Inside Out 2: Pixar Brain Trust Explained by Writer Meg LeFauve

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Article Title: 'Inside Out 2': How pixar's Brain Trust and personal Vulnerability Led to a Box Office Hit

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Publication Date: 2024-06-24

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"Inside Out 2" has revitalized the box office, earning $155 million domestically and $140 million internationally during its opening weekend. This marks the best opening of the year and the strongest as "Barbie" was released last year.

Screenwriter Meg LeFauve, who was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the original "Inside Out," returned to Pixar for the sequel. LeFauve discussed the writing process, emphasizing the importance of creating a story that was worthy of a sequel and explored new emotional depths.

Pixar's Brain Trust, led by Pete Docter, plays a crucial role in the development of their animated features. This group of animators provides feedback at each stage, ensuring the story resonates and explores personal and emotional themes.The Brain Trust evolves with each project, incorporating diverse voices and creative perspectives.

Director Kelsey Mann's pitch to focus on Anxiety as a new emotion for Riley resonated with docter and the Brain Trust. Mann's personal connection to the anxieties of adolescence helped shape the story. LeFauve also related to the theme, drawing on her own experiences with moodiness during adolescence.

The initial challenge was convincing the Brain Trust that riley's emotional landscape needed to expand with the onset of puberty. The writers explored various new emotions, including Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui, to complement the core group of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust.

LeFauve explained that the writing process at Pixar involves constant iteration and a willingness to "fail fast" in the pursuit of the best story. The Brain Trust encourages pushing creative boundaries and exploring different ideas.

Once an outline or "scriptment" is developed, a larger Brain Trust convenes to refine the script. The process involves ongoing revisions and incorporating feedback. Character design begins in tandem with script development.

The writers explored numerous emotions, ultimately focusing on those that best served the story. While some, like schadenfreude and Procrastination Land, where cut, others, like Ennui, made the final cut. The focus remained on Riley's journey and which emotions were essential to telling her story.

The storyboard phase is a critical step, with storyboard artists visualizing each scene. LeFauve noted that the enthusiasm of the storyboard artists is a good indicator of a scene's effectiveness. The film is then screened internally in storyboard format, with further feedback from the Brain Trust.