One of the most highly anticipated sequels will premiere June 14th in theaters nationwide to kick off the summer of blockbuster movies. That film is the Pixar release of Inside Out 2. We return to the mind of Riley and her colorful and ambitious emotions which include: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust. However, as Riley has now reached puberty, she’s experiencing some new emotions that illustrate how chaotic it is to be a teenager.
Black Girl Nerds was invited to Pixar Animation Studios to interview the production team behind the making of Inside Out 2 which includes: director Kelsey Mann, producer Mark Nielsen and story artist Rebecca McVeigh. You can watch their interviews below:
I also had the opportunity to catch up with production designer Jason Deamer. Deamer began his career at Pixar Animation Studios in 1998 as a sketch artist on Monsters, Inc. He has worked as a character designer and art director on a number of Pixar films including Finding Nemo, Ratatouille and more. When discussing the look of the emotions in this sequel to Inside Out, his team wanted to make the colors look richer to show how they have evolved since the first film. However, there were some challenges in waiting 13 years to make a sequel. The technology used in Inside Out was non-existent and became archaic at that point by the time production on Inside Out 2 had started.
Did the new software help or hinder the production process?
“It hindered us in that it took a long time. We didn’t expect to have to spend much time on something. The new software is infinitely more helpful. It’s probably really simply speaking just of the rendering software. You’d have to build like a pager every week.”
When it comes to the shape and scale of the emotions, it does play an important role in how that image is translated on screen. According to Deamer, visual elements as well as shapes of intimate insight elements are things you can change to try to say something or communicate. Which connect broadly into what the story of Inside Out 2 is about. A story of Riley trying to communicate through these various emotions as well as these emotions communicating and connecting with each other.
And speaking of emotions, I had the opportunity to record my voice as one of the more notable emotions of Riley’s personality known as Joy, voiced by actor Amy Poehler. I was thrilled to be in the same recording booth as Amy and many of the other cast members of this film who have crafted together this magical film to add their own unique voice and personality to these emotions. Check out the video below to see my recording session as well as the final edit with me as Joy in Inside Out 2!
Inside Out 2 premieres in theaters nationwide June 14th.