Inside Out 2 has become the big hit of 2024. With its combination of nostalgia, humor, and a story that develops the world of the 2015 classic, the long-awaited sequel became a mass phenomenon. Not only did it astonish critics by maintaining the identity of the first film. It also captivated audiences with a story that explores its characters with care and gentleness. The result is a tale that goes from tears to laughter with great ease. At the same time, it shows that Pixar still has a lot to tell.
What is included in adding in Inside Out 2 all kinds of references. From meta winks, to a series of tributes to its own universe, through to fun versions of great moments in pop culture. The truth is that the film is a curious journey through all kinds of visions of the cinematic world and its reinventions. Much more, a new example of the ingenuity of the studio’s creative group, to delve deeper in his best-known stories between novel twists and an original point of view.
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To demonstrate the above, we leave you three references to cinema that perhaps you did not see in Inside Out 2. From a loving nod to the new production of the house of the jumping lamp to a tribute to a fundamental man for children’s cinema. Everything you can find in one of the significant feature films of the year and everything it shows in one of Pixar’s most emotional plots.
A brief look at the studio’s next hero
Pixar often includes winks, private jokes and even the occasional mockery of cinema in general, but especially of its own filmography. What happened with Inside Out 2by showing various elements of the saga toy story and a friendly nod to the characters of Grid. The truth is that for the producer, It is of considerable relevance to make clear that the worlds they narrate are interconnected with each other.
But the most curious nod in the film to Pixar characters and films was the one that included a new project. Eliowhich will premiere in 2025, tells how a boy is chosen to represent Earth in other galaxies. That, in the midst of his surprise and clumsiness, for a position that will lead him to travel the cosmos and make one or another mistake.
For the occasion, Inside Out 2 showed a fleeting image that reminds us of the upcoming premiere. During the sarcasm sequence, one of the memory spheres briefly shows a boy. This is the next protagonist of Pixar, which appears amidst the rest of the memories scattered around it.
A113 and Terry Gilliam’s ‘Brazil’
The vault, which pays tribute to the design and animation students of the California Institute of the Arts, is one of the film’s most ingenious nods. It not only pays tribute to the talent behind the camera — and in front of the screen — at Pixar, but also to all the students who, at some point, occupied a place in classroom A113 of the institution. A recurring reference that the studio includes in a good part of its works.
But in Inside Out 2 has a second meaning. When the original group of emotions enters the vault for the first time, there is an overhead shot showing Riley’s stamp on the floor. It is an homage to one of the most iconic films of surrealism and dystopia — which includes the control of emotions — in the history of cinema.
In Brazil An identical scenario can be seen in Terry Gilliam’s film, when Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), an employee of a hyper-consumerist and dystopian society, enters the government institution where he works. The shot follows him and shows an official seal of an anonymous authority, in charge of subverting the will and keeping citizens subject to a greater will. You guessed it: Pixar’s creatives are also fans of auteur cinema.
A tribute to a figure from children’s cinema
This nod is not really to a film, but to an essential figure to understand part of the evolution, growth and great stories of children’s cinema. This is Carroll Spinney. The one who was the puppeteer of Big Bird in a good part of the productions, both on the small and big screen of Sesame Street.
Spinney was known for his good humor, candor, and especially his ability to bring his lovable personality to one of the iconic characters of the historic show. So Pixar is paying tribute to him in a way that is discreet but very obvious to fans. After Riley and his team win a hockey game, they stop by to get pizza. The box reads Spinney’s Pizza. A loving farewell from the studio to a definitive artist in cinema dedicated to children.
