Hearing from Mann and Holstein illuminates the plot of Inside Out 2. While the first Inside Out still has complexity in how it portrays emotions, the emotions are far more nuanced in the sequel.

As Riley forms her Belief System, this can reflect on the dynamics between the anthropomorphized emotion characters. Some emotions may become more dominant as Riley’s beliefs form, or certain emotions can band together in those beliefs. The emotion characters themselves were not as cut and dry for Inside Out 2.

According to an interview with Mann, the original draft of the sequel’s script introduced even more new emotions. The goal of this version was to overwhelm Joy with all the new emotions that were surfacing. Disney execs believed these new emotions created far too much noise in the already-emotional film.

The initial plan of nine was pared down to just the four new figures of Ennui, Embarrassment, Envy, and Anxiety.