Inside Out 2

Directed by: Kelsey Mann. Animation Adventure Comedy. Dur: 1hr 40mins.

We return 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, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And she’s not alone.

According to director Kelsey Mann, welcoming new Emotions into Riley’s mind was a no-brainer, so to speak. “I’d zeroed in on the idea of Anxiety being a major character,” he says. “It’s something that really starts to appear as we become teenagers—we can all relate. I remember doing a lot of research early on about what happens in our brains at this age that triggered this idea of a wrecking ball coming through Headquarters—a bunch of workers piling in and tearing everything down. It’s a renovation—that’s kind of what it feels like to be a teenager. It’s chaotic.”