'Inside Out 2': a psychological adventure

This summer, Pixar's "Inside Out 2" has undoubtedly been the season's standout movie. Despite only receiving average reviews in China, it has still managed to surpass 3 billion yuan (US$420 million) at the box office. Globally, by the end of July, the film had grossed US$1.462 billion, making it not only the highest-grossing movie of 2024 but also surpassing Disney's "Frozen 2" to become the highest-grossing animated film in film history.

Before this triumph, Pixar was affected by the failure of Disney's streaming strategy, and the much-anticipated "Lightyear" was a critical and commercial flop. News of a 14 percent staff reduction at Pixar further eroded public confidence in this pioneering animation studio. The unexpected success of "Inside Out 2" is thus significant for Pixar.

Nine years ago, Pete Docter's "Inside Out" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, garnering universal acclaim and winning numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and Annie Awards. So, what makes "Inside Out 2" resonate so deeply today?

In 2024, this film, which avoids pluralism and social issues in favor of a simple story about a teenage girl's growth, has struck a chord. How does it function as a psychological "healing" mechanism? Is watching the movie akin to a therapeutic experience? Does the film's depiction of emotional turbulence reflect our era's pervasive anxiety? How does Pixar consistently soothe our wounds and integrate our fractured lives?

Let's explore these questions further.

Unconditional Love from Our Emotions?

Pixar encourages creators to tell their unique experiences. For instance, "Turning Red" explores a young Chinese girl's first menstruation and her relationship with her mother, while "Elemental" delves into the cultural conflicts and familial expectations in East Asian immigrant families. Despite their excellent production and critical reception, these culturally diverse films failed to break new ground commercially. "Inside Out 2" eschews cultural uniqueness, returning to a familiar story about the growth of a North American middle-class white child. It sidesteps the complexities of reality to focus on psychological landscapes.

The plot of the "Inside Out" series is simple, even sparse. The first film dealt with the psychological upheaval caused by a family move. The second revolves around competition in an ice hockey team. Riley, the child, serves as the stage for the story, but the real protagonist is Joy, an emotion. She represents the archetypal "parental" love embodied in Pixar films.

The emotions in "Inside Out" are akin to the toys in "Toy Story," always serving and loving their "owner" unconditionally, even if it means sacrificing themselves. In today's tumultuous and fragile interpersonal relationships, these selfless emotional figures are idealized versions of parents and lovers, always prioritizing "you."

In the first film, Bing Bong, Riley's imaginary friend, sacrifices himself for her well-being. This echoes the ultimate selfless love, a projection of our ideal parents and partners. The scientific adviser for the first film, Professor Paul Ekman from the University of California, provided a guide for parents on his blog afterwards, emphasizing that Pixar's true audience is not children but emotionally troubled adults and parents striving to understand their children.

Thus, Joy and Sadness are not just "emotions," but embodiments of "perfect parents and lovers," representing unconditional love. How does the film achieve this?

A scientifically grounded scene in the first film shows Joy and Bing Bong accidentally mixing fact and fiction cards, symbolizing how we naturally blend reality and fiction. Movies, though fictional-yet-evoke real emotional responses, planting seeds of positive belief in love. Pixar uses cinema to provide large-scale public psychological integration, not just illusory happiness but a service akin to cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Moreover, beneath the surface, the story hints at harsh realities. If we view the mind as a mirror of the external world, its media environment is cinematic, its social structure hierarchical, and its cultural setting is Kafkaesque.

The "workers" in the mind

In the minds world, emotions receive and respond to external stimuli via a large screen very similar to a cinematic projection. The mind is also depicted using familiar cinematic and office settings. For instance, an amusement park from Riley's childhood becomes a cubicle office, simply symbolizing modern work environments and reflecting the animation industry's reality.

The "workers" in the mind are akin to those in "Cells at Work," forming a hierarchical society. Emotions like Joy and Sadness perform "high-level" tasks, while others, like cleaners and builders, are mere geometric shapes. These high-level workers are in a Kafkaesque world, they are born into an unending 24/7 work environment, their lives entirely defined by work, unable to resign, constantly working without understanding their work's true nature, echoing Chaplin's "Modern Times."

When Joy is thrown out of the office, her immediate reaction is to return to work. This relentless drive, despite the lack of tangible rewards, reflects the ultimate dedication to duty. This resonates with modern audiences, who, despite being work-weary, find a sense of mission and purpose through the emotions' selfless dedication.

Can Nostalgia Truly Overcome Anxiety?

"Inside Out 2" addresses Riley's adolescence but avoids the true complexities of puberty, focusing instead on anxiety, a universal theme in a competitive, efficiency-driven society. The film offers nostalgia as a counterbalance to anxiety. Nostalgia, like anxiety, is a powerful psychological motivator. The audience's nostalgic attachment to the first film, after a nine-year wait, is a significant factor in the sequel's success.

Pixar's use of CBT principles provides a comforting, nostalgic and future-oriented narrative. When viewers see their own struggles reflected in the film's characters, they feel understood and soothed. "Inside Out 2" not only revisits familiar emotions but also plants seeds of hope and understanding, making it a psychological balm for the modern age.

So we can say Pixar's "Inside Out 2" triumphs not just as an animated film but as a sophisticated psychological narrative, offering comfort and insight in a world fraught with anxiety and uncertainty.

(Writer Li Jingfei is a video artist, and senior lecturer at Shanghai Vancouver Film School, host of podcast "Ping Pong" focusing on book and film conversations, and main speaker of "On the Way to the Cinema," an audio program on Vistopia.)