Spoiler alert! We’re going to give you some important plot details and endings from Inside Out 2, the new Pixar animated sequel, if you haven’t seen it yet.
Sometimes we just need a little help from others, even if they are the very embodiment of our insecurity.
In Inside Out 2, anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) appears alongside other new emotions in the mind of just-turned-13-year-old Riley. As a stressful hockey camp turns into an internal battle for the girl’s sense of self, anxiety “suppresses” her core emotions — Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Lisa Lapira) — and sends them deeper into Riley’s brain. Those emotions return, while anxiety is left unchecked, doing more harm than good as Riley abandons her best friends in a desperate attempt to impress her coach.
Anxiety “puts a lot of energy into how to solve the problem and realizes that her own toolkit isn’t enough, that she needs a team and she needs to work together,” Hawk says. “The end goal that she looks at is, ‘How can I help Riley get everything she wants?’ But happiness doesn’t necessarily come from getting everything you want. Happiness comes from working to get what you want in a healthy way.”
Director Kelsey Mann explains the ending, the post-credits scene, and what Inside Out 3 will look like.
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How does Pixar’s Inside Out 2 end?
During a crucial practice game at camp, Riley feels intense pressure to perform and is sent to the penalty box. She has a panic attack, and inside, her anxiety is driving her into a frenzy, leaving her standing at the console in the middle of a storm of emotions. Joy goes to her anxiety and tells her to “let it go,” which helps Riley calm down enough to finish the game and reconnect with her friends.
Munn reveals that the climax evolved during the making of Inside Out 2: “There was always this point where Anxiety would take over and get out of control,” but it wasn’t until later in production that it became clear that she was part of the solution, that Anxiety loved Riley as much as Joy did. And it became a bit of a life lesson.”
“It’s two parents arguing about how best to raise a child,” Mann said. “She’s trying to help Riley, but she goes too far and gets caught up in this, which we all get caught up in as parents and as people. And like anxiety, our anxiety can go in circles. I’ve been through that in my own life. It can get to the point where it actually does harm.”
“So learning ways to deal with anxiety can really benefit you in life.”
Will Inside Out 2 have a post-credits scene?
Yep, and it pays off in a funny scene introduced at the beginning of the movie. When Joy and friends are locked in a vault that contains things Riley doesn’t want to think about, they meet Riley’s Deep Dark Secret, a big grim reaper-like man dressed in black. He doesn’t reveal his true identity at the time, telling Joy, “Not yet.” And the movie ends with it casting a shadow over the story, at least until the end credits scene. Joy returns to find out what the secret is, and he finally reveals that Riley once put a hole in her parents’ carpet. “That’s it? I thought you meant the time you peed in the pool,” Joy says. Deep Dark Secret responds with a look of surprise and sneaks into the vault. “And then he’s gone,” Joy sighs.
The epilogue was added to the film at the last minute, after test audience screenings had finished, Mann said: “I’d always liked the idea of leaving a little mystery in Deep Dark Secrets and letting the audience debate what the secret was. But the more we showed it, the more people wanted to know what it was.”
How old will Riley be in Inside Out 3?
The final scene shows Riley in high school, hanging out with his hockey teammates, getting good grades, and on the verge of joining the Firehawks. All nine emotions play out well. While a third movie is still on the cards, Riley’s high school years open up a whole host of possibilities, including romantic relationships, first loves, friends and rivals, and getting a driver’s license.
“There’s something about the Inside Out world that’s so welcome. People are like, ‘How old is she? Where is she in her life right now? I can’t wait to hear about it,'” says Mann, who already has a “heap of ideas” cut from the second film. “They’re just too good and too funny and too interesting not to use. So I don’t know what the future holds, but it should continue because I think that’s something that audiences really want.”
