Movie Discussion: Why Did ‘Anxiety’ Become 13-year-old Riley’s Main Emotion? (Inside Out 2)
While "Inside Out 2" story isn't much new, it has become a world-leading box office hit.
“Inside Out” (2015) drew sympathy from countless people by personifying the five emotions that everyone has into strong characters such as “Joy,” “Sadness,” “Fear,” “Anger,” and “Disgust.” As a result, it earned more than $850 million worldwide, and received the 88th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, becoming a globally recognized work.
Like its previous film, “Inside Out 2” consists of two worlds: the real world in which “Riley Anderson” lives, and the head world in which “Riley”‘s various emotions struggle.
In “Inside Out”, Riley had a conflict with her parents once as they moved far from her hometown, but she got through it well with the help of five emotions and has been growing up with a comfortable daily life since. However, everything changes as she turns 13 years old. Mission to overcome in a new environment is pouring out to Riley, such as making friends and joining the ice hockey team. In addition, Riley faces difficulties due to unfamiliar and complex emotions and struggles to adapt to the new environment.
Meanwhile, the emotion of “Anxiety,” along with “Envy,” “Embarrassment,” and “Ennui,” enters Riley’s emotion control headquarters. “Anxiety” is armed with a meticulously organized plan so that Riley never makes a mistake, always thinking ahead and considering various worst-case scenarios.
In particular, as a leader of new emotions, “Anxiety” believes existing emotions, including “Joy,” are considered not necessary in Riley’s life, leading them to be locked in for a new “Riley Operation” to be done in earnest.
“Inside Out 2” is Kelsey Mann’s first feature film. He has built his career by participating as a story supervisor in works such as Pixar’s “Monster University (2013),” “Good Dinosaur (2015),” and “Onward (2020).” The stories he made as a story supervisor have something in common that characters with completely different personalities showed the process of reaching harmony after conflict.
At the same time, he said that “Inside Out 2” was made by him thinking that it was an “original” work, not an “sequel.” Finally, after much research into changes in the brain of teenagers, Kelsey Mann said the staff came up with the idea of breaking down the ’emotional control’ headquarters and expanded the story.
As mentioned earlier, the main emotion of this work is ‘Anxiety’. Director Kelsey Mann said that the feeling of “Anxiety” is a representative emotion encountered by a teenager, and that “Anxiety” is set as the main emotion as it is an emotion that can elicit understanding and empathy from most people.
In addition, Kelsey Mann heightened the details of the story by observing his childhood experiences as well as the images of his children, aged 15 and 16, who are currently passing puberty.
