It’s official! After less than 8 weeks in theaters, Inside Out 2 has dethroned Frozen 2 as the highest grossing animated film of all time. You may be wondering what this means. It could mean a few things. It could mean that June 2024 was a convenient time for families to attend movie theaters. It could mean there was nothing else in theaters to compete with Inside Out 2. It could even be a coincidence. But there could be another theory. Let me explain.
In 2021 Disney released Encanto. Encanto was an animated movie about a Colombian family whose members all had magical powers or “gifts” that they used to help their community. However, there was 1 family member who did not have a gift and it was the source of turmoil amongst the family. Without giving too much of the story away in case you have not watched it, there was no traditional villain in this movie. There was no monster or bad guy. The movie truly tackled relatable issues that many families can relate to. It was about being accepted and loved unconditionally regardless of the gifts you have to offer. And this is one of the reasons it was so successful.
Now back to Inside Out 2. Inside Out (2015) was also extremely successful so it makes sense that its sequel surpassed it. And much like Encanto, it focuses on relatable aspects of life. Riley Anderson, the movie franchise’s main character, has the same emotions as any other girl her age. However Inside Out does an amazing job of personifying each of her emotions. There is Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear just to name a few. They each have their own personalities, triggers, and characters. And they are all necessary for Riley to navigate the difficult waters of childhood into young adulthood. This is a great concept for kids and adults alike. The idea of your emotions all being individual people can be integral in dealing with your emotions. They are not bad. They are what make us who we are, and they are all necessary. This is possibly what has made Inside Out 2 such a hit.
So, these examples beg the following question. Could today’s society be moving away from being inspired by the typical fantasies and fairytales that we all grew up with such as Snow White and Cinderella? Maybe people no longer care about kings, queens, princes, and princesses. And realistically the villains in our lives are not monsters and dragons like Cruella de Ville or Maleficent. They are not villains from other lands fighting to conquer our kingdoms.
Instead, they can be real people that we love like family members and friends. They are people we see on a regular basis like classmates and colleagues. Villains can be specific life situations. They can be circumstances and even our personal emotions just like Inside Out and Inside Out 2. Maybe conscious cartoons are turning things inside out. And maybe it’s for the best.
