What a perfect sequel! Pixar’s “Inside Out 2”

4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS

Riley Anderson has just turned 13, and puberty is in full swing. Her emotional headquarters controlled by Joy and company (Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust) are shocked by the arrival of Anxiety and Envy.

(Click an image to scroll the larger versions)

4K screenshots courtesy of Disney/Pixar - Click for Amazon purchase

“INSIDE OUT 2”

4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 2024; PG for some thematic elements; Digital copy via Amazon Video (4K), Apple TV (4K), Fandango Home (4K), Movies Anywhere (4K), YouTube (4K)

Best extra: “New Emotions” featurette (Blu-ray & Digital)

WAS ANYONE surprised that Pixar’s sequel “Inside Out 2” became the summer’s box office champ?

Honestly, it wasn’t even a contest topping $1.68 billion, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time – but if you count adjusted inflation Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” still reigns at $1.97 billion. And “Inside Out 2” surpassed last year’s darling, “Barbie,” which hit $1.44 billion worldwide.

Our growing Riley Anderson (Kensington Tallman) is now 13, the Minnesota transplant to San Francisco, who is now only one movie year older than the conclusion of “Inside Out,” which premiered nine years ago. Her core emotions are fully intact: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) at the high-tech control center of Riley’s brain. But new characters, Anxiety (the terrific Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) make their bold appearance, pushing her old responses to the side.

(1) Riley (Kensington Tallman) celebrates her birthday with her Mom (Diane Lane) and Dad (Kyle MacLachlan). (2) Left to right, Fear (Tony Hale), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Joy (Amy Poehler), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black) view Riley’s “Sense of Self,” created by her memories and belief system. (3) Riley and her best friends Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green) produce a selfie. (4&5) Riley and her teammates celebrate their victory, making it a permanent memory. (6) High School Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown) invites Riley, Grace, and Bree to a three-day Hockey Camp for the best players in the region.

The story unfolds as Riley, with pimples and wild mood swings, is asked to a three-day hockey camp, with friends Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green) by high school Coach Roberts (Yvette Nicole Brown). “I had the idea of Riley being a teenager going through puberty and all the changes that come along with it,” says first-time feature-length director Kelsey Mann during the featurette “New Emotions.”

EXTRAS

This go-around Disney/Pixar slashes the number of bonus features compared to the previous “Inside Out” 4K/Blu-ray disc set. The enclosed Blu-ray includes the movie and two short featurettes (“New Emotions” & “Unlocking the Vault”) and five deleted scenes.

During the 12-minute “New Emotions” you’ll meet the psychology team of consultants Pixar hired for the project including Dr. Lisa Damour and Dr. Dacher Keltner. Originally Mann and his team of animators developed nine new emotional characters for Riley. “At this age, you’re suddenly incredibly self-conscious, and you start to look at yourself and compare yourself to others,” Mann says. Eventually, they narrowed the emotions to four and eliminated – Surprise, Suspicion, Guilt, Schadenfreude, and Admiration.

Also joining the conversation is voice actor Amy Poehler (Joy) who recalls her own teen experience. “That transition into being a teenager is kind of brutal,” she says. Story supervisor John Hoffman gives context to the new character Anxiety, who quickly becomes Riley’s pivotal emotion. Anxiety went through several “different evolutions,” says Mann. The final image includes weird limbs, with giant hands and feet and a big head. “She’s almost birdlike in a way, and everything she does is very fast, very twitchy,” says directing animator Amanda Wagner. While Dr. Keltner pinpoints the significance anxiety has on our emotions: “It alerts our attention and organizes our mind and focuses it on uncertainties, and that’s already important,” he says.

(1-3) Joy and Sadness take the hockey victory memory to the sub-basement to help create Riley’s “Sense of Self” and creates strands of her inter-voice, “I’m a good person.” (4) The puberty alarm goes off and Joy tries to turn it off. (5&6) Riley and her Mom have a classic teenager moment, “You’re always on me!” says Riley.

They also highlight the oversize character, Embarrassment, who wears a hoodie to hide his constant blushing. “As their brains become more complex … that comes with the ability to take the perspective of another person. And we see teenagers feeling embarrassed about things,” Dr. Damour says.

During the featurette “Unlocking the Vault” the creative team gathers for a conversation about the vault scene, where Riley’s repressed memories are collected. Three new characters are held in the vault: Preschool Bloofy, who’s drawn in traditional 2D animation, Lance Slashblade, the video game character Riley has a crush on, and Deep Dark Secret, a large dark character, who hides her most appalling secret.  

VIDEO

Since “Toy Story 4” (2019), Pixar has used the latest computer technically developed by Apple to render the computer animation in TRUE 4K. Compared to the 2K rendered and upconverted 4K of “Inside Out”, the resolution upgrade and detail is quite remarkable – especially with the wide shots. Also, the aspect ratio has changed to a much wider perspective from 1.85:1 on the original film, which was conceived for 3D viewing, to the more cinematic super widescreen of 2.39:1.

Disney still limits the encoding onto the smaller 66 GB disc, which constrains the maximum video bitrate, and also keeps the Dolby Vision HDR grading to the digital copy only, but the standard HDR10 grading is still top-notch. 

Colors are natural, with less red push on the 4K, while the Blu-ray tends to be slightly oversaturated, but still produces an enjoyable 1080p watch. 

(1&2) Riley, Grace, and Bree arrive at the hockey camp and Riley meets high school hockey star Valentina Ortiz (Lilimar Hernandez). (3) The players hit the ice to run lines after Riley, Grace, and Bree were caught laughing in the locker room. (4) The fast-talking Anxiety (Maya Hawke) introduces herself to Joy. (5) Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) wears a hoody to hide his face. (6) The bored and lethargic Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos).

AUDIO

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is quite active on height speakers with effects and cues from the music from Andrea Datzman, a longtime understudy of composer Michael Giacchino (“Up,” “Ratatouille,” “The Batman”), and the first woman to score a Pixar film. The bass response is deep and strong, while the dialogue is front and center with plenty of clarity. 

YOU CAN’T go wrong with this family favorite, which received 89 percent from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences pushed it to 98 percent.

The only negative is the high price you’ll pay to get the physical 4K in the U.S., which is only available in the more expensive Limited Edition Steelbook. Earlier this year, Disney signed over its U.S. distribution to Sony Pictures and previously sold two 4K editions of its animated films. One would be housed in the traditional 4K Ultra HD black case and cardboard outer sleeve at a lesser cost and the more expensive steelbook, which had been sold exclusively at Best Buy, who no longer sells physical media movies. The “Inside Out 2” Steelbook was sold at Walmart ($43.99 sold out), Amazon (still has copies but jacked up the price to $48), Deep Discount online (I purchased a copy for my grandsons with tax $40, but they’re sold out) and Barnes & Noble at the ridiculous $67.99.

The next best option in the U.S. will be the Blu-ray ($24.99) sold at many retailers or purchase the U.K. 4K version in a standard black case from U.K. Amazon $30 USD, plus $10 for international shipping.

— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer

---