Disney has announced the release of Inside Out 2, the sequel to the 2015 oscar-winning film Inside Out. The animated film stood out for its different approach on the collective human experience regarding emotions. The second installment set to release on June 14, 2024 will explore the protagonist Riley’s experience with puberty. The emotional beings inside her mind wreak havoc in this sequel with new characters hinted in the trailer such as Anxiety, Envy and Embarrassment– all feelings that adolescents can relate to during their development years.
Inside Out isn’t the only Pixar film to explore themes of puberty. When the studio released Domee Shi’s Turning Red post-pandemic in 2022, the film received backlash from parents due to its ‘mature’ commentary on the girlhood experience with menstruation. Turning Red originally bypassed theaters, but it has recently been confirmed to have a theatrical release in Feb 9 2024 alongside other pandemic-era films such as Pete Docter’s 2020 film Soul and Enrico Casarosa’s 2021 sea adventure Luca, with Soul debuting in Jan. 12 and Luca on March 22. These back-to-back three Pixar films lead up to Inside Out 2, which introduces new actors such as Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) who will portray the new character Anxiety, Tony Hale (Hocus Pocus 2) who will replace Bill Hader as Fear and Liza Lapira (Fast & Furious) taking the role of Disgust from Mindy Kaling.
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