident in a believable way how Anxiety is useful but also how the older emotions are flawed. We also get to see how the other new emotions are useful although Envy could have used more development in my opinion as she is very one dimensional.

Image courtesy of © 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

When we follow Riley in the movie we see her go through a lot of teenage struggles. I think many will find this relatable and fun but there are some small things i would like to point out. Riley's earlier friends could have been given a little more attention in the movie. Riley is ignoring them to get new friends after she learned they were gonna leave her. I feel like we get too little time between her and her friends to actually get upset at Riley. At some level we understand that she is wrong in leaving them behind but they kept it from her that they were gonna leave her until the last possible minute and then they get upset at her because she tries to make new friends. I think the story still works well though.

Image courtesy of © 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The animation is really well made. The movie is a visual step up from its predecessor and it looks a lot more detailed. It is very interesting to watch the emotions since they sort of look fussy but on closer inspection it is clear that they are all made out of individual glowing orbs which look stunning. Along with the 3D there is even some traditional 2D animation mixed in. The flat art style is used for a dora the explorer-/blue's clues-esque children show character Bloofy. This looks very good although the character may feel a little annoying. They also make an attempt to capture the art-style of old video games in the character Lance Slashblade but i don't really think it does it too well. This is a minor complaint as a whole as the character is a relatively small part of the movie but it is worth pointing out. My biggest problem with the movie's visuals is not that it in itself is bad, because it isn't, but instead I just want to point out that there are a lot of other movies and shows that are more visually striking. When beloved and visually stylized movies like ‘Into The Spiderverse’, ‘Puss in Boots’, and ‘Nimona’ are released it is a little hard to feel impressed with Inside out 2 as it isn’t exactly any more different or risk taking than any of the other Pixar movies. Even in the risks it takes with characters like Lance I can directly point to the another character named Gwimbly from the relatively low budget show ‘Smiling Friends’ that succeeded to emulate the old PS1 graphics better then ‘Inside Out 2’ just a few months earlier.

Image courtesy of © 2024 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Aside from my minor complaints I think this is a lovely movie that a lot of people will like regardless of age. It is fitting for the whole family and in my opinion it outdoes the original with a wide margin. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see a heartwarming Pixar movie this summer.

RATING: 4/5