Inside Out 2 Originally Introduced Nine New Emotions

Four new emotions make their debut in the puberty-themed Inside Out 2, but the original plan was to more than double that number, completely overwhelming Joy (Amy Poehler) in the process. During a junket interview in support of the film — in theaters today — filmmaker Kelsey Mann said that the original plan was to have nine new emotions, which would not only make the control room feel pretty cramped but also create an air of chaos that seemed almost impossible for Jane to manage. Of course, the Pixar team were quick to point out that nine would also be overwhelming to the creatives involved with the movie and probably the audience, too.

“I started with nine new emotions showing up,” explained Mann. “It was ridiculous. There were so many. I wanted Joy to feel overwhelmed.”

“I overwhelmed her with all these new emotions showing up,” Mann told EW. “And not only did I overwhelm Joy, I overwhelmed the audience. There were too many. Anxiety was always there. She was one of the nine that showed up. But the first note I got was, ‘That’s fantastic, but there’s so much noise around her that you’re losing your focus.’ So, I ended up stripping it down to the emotions that we have now in the final film.”

Apparently, at least some of the other were drawn into a deleted scene, where they are essentially on the bench waiting their turn to come in. That presumably sets things up for a prospective third movie in the series, but also acknowledges that Riley’s journey isn’t over. This particular chapter, in fact, was apparently inspired by Mann’s own experience parenting a teenager.

“I think of Joy as a parent to Riley, and she even calls her ‘our girl,’” Mann said in the interview. “There’s a parental aspect to her, and I feel that too. When you’re a parent and you’re raising kids, there’s certain times where you feel like, Okay, I got this. Things are going all right. And then they hit puberty and they’re a teenager, and suddenly, you’re like, I don’t know anything. I don’t know what I’m doing at all. It’s like somebody switched the playbook on you, and you’re like, What team are we playing? And I wanted Joy to feel like that.”

Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone. Maya Hawke lends her voice to Anxiety, alongside Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Tony Hale as Fear, and Liza Lapira as Disgust. Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen.

The cast also includes Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, Lilimar, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Grace Lu, Yvette Nicole Brown, Sarayu Blue, Flea, Ron Funches, Dave Goelz, James Austin Johnson, Bobby Moynihan, Frank Oz, Paula Pell, Paula Poundstone, John Ratzenberger, Kendall Coyne Schofield, June Squibb, Kirk Thatcher, and Yong Yea.