Kids laughed, and adults cried. “Inside Out 2″ has become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, six weeks after it was released in cinemas. The Walt Disney Company announced on July 24 that the Pixar sequel had overtaken “Frozen 2″ to become the highest-grossing animated film in history, collecting $1.46 billion worldwide.
The movie is the fastest animated film to cross the $1 billion benchmark in terms of global ticket sales just 19 days after its release. In South Korea, the movie has attracted 8 million movie-goers as of July 21, ranking third at the box office this year after “Exhuma” and “The Roundup: Punishment.”
“Inside Out 2″ owes its success to its universally relatable and original storytelling. The movie follows Riley, now 13 years old, as she navigates new feelings such as anxiety, ennui, embarrassment, and envy. By introducing fresh new characters while reinterpreting everyday situations through the struggles of these characters that represent each emotion, the film resonated with children and adults alike. According to CGV statistics, “Inside Out 2″ had the highest proportion of viewers in their 40s (28.6%), followed by those in their 20s (26.9%), 30s (26.1%), 50s (10.2%), and teenagers (8.3%).
A standout element for adults was the movie’s depiction of the character anxiety as both the villain and the de facto protagonist. Anxiety is the driving force that encourages Riley to prepare for the future, but it also haunts her at night with self-doubt, whispering in her ear that she is not good enough. Adults who grew up with anxiety were moved by lines such as, “I guess that’s what happens when you grow up, you feel less joy.”
“More young people are grappling with anxiety, so we thought it would be a relevant story,” said Pete Docter, the Chief creative officer of Pixar and director of the first Inside Out film.
Anxiety has become a global issue in an increasingly uncertain world. A U.S. Census Bureau poll revealed that 28% of Americans felt anxious last year, a 3.5-fold increase from 2019 (8.1%), before the pandemic.
The movie’s breakout character, anxiety, was meticulously crafted with input from neuroscientists and psychologists. Initially envisioned as an ashen monster, anxiety was refined into a character with scarlet bombshell hair and an endearing personality. Lisa Damour, a psychologist who participated in the project, said, “Anxiety is a necessary human defense emotion that helps us stay alert and make the right decisions. Irrational anxiety occurs when we overestimate threats and underestimate our abilities.”
Anxiety would undoubtedly be at the helm of the minds of South Koreans. Many Korean viewers said they felt like they saw themselves while watching the movie. The number of patients visiting hospitals for anxiety disorders rose by 32.3% from around 650,000 in 2017 to roughly 860,000 in 2021, according to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.
“In Korea, the fear of being excluded from society and interpersonal anxiety is particularly high,” said Dr. Hong Jin-pyo, a professor of psychiatry at Samsung Medical Center. “The underlying culture of having to read the room at all times and be conscious of others, coupled with intensifying competition, is piling society pressure onto the younger generation, giving way to the rise of anxiety.”
