Making of ‘Inside Out 2’ panel: Pete Docter and creative team discuss ‘incredibly daunting’ task of making highest-grossing animated film ever

“‘Inside Out’ one was the most fun I had as a director,” reflects Pete Docter on the 2015 animated feature that directly led to the 2024 sequel, “Inside Out 2,” on which the Pixar Chief Creative Officer served as executive producer. He relished the opportunity to bring “those characters into the next phase” in the new film, including “finding different facets of characters that we thought we knew and then digging deeper and finding more about them.” Gold Derby spoke to the three-time Oscar winner as part of our Making Of “Inside Out 2” panel, alongside director Kelsey Mann, producer Mark Nielsen, screenwriters Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, and composer Andrea Datzman. Watch the complete video interview above.

Producer Nielsen reveals that the Pixar team “had no intention to go in and do a sequel” after they wrapped “Inside Out.” That calculus changed once he heard the response to the first movie from audiences out in the world. He shares, “I can’t tell you how many people approached me in that nine year period” between the films “to ask for a sequel to ‘Inside Out.’ It really connected and really hit people in the heart.”

“Inside Out 2” picks up two years after the original movie, in which 13-year-old protagonist Riley signs up for a three-day hockey camp before starting high school. While there, her emotions from the first movie – Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust, and Sadness – must confront new, more complex emotions, including Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment, and Envy.

WATCH our video interview with Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, ‘Inside Out 2’ screenwriters

To prepare to direct the new film, Mann went back to the archival material from the first film. “I watched every single screening and I went into the art folder and looked at all the production design that had been done for the film,” reveals the first-time feature director. He calls the task “incredibly daunting” because he was trying to find a “visual vocabulary” for the new dimensions of Riley’s mind. After taking the reins from Docter, he strived to bring a “sense of newness and being original” to the sequel.

Screenwriter LeFauve, who received an Oscar nomination alongside Docter for the original film’s script, explains that she, Mann, and Holstein “tried a lot of things for Riley to do” in the sequel other than hockey, including “a talent show,” because they wanted to “explore different facets of her.” That changed when they all realized “that we needed to isolate her… we needed to take her away from her parents,” who were so prominent in the first movie. Holstein adds that increasing Riley’s age by two years to 13 made a huge difference because it introduced the “theme of change” as well as some real “stakes.” He says they wanted to ask, “How can a three-day hockey camp mean the rest of someone’s life?”

Composer Datzman says her best work on the score for the film came “when you’re in play mode with the people that you’re creating with,” explaining that she enjoys not having “so much time to overthink.” While the writers, director, and producers continued to refine the plot of the movie, the musician really kicked into gear when she had the chance to see visuals for the first time “because you get a sense of the energy right away, the pacing.” She especially appreciates being able to “create a theme and throw it out if it’s not the right one.”

WATCH our video interview with Kelsey Mann, ‘Inside Out 2’ director

“Inside Out 2” has been incredibly successful for Pixar as not only their highest-grossing movie of all time but also the highest-grossing animated film of all time globally. Listen to the complete panel above for each creative team member’s emotional reaction to the commercial and creative success of the film, as well as some of the most clever brain word play that got cut from the final version, including “Procrastination Land” and the original emotions all “fishing for ideas.”

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