‘Inside Out 2’ Director Kelsey Mann Worried He Wouldn’t Be Allowed to Do that Anxiety Attack Scene

Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann discusses introducing Anxiety as a character, that panic attack scene, and where Riley can go next in the Inside Out universe.

Despite his Minnesota upbringing, Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann doesn’t know much about hockey.

“If we went on the ice right now, I would fall,” says Mann with a laugh. “It’s a little bit of a shame I have, being from Minnesota, that I can’t play hockey or skate. Pete Docter, who directed the first film, he’s from Minnesota, too. He grew up just a town away from me, and neither one of us knows how to play hockey.”

Luckily, Mann surrounded himself with hockey fans to immerse audiences into the culture. He approached character technical director Tracey Roberts, an avid hockey fan, to help guide getting it right and even ended up naming Coach Roberts after her.

But just as Mann and his team wanted to depict amateur hockey in a proper light, they also wanted to ensure Inside Out 2 tackled anxiety in a fresh and accurate way.

Inside Out 2 New Emotions and that Anxiety Attack Scene

Inside Out 2 picks up with Riley on the brink of becoming a teenager, dealing with acne, raging hormones, and a new emotion named Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke).

One of the most affecting scenes in the film is when Riley has an anxiety attack during a hockey game. Mann says this was the last scene they worked on because they wanted to give it some extra attention.

“I’m so proud we were able to do a scene like that, especially in an animated movie. I’ll be honest, when we were thinking about doing it, I wondered, am I going to get in trouble? Are they going to tell me no? Inside Out is a wonderful world to play in because you can do a lot of good but if I don’t handle it right, it has potential to do harm and send bad messages. It was really important to me and the whole team that we get it right. Again, like with hockey, you want to surround yourself with experts.”

They enlisted professionals, like Dacher Keltner, a professor at UC Berkeley who worked on the first film, and Dr. Lisa Damour, a psychologist, author, and podcaster who provided insight into how the film portrayed anxiety and what was going on with Riley.

“It’s the emotional climax of the film, so it’s an important scene. A lot of departments went into making it happen. Camera, lighting, animation. [Screenwriter] Meg LeFauve said, ‘it’s like we’re playing three-dimensional chess.’ There are so many layers and stories going on simultaneously, and the movie works really well when they’re speaking to each other, versus having three separate stories going on. When they’re all connected, it feels really good.”

Inside Out 2 Riley and Valentina’s Relationship

Another new emotion in the film is Embarrassment. Feeling like her old friends aren’t “cool” enough, Riley ditches them to hang with Valentina, the older star player at the hockey camp.

Of course, there are online theories that Riley has a crush on Val, but Mann says that the relationship was never about love or even friendship: It was about how Riley saw herself.

“I wanted Riley to have someone she compared herself to and felt she came up short. This movie is all about Riley being really hard on herself, ultimately dealing with that feeling of whether or not you like yourself. When I was a kid, I really liked who I was, but then when you become a teenager, that self-awareness kicks in, and you’re incredibly hard on yourself. I wanted the movie to be about that. I haven’t seen that put on film! That’s where the character of Valentina came into play. It’s someone Riley wishes she was like.”

Inside Out 2 Final Scene and Expanding the Universe

Mann says that when he pitched the film, he had the last image of the movie already in his mind.

“I wanted teens and adults to be able to look at themselves in the mirror and love what they see, both inside and out. That was my initial pitch. So Riley staring at herself, seeing her flaws and all and still smiling and loving what’s looking back at her, that’s how I wanted to end it.”

But is it the end? Oh, the places you can go with Riley and the Inside Out universe! College years? Early 20s? Middle age?

“People cross their arms when you say you’re making another one. You have to earn the right to tell another story. I expected that reaction, but it’s not been crossed arms but open arms. I think it has to do with the Inside Out world. People want to see Riley’s whole life, and I think there are lots of opportunities for what we could do.”

Inside Out 2 is streaming on Disney+.