How Filmmakers Made INSIDE OUT 2 2024’s Biggest Hit
By Movieguide® Contributor
INSIDE OUT 2 was a huge hit last year, becoming the first animated film in history to hit $1 billion. The story focuses on 13-year-old Riley who navigates her emotions as a teenager.
In a recent discussion with Variety, Director Kelsey Mann, producer Mark Nielsen, writers Dave Holstein and Meg LeFauve and composer Andrea Datzman shared some behind-the-scenes thoughts on the box office hit.
LeFauve shared, “Pixar is about iteration, so not only do you have a story that’s working on three different levels, it’s working up with Riley having her own storyline going with its world rules. You have headquarters, then you have Joy down in the mind. So, it’s like three-dimensional chess to write that.”
Holstein shared that one thought behind the creation of the story was “What does it feel like to be replaced? We take for granted the fact that Joy is the main character and always driving in these films, but that might not be reality. For me, what works about this film is that it is a very fun, LOONEY TUNES-driving force for about 70 minutes and then you realize, ‘Oh, it’s about something very serious.’”
So serious in fact, that creators of the film surveyed teenage girls between ages 13 through 16 to give their thoughts on the film and share their input.
“For Mann, it was important for ‘teenagers today to be able to look up at the screen and say they got that right,'” Variety said.
Movieguide® praised INSIDE OUT 2’s family-friendly values.
INSIDE OUT 2 is a marvelous, family-friendly animated movie. The movie is delightful, funny, inventive, and heartwarming. It has many positive messages. For example, it promotes “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10c) and doing the right thing, controlling your emotions and not letting anxieties overcome your decision making. INSIDE OUT 2 also promotes kindness, friendship, repentance, and forgiveness. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children for scenes of peril and a large scary-looking but nonthreatening character. Unlike other recent animated movies, INSIDE OUT 2 doesn’t have any woke or politically correct content.
READ MORE: INSIDE OUT 2 REVIEW
The movie boasts the No. 1 spots at the 2024 domestic and worldwide box offices, grossing $652,980,194 and $1,698,778,437, respectively.
“To have the response be what it was for this film was beyond what I had hoped for,” Mann said. “I hoped that people would go to the theaters and see it. And man, did they show up. It was apparent from that first weekend that people were excited to see the next chapter in Riley’s life. And it was amazing.”
READ MORE: DISNEY’S 2024 FAMILY MOVIES RULED AT THE BOX OFFICE
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