Psychologist explains the science behind Inside Out 2's complex emotions
- The family-friendly animation achieved rave reviews when it hit theatres in June
- Now, a psychologist has analyzed the emotions portrayed within the film
- READ MORE: Inside Out 2 scores record-setting box office with $100 million
An expert psychologist has detailed the science behind the emotions depicted in new film Inside Out 2.
Heather Lench is a psychologist who teaches at Texas A&M University in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
She has now taken a deep dive into family-friendly animation Inside Out 2, which hit theatres on June 14.
In a piece for Psychology Today, Heather lifted the lid on the circumstances in which fear, anxiety and envy could present themselves - based on two key scenes from the movie.
She explained that the film, which see the various emotions running the mind of the main character, 'poignantly captures the chaos adolescents often experience in their emotions, with often overwhelming new feelings seeming to appear out of nowhere.'
An expert psychologist has detailed the science behind the emotions depicted in new film Inside Out 2
In the first film, the emotions joy, sadness, disgust and fear exist.
But, by the second movie, the main character has grown up and now deals with further emotions such as anxiety, embarrassment and nostalgia.
The psychologist noted that complex feelings - such as those shown in the film - arise in various circumstances and are often learned through social settings.
Heather Lench is a psychologist who teaches at Texas A&M University
Discussing anxiety, she shared: 'Anxiety is considered a response to threats that are not certain, often tied to thoughts about the past and future.'
The psychologist added that fear and anxiety tend to heighten when thinking about the future or past events.
The expert noted that one scene, which sees a wrecking ball crashing into the world of the current emotions, shows that emotions are constantly developing.
She explained that while these feelings, which she called 'secondary emotions,' could be 'completely learned,' experts are still trying to get to the bottom of all there is to know about complex emotions.
Heather added: 'Some people might learn to pair thoughts about uncertain threats with fear-anxiety, some might learn to pair thoughts about uncertain threats with other emotions, some might not have an emotion to uncertain threats at all, and some might have a unique emotional response unshared by other people.
In a piece for Psychology Today, Heather lifted the lid on the circumstances in which fear, anxiety and envy could present themselves - based on two key scenes from the movie
'To address emotional distress, treatments would need to focus on learning processes and "re-learning" associations between thoughts about uncertain threats and responses.'
Pixar's Inside Out 2 took the box office by storm when it was released, raking in an impressive $100 million in its second weekend.
The film scored the biggest second weekend of all time for an animated film and the seventh-biggest among any film with ticket sales dropping by only 35 per cent following its incredible $154 million debut.
It's rare for movies to generate $90 million or more in their second weekend.
Barbie was the most recent film to achieve this milestone, pulling in $93 million in the summer of 2023.
Inside Out 2 even surpassed the $90 million opening weekend earnings of its predecessor, 2015's Inside Out, in just its second weekend.
The psychologist added that fear and anxiety tend to heighten when thinking about the future or past events
The film also passed up Dune: Part Two to become the highest-grossing film of 2024.
Kelsey Mann directed Inside Out 2, which picks up with protagonist Riley as she turns 13.
That means the arrival of new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke) and Envy (Ayo Edebiri) to Joy's (Amy Poehler) party.
It got glowing reviews from critics - 92 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes - and polled audiences who gave it an A CinemaScore.
Inside Out 2 is estimated to have cost around $200 million to produce, which does not account for the millions spent on marketing.
