Some of the Easter Eggs and Fun Facts that I put together after watching the new Inside Out 2.
I will add more as I learn them. Some facts don't have images.
When the emotions are shown waking up in bed, a paper origami version of Bing Bong can be seen next to Joy’s bed. It is the image of what he looked like when they abstracted in the first movie. This is Joy’s way of keeping Riley from forgetting him like she promised. His song-powered rocket ship wagon is there also.
On the wall above Riley’s bed is a poster for 4 * Town, the band from Turning Red. According to production designer Jason Deamer, it is a reunion tour poster.
The number on the wall above the vault where the gang was imprisoned while in the jar was ACXIII. These are the Roman numerals for A113, the classroom where animators learned before going to Pixar. The C represents 100, the X is 10, and the III is three.
Lenny, the binoculars from Toy Story, are used so Sadness can see the new Family Island.
Riley’s Fog Horns jersey says she is #28. Inside Out 2 is the 28th Pixar film.
After being absent from Soul, Luca, Turning Red, and Lightyear, John Ratzenberger makes his cameo return as Fritz, the construction work with the crane on the opposite side of the sar-casm.
Riley’s Bay Area Skills Camp jersey says she is #15. Inside Out is the 15th Pixar film.
An obvious one would be the multicolored shirt she tries to wear, which is too small and doesn’t fit her. She wears it in the first movie. The colors on it represent her original emotions, symbolizing that she has also outgrown her core emotions.
Down in the Belief System, when Joy and the others wash up, one memory orb floating by is a memory of when Riley stole her mom’s credit card in the first movie.
The shirt Riley wears to bed is from her dad’s work. It is possibly one of his old ones. He wore one like it in the first movie. This one is worn out, but you can still read “Brang” on the front.
Bloofy is an amalgamation character of Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues.
The character of Lance Slashblade was inspired by Cloud Strife from the Final Fantasy video games, produced from 1987 to the present day. This iteration of him is from the early 2000s.
The two subconscious guards, Frank and Dave, return from the first movie and chase after the escaped emotions. In the first movie, they were fighting over a hat. Here, we see that the inside of the hat does say “My Hat.” They are voiced by Frank Oz and Dave Goelz, the voices of Miss Piggy/Yoda and Gonzo. Frank voices Dave and Dave voices Frank.
While Bloofy is singing his song, for a brief moment, his ears fold up to make mouse ears, making it appear as if he is wearing a Mickey Mouse hat.
When Anxiety looks through the possible future outcomes drawn by the mind artists, she says, “Okay, let’s go to number three.” Two screens below show Riley walking with a boy, but he is looking back at Valentine. This was drawn as a nod to the famous “Distracted Boyfriend” meme.
When Joy tells Sadness she must return to headquarters by climbing the tube, she responds with “Oh noooo.” This is a nod to the “Oh No” meme that was taken from War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) when Bad Ape had to climb up through a hole and said the same thing.
While the girls are hanging out and eating pizza, you can see that the pizzeria's name is Spinney’s Pizza. This is a nod to Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer for Big Bird, and Oscar the Grouch in Sesame Street, who passed away in 2019. A banner for the pizzeria can also be seen on the ice rink wall. Big Bird was one of director Kelsey Mann’s favorites growing up.
Riley’s Mt. Crushmore uses the face of Jordan, the boy she met at the end of the first movie, who later appeared in the short Riley’s First Date when Riley was 12.
Joy’s bunk bed area is decorated like the area around Riley’s bed with string lights, glow stars, and a little nightstand light.
Artist #87, the one who drew Riley with an orange and white cat for Anxiety, was modeled after Ralph “Eggman” Eggleston. He was the production designer for the first film but passed away in 2022. Eggman Movers in Toy Story (1995) was another Easter Egg for him. He started his animation career animating on several Garfield, an orange cat, projects in the 1980s.
An origami version of the Pizza Planet Truck sits on the little table next to Joy and Sadness’ bunk beds.
When demo day arrives, a piano crashes onto the first floor. This is Joe’s piano from Soul (2020).
As Joy and the others run onto the street during the Parade of Future Careers, you can see Figment from Journey Into Imagination in Epcot in the background behind the crowds. He is on a game box that says Journey Into Imagination. In Epcot, Figment is voiced by Frank Goelz, who is voicing Subconscious Guard Dave.
When Joy takes Sadness down to the Down in the Belief System for the first time, she walks out on the stepping stones in the water. When she is shown from above, you can see that three of the stones form a Hidden Mickey.
When Joy loses her cool and shouts, “Jiminy mother lovin’ toaster strudel,” she references Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio (1940).
As Joy and the others run onto the street during the Parade of Future Careers, you can see the Luxo Ball in the background behind the crowds.
When Riley is sitting up in bed, you can see a blue poster on her wall with the image of an atom on it. This same image was on the blue shield hanging in Bob Parr’s office in The Incredibles.
It had the third-biggest opening weekend for an animated film worldwide and in North America.
The breakdown...
Worldwide
•Super Mario Bros. Movie - $375.6M
•Frozen II - $358.5M
•Inside Out 2 - $294.2M
North America
•The Lion King (2019) - $191.8M
•Incredibles 2 - $182.7M
•Inside Out 2 - $154.2M
When Riley and her new friends look in the coach's office at her red folder, Luxo Sr. from the first Pixar short, Luxo Jr. (1986), can be seen on her desk.
The Muslim girl on the FireHawks team is the first Pixar character to be shown wearing a Hijab, albeit this is a sports Hijab for athletes. Hijabs prevent women from showing their hair, but to still be part of the girl group, she wears a red scarf under her Hijab to imitate the red streak the other girls wear in their hair.
Within the first nine days of release, the movie earned over half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.
