Inside Out 2 Already Has Fan Controversy Over The New Emotions

Highlights

Inside Out 2 introduces four new emotions: Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. Fans have mixed feelings on their inclusion.
Some fans believe the new microemotions aren’t necessary, as they feel like duplications of existing emotions.
Despite debates, Inside Out 2 aims to explore new elements in Riley’s mind and provide fresh storytelling.

While Maya Hawke’s new emotion Anxiety has gotten the most attention, there are four new emotions in the Pixar sequel Inside Out 2 that include Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Riley Andersen (Kensington Tallman) is now a teenager navigating her daily life while wondering why things are so difficult, which is of course a common experience.

However, while Riley’s storyline feels like a necessary evolution since she is growing up, fans have some mixed feelings about the new emotions. Amy Poehler’s statements about Inside Out 2 are enough to make any fan excited for the Pixar sequel’s June 2024 release. But some fans aren’t sure why the new emotions were included and have discussed the reasons why they don’t feel as compelling or logical as the original emotions in Inside Out.

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Why Some Fans Have Critiqued Inside Out 2’s New Emotions

After the four new emotions in Inside Out 2 were announced, fans began debating whether they think that they should have been included in a Reddit thread. Fans have three main problems with these new characters. The first issue that was brought up? The new emotions are “microemotions” not “basic emotions.”

Redditor @tesseracts doesn’t think that Anxiety “serves a purpose” and noted that Envy is just Anger and Disgust and Embarrassment includes Fear and Disgust. The fan also thinks that if Anxiety was going to be featured, it should have been included in Inside Out since Riley must have been anxious in the past. She does seem to deal with anxiety as she remembers the happy times from her past and wonders if she will get those back again. It’s true that while there are several funny quotes in Inside Out, it’s a serious movie since Riley experiences a big move and confusion over her new surroundings.

Inside Out 2 Director	Kelsey Mann
Writers	Screenplay by Meg LaFauve, Jon Zack, Dave Holstein Story by Leslie Dixon, Kirsten Smith, Karen McCullah
Voice Actors	Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Tony Hale, Maya Hawke, Liza Lapira, Lewis Black, Paul Walker Hauser, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Ayo Edebiri, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLaughlan, Kensington Tallman
Release Date	June 14th, 2024 (United States)

The fan wrote:

” In the first movie there are no microemotions, there are only the basic emotions, and this is
t
rue for the other characters also. This makes sense, because Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust cover the entire range of human emotional experience…”

While it seems likely that Inside Out 2 will be a big success for Pixar, fans do have some strong opinions about the new characters. The Redditor added that the Inside Out ending proves that new emotions aren’t necessary. They wrote, “At the end of Inside Out, Joy and Sadness create a new emotion that is part happy and part sad, when Riley cries and her parents reassure her. This is a wonderful way to show her emotions becoming more complex as Riley transitions from childhood to adolescence.” It’s true that the ending of Inside Out wraps things up perfectly since Riley and her family are in a good, solid place.

Another Redditor thinks that the new emotions in Inside Out 2 are negative. Considering the heartwarming nature of Pixar movies in general and Amy Poehler’s Inside Out character Joy in particular, that is definitely something worth thinking about. The fan wrote:

“Only one is even remotely positive. Not to say that all of the four new emotions must be positive ones, but 1/9 just seems terribly pessimistic.”

However, while fans are unsure about these four new emotions in Inside Out 2, a fan did mention that puberty is a tough time that involves a lot of feelings at random times. It does make sense that a now teenage Riley Andersen would need new emotions given everything that she will experience.

How Many Emotions Are In Inside Out 2?

There are nine emotions in Inside Out 2. The returning emotions include Joy, Anger (Lewis Black), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). While Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader won’t voice the emotions Disgust and Fear, Liza Lapira and Tony Hale are voicing those emotions in the Pixar sequel. Then there are the four new emotions Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment, and Envy.

While fans have debated the new vs. old emotions in Inside Out 2, they were definitely included for a reason. It’s possible to argue that a sequel has to do something new, and that means adding in new characters. Since some animated sequels are better than the original movies, Inside Out 2 can be a box office success that also resonates with fans and critics, and it’s possible that the four new emotions have been worked seamlessly into the plot.

In an interview with Animation Scoop, producer Mark Nielson talked about doing something fresh with the sequel. Nielson said:

“The belief system is something we’re really proud of, and it’s a new element in
Inside Out 2
that’s one of those places in Riley’s mind that audiences have never been to before. That’s just one of the places we’re gonna be taking audiences to — many new unexplored places to visit in this film.”