If you didn’t get a chance to watch Disney and Pixar’s newest animated film, Inside Out 2, in theaters , don’t worry! As of September 25th, it’s now available to stream on Disney+.
I recently watched the film and I was very impressed by the story and the additional cast of characters. One of the biggest takeaways for me was the character, Anxiety, and how she left us with a impactful, relatable experience as an audience.
- Anxiety’s Characterization
- Anxiety Depicted in Inside Out 2
WARNING: SPOILERS DOWN BELOW!
Inside Out 2 was a tremendous success in theaters, grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Releasing 10 years later, this sequel takes place in the film’s universe two years after the original film, Inside Out, first took place. In the first film we were introduced to Riley, an 11-year-old Minnesotan girl who was undergoing a major move to San Francisco, CA.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to face this move alone. The film brings the audience inside her mind and introduced us to five colorful characters: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Fear (Bill Hader).
Just like in the first film, this second installment introduces a new dilemma: Riley, 13 years old, is on her way to hockey camp with her two best friends, when she unexpectantly finds out they won’t be attending the same high school with her. Left with this last weekend together, Riley must decide if she wants to prioritize spending it with her best friends or by befriending the older girls and impressing the Firehawks coach.
Little does Riley know, she has four new additional emotions driving her actions inside her head: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos).
These new emotions, led by Anxiety, soon overthrow the former emotions by literally “bottling them up” and locking them up in the Vault of Secrets. Wanting only the best for Riley, Anxiety forcefully creates Riley a new “Sense of Worth” by turning her back on her friends and obsessing with being welcomed into the new team. The film unfolds with the core 5 emotions battling to stop Anxiety’s total takeover and restoring Riley’s former “Sense of Worth” before it’s too late.
This film does an amazing job of portraying Anxiety, her character resonated with me the most throughout the entire film creating a sense of relatability.
Anxiety’s Character
Anxiety is shown as an orange emotion with an unkempt, volcanic eruption like dark orange updo, jade green eyes, wearing an orange and white-striped sweater with burnt sienna pants and belt, and laced up boots.
As her name suggests, she is the literal embodiment of anxiety, meaning she encompasses feelings of nervousness, tensions, stress, and anything else relating to anxiety. She is portrayed as being highly energetic, self-aware, extremely analytical, and a huge overthinker. She is an intense planner, as seen as she predicts and tries to avoid everything that go potentially go wrong for Riley’s future.
Look, we all have a job to do. You make Riley happy, Sadness makes her sad, Fear protects her from the scary stuff she can see, and my job is to protect her from the scary stuff she can’t see. I plan for the future.
– Anxiety explaining her purpose to Joy.
Anxiety only wants the best for Riley. Her ambitious, over-planning thought process and decisions are meant to help steer Riley in the right direction and avoid any future mistakes. Except, Anxiety’s overthinking causes Riley to hurt one of her best friends and have an anxiety attack, believing she isn’t good enough.
Anxiety is portrayed as the film’s antagonist, although Anxiety isn’t evil outright, rather she becomes a control freak and causes Riley to feel negatively about herself by constantly pressuring her to go against her former “Sense of Worth”. Anxiety goes so far as forcefully creating Riley a new “Sense of Worth” and enlisting Riley’s Imagination and making them draw up possible worse case scenarios about Riley’s future.
This hit home for me, as someone who actively struggles against my own anxiety, it often feels like I’m not myself at times and that I’ve become a negative version of my usual cheery self. My anxiety also feels like its enlisted my imagination and made it turn against me by making me constantly imagine terrible worse case scenarios.
In the film, we witness Riley struggle to fall asleep as a result which is very relatable. I often find myself having trouble falling asleep some nights, especially when I have something heavy weighing on my mind like Riley does with her hockey scrimmage the next day.
Anxiety Depicted in the Film
Anxiety is a well-written character. Deep down she’s a good person, and she doesn’t wish any ill thoughts on anyone. We actually see her excitingly, albeit, nervously greet Joy – remarking that she’s a huge fan. Anxiety also helps save Riley when Joy starts making poor decisions on her behalf when first meeting Val, from the Firehawks.
Anxiety’s only portrayed as the antagonist because she’s so adamant about Riley making all the right choices for her the sake of her future, that it’s actually producing unintentional negative results to the point where Anxiety seemingly freezes up in an anxiety-induced orange, panic whirlwind of her own making. Also, her bottling up and locking up the other emotions wasn’t very protagonist-like of her either.
At the climax of the film, due to Anxiety’s constant pushing, both her and Riley have an anxiety attack. Regretting her actions, Anxiety is scared to the point where she physically is incapable of doing anything except shed a fearful tear. I wanted to cry because I empathized with her so much in this moment. Anxiety never meant for any of this to happen, she’s finally became aware of the dire consequences her actions have caused Riley to feel.
Our own anxiety doesn’t want to harm us, it’s there to prevent bad situations from happening – but what it doesn’t realize is that it’s creating problems that don’t need to be problems. Our anxiety wants to control how we feel, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We are capable of being in control of ourselves. This is a lesson Anxiety from Inside Out 2 is taught by the end of the film by Joy.
You don’t get to choose who Riley is, you need to let her go.
– Joy talking to Anxiety
This quote sent shivers down my arm while watching Inside Out 2 and for good reason. It’s a powerful statement that not only reaches through to Anxiety and helps her finally calm down, but it also feels that Joy is directly talking to those in the audience who struggle with their own anxiety. It’s a message saying that we are more than our anxiety. We are worthy to be ourselves. Don’t let your anxiety consume you.
Inside Out 2 feels like a homage to everyone out there who struggles with anxiety. It’s a film that recognizes and respects that managing anxiety isn’t easy. Our cheerful emotion, Joy, realizes this for herself when she comes to terms that she can’t stop Anxiety.
I don’t know how to stop Anxiety. Maybe we can’t. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up. You feel less Joy.
– Joy talking to Fear, Sadness, Disgust, and Anger.
Anyone with anxiety knows how much this quote hits close to home. It’s sad but true, you can’t stop anxiety. There are healthy ways to navigate through it, but you can’t just get rid of it – it’s a part of you. Whether you like it or not.
Anxiety can lead to less joy or depression- this is why it’s so important to seek out the proper care and help you might need when thinking depressing or suicidal thoughts. You don’t need to face your anxiety alone. Whether it’s seeking out professional help or reaching out to a friend or loved one, please, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Final Thoughts…
Inside Out 2 was a phenomenal sequel that spoke up about anxiety and delivered an impactful, relatable message to its audience. Seeing Anxiety being depicted as a character and seeing her struggle and navigate her own anxiety tendencies was heartwarming, and gives hope to the audience.
Anxiety inadvertently drives Riley to create self-doubts that change her into a negative version of herself. Thankfully, at the climax of the film and with Joy’s support, Anxiety becomes aware of the harm she’s causing and lets Riley go – no longer dictating every decision for her. This ending message should resonate with every audience member. Our Anxiety doesn’t get to dictate who we are. We are free to decide for ourselves who we want to be. Remember you are more than your anxious thoughts.
Thanks as always for reading my blog post,
Jessica Mohan
WORKS CITED:
https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2024/06/13/inside-out-2-review-anxiety/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/23/movies/inside-out-anxiety-adults.html
https://thecosmiccircus.com/inside-out-2-review-pixar/
The Emerald Butterfly 
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