After Sadness crashes back into Headquarters, an image of Elio can be seen in the yellow memory orb on the right while Sadness is crawling away. Elio is the next Pixar film to be released after this. It is about a boy, Elio, who is beamed up into outer space by aliens.
It passed $1 billion at the box office on 6/30/24.
This made it the 6th highest-grossing animated film in North America and 12th worldwide. It was also the first movie of 2024 to break the $1 billion mark.
Within the next few days, Zootopia and Finding Dory should be passed and ranked among the 10 highest-grossing animated films.
Fear can be seen using a coffee mug from Dream Productions, which is where Joy and Sadness went in the first movie.
The tall and gangly bird from the short film For the Birds can be seen during the end credits as a sketch.
The commercial jingle Triple Dent Gum returns in this movie.
The same two mind workers, Forgetter Paula and Forgetter Bobby returned for this movie. Paula Poundstone and Bobby Moynihan once again voice them.
The very end of the credits includes a message from the staff that reads, “This film is dedicated to our kids. We love you just the way you are.”
The first trailer received 157 million views within the first 24 hours. That is the most for any other Disney animated film, even surpassing Frozen II (2019), which had 116 million views.
Bloofy's call out, “Oh, Pouchy!” is a nod to Mickey Mouse's call, “Oh, Toodles!” in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006) series. Pouchy also has characteristics of Dora’s backpack from Dora the Explorer (2000-2019).
On June 18, 2024, the film’s first Tuesday after its release, it earned $28.825 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest-grossing earner for an animated film on a Tuesday.
On June 17, 2024, the film’s first Monday after its release, it earned $22.42 million at the domestic box office. This was Pixar's second biggest earner on a Monday after Incredibles 2, which earned $23.62 million on its first Monday.
Andrea Datzman composed the music for the film, making her the first woman to compose the music for a Pixar film. She was the score coordinator on the first Inside Out and was also the composer on Dug Days (2021) and Carl’s Date (2023).
Bill Hader did not return to voice Fear in this film due to disagreements over pay. He was replaced by Tony Hale, who was the voice of Forky in Toy Story 4 and Forky Asks a Question (2019-2020). He was recently Mayor Traske and Reverend Traske in Hocus Pocus 2 (2022).
In the film's opening, right after the Foghorns win the game, one of their teammates in the team box on the right end can be seen throwing up. The crowd's department added this just as they did in the carnival scene in Toy Story 4.
Riley’s belief system was added later in production.
Riley’s dad has been voted the hottest Disney dad. The internet fans based their decision on the fact that he wore jeans and a t-shirt, had a mustache and beard stubble, was a good father to Riley, was a musician in a band, and had an air of bemusement about him.
Anxiety appears with many suitcases, showing that she “has lots of baggage;” this phrase means there are some past memories or incidents that have long-term effects on her mind, which is what causes anxiety.
Orange was used for Anxiety because it is the color most associated with anxiety. The color of psychology says, “The color orange can be overwhelming if used in excess. It is a bright and bold color that can easily dominate a space and may cause anxiety or restlessness in some people. It can also be associated with aggression, impulsiveness, and overstimulation.” Red also causes anxiety, but red is already being used by Anger. Orange is just an offshoot of the color red. Orange didn’t even refer to color until the 16th century when orange trees were imported to Europe from Asia. Up until then, the color was called saffron or yellow-red. This is why people with orange hair are called redheads, even though their hair isn’t red.
Because the color orange is anxiety-inducing, it is used throughout the movie: around the ice rink at camp, the fan seats, the locker room lockers, the couches where Riley and the girls are hanging out, the Skills Camp jerseys, and the lights coming from inside Fort Pillowton.
Envy was designed to be smaller than the others with larger eyes, and she was colored with teal, a blue-green, since green was already being used for Disgust. This was done because of the phrase “Green with envy.” It is believed this phrase was derived from the play Othello by William Shakespeare in 1603.
The room where the new emotions emerge was originally in the first film as a steam room for Anger to cool off in. The door is even shaped like him. Since it was never used in the first movie but was still there in its current location, it was repurposed to serve as a waiting area for new emotions. Just as Joy appeared in the first one, all new emotions just appear with the knowledge and a purpose to fulfill their roles inside Riley.
When Nostalgia appears, she is wearing rose-colored glasses. This is because of the phrase “Seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses.” This means that someone has an optimistic or cheerful mindset and sees everything in a potentially unrealistic light. When remembering the past with someone, like running into an old high school buddy, people tend to overlook the bad instances and recall the good feelings and experiences. Although younger people have nostalgic moments, they become more profound the older you get as you move further away from the experience. When you are 14, remembering a moment you experienced when you were ten won’t have the same feeling as when you are 30 and remembering a time when you were 14. The more that time passes, the more details are missing from memory. The happiness and positive moments from the experience are remembered, but the details surrounding it fade away.
Randy Hahn was the voice of the hockey announcer in Riley’s dad’s dinnertime hockey memory. He is the play-by-play announcer for the San Jose Sharks hockey team on NBC Sports and has been doing so for over 30 years. He could also be heard as the same announcer in Inside Out. Hahn got involved with the project by happenstance. He is an avid wine connoisseur and was at the Sonoma Harvest Valley wine auction up in Sonoma, near Napa, California. One of the wine presenters was John Lasseter, who promoted his winery, Lasseter Wines. Hahn was involved with the event every Labor Day and got to know Lasseter in the early 2000s because he was one of the organizers and benefactors. A decade after meeting, in 2013, Lasseter called Hahn on the phone and asked him to visit Pixar and record lines for the announcer. He was in the studio for three to four hours and adlibbed most of his dialogue. When he attended the red carpet premiere night at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, he said he sat between Billy Crystal, the voice of Mike Wazowski, and Flea, the voice of Mind Worker Cop Jake.