Inside Out 2 director reveals why one emotion didn’t make the final cut

Inside Out 2’s director has revealed which character were deemed too “heavy” to keep in the final cut of the movie.

Inside Out 2 — the long awaited sequel to the 2015 film — will introduce fans to a host of a new emotions, but the movie’s director revealed that two characters unfortunately didn’t make the final cut: Shame and Guilt.

The sequel will follow Riley and her main center emotions — Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Fear (Tony Hale), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) — as they navigate life as a new teenager.

However, since Riley is growing up and experiencing new things, Inside Out 2 will also follow a new group of emotions trying to take over headquarters: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).

But, there were talks that two other emotions would be thrown into the mix to represent Riley becoming a teenager and those emotions were Shame and Guilt, but the creative team thought they would be too much for the audience to handle.

“It was not fun to watch,” Inside Out director Kelsey Mann told The Wrap, “It was not fun. It was too heavy. You know when you see a good movie and you’re like, ‘Man that was a great movie.’ You want to see it again? ‘No, not really.’ There are movies like that.”

“I don’t want to make that movie. I want to make a movie that’s really meaningful and when you’re asked, ‘Do you want to see that movie again?’ You say, ‘Yes!’ Because those are my favorite movies. And those are the kinds of movies I want to make. And I did not want to return to that movie with that character. It’s not that funny.”

Psychology professor Dr. Dacher Keltner, who worked with the Inside Out 2 to flesh out the new emotions, agreed with the decision to cut Shame from the film stating, “It was like, ‘What are we trying to say?’ Shame is a real thing in life but not everybody goes through that. But anxiety is in all of us. It’s just better. I think it’s a more important thing to talk about than some kind of message about don’t shame yourself. It was preachy. Anxiety, you need it. It’s not 100% bad.”

Art director Jason Deamer added that he “didn’t miss Shame,” but he did like design of it as Shame was dedicated as a grey, glum looking character.

The cut character Deamer did miss, however, was Guilt as the character was drawn as always hiding behind stacks of baggage.

Despite these characters being left out of Inside Out 2’s final form, Deamer did reassure fans that the movie the characters’ “elements are still there” as the movie was always about “dealing with the feeling that you’re not good enough.”

Inside Out 2 hits theaters on June 16, 2024. In the meantime, check out all of the new movies streaming this month.