The story is based around a world where our basic emotions are personified by characters that excel in those emotions, so you have Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Anger (Lewis Black) and Joy (Amy Poehler) who has the hardest job of all reigning in all these potentially destructive emotions. Now it wouldn’t be a relevant story without the addition of some new emotions and characters that mirror our times.

Mirroring real life, anxiety (Maya Hawke) joins the party and really throws a monkey wrench into the proceedings as does embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) envy (Ayo Edebiri) and last but certainly not least ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos). These new emotions add to the war raging inside young Riley Andersen’s (Kensington Tallman) head. Riley is at that stage in life where those emotions can develop their strongest grip, the early teen years.

Even though Riley comes from a stable loving family she still falls prey to those conflicting and contradictory emotions. The film’s journey is about her finding the strength to put those wildly ranging emotions in check. This is done with consummate filmmaking skill and falls right into Pixar’s wheelhouse of amazing visuals and strong storyline ethics. If only life’s hard lessons could be this much fun in real life.
Rob Hudson
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Maya Hawke voices Anxiety, the previously announced new arrival bound to shake up everything in headquarters and beyond. A bundle of frazzled energy, Anxiety enthusiastically ensures Riley’s prepared for every possible negative outcome.

Envy, voice of Ayo Edebiri, may be small but she sure knows what she wants. She’s perpetually jealous of everything everyone else has, and she’s not afraid to pine over it.

Ennui, who’s voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos, couldn’t care less. Bored and lethargic with a well-practiced eye-roll, Ennui adds the perfect amount of teenage apathy to Riley’s personality, when she feels like it.

Embarrassment, voiced by Paul Walter Hauser, likes to lay low, which isn’t easy for this burly guy with a bright blush-pink complexion.

Additionally, Kensington Tallman lends her voice to Riley Andersen, who’s about to begin high school. Lilimar was called on to voice Valentina “Val” Ortiz, a high school hockey player who everyone, including Riley and her friends, looks up to. Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan return to voice Riley’s mum and dad; Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green and Grace Lu provide the voices for Riley’s besties; and Yvette Nicole Brown voices Coach Roberts, who heads up a summer hockey camp. The voice cast also includes 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
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According to director Kelsey Mann, the new character promises to stir things up within headquarters. “Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, might be new to the crew, but she’s not really the type to take a back seat,” said Mann.

“That makes a lot of sense if you think about it in terms of what goes on inside all our minds.” A trailer is now available for what promises to be the feel-good (or feel-everything) film of Winter 2024.

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, “Inside Out 2” releases only in cinemas Winter 2024.
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