With "Inside Out 2", Pixar continues the story of Jenny and her emotional life. The starting point was a button marked with the word "puberty".
We ourselves wanted to see what would happen if you pressed that button, says Pixar chief Pete Docter.
When "Toy Story" was released in 1995, it became a mega success that changed the view of what can be done with animated film. It made the producing company Pixar a success story adorned with a multitude of Oscar wins.
Nearly 30 years later, the industry has changed and Pixar has got many successful competitors.
Our big challenge is to constantly broaden ourselves and to surprise the audience through both our stories and how the films look, says the company's artistic chief Pete Docter.
This summer, it seems like they have succeeded. "Inside Out 2", a sequel to "Inside Out" from 2015, has in the USA both been critically acclaimed and a public success. Once again, we get to follow Jenny and how her emotional life is controlled by a gang of figures in her consciousness. But now she becomes a teenager and a collection of new feelings emerges, not least anxiety.
"Didn't dare to touch"
Docter, who directed the first film and has handed over the direction of the second to Kelsey Mann, says:
The first film showed at the end a button that said "puberty", a button you didn't dare to touch. We started wondering, we ourselves wanted to see what would happen if you pressed that button. And we thought about questions like "who are we, how did we become who we are". The new film opened up new paths.
When the first film was released, it took a while before we realized the impact it had made. It was then we realized that there was more to tell.
"Stands on its own"
Not all Pixar films get a sequel. What determines it?
Each film stands on its own from the beginning. It was the same with, for example, the first "Toy Story". Then maybe we start thinking about it, when it comes to "Inside Out 2", there was a lot that played in. But we don't start thinking about a continuation until we're done with the first.
Since Pixar broke through in the mid-1990s, the competition has increased and in recent years, Pixar has not had the same big successes as before. Several films went straight to streaming services during the pandemic and never had a cinema premiere.
When we came, we were alone, now the landscape has changed and we have many competitors. There are many who think that animated film is only comedy and only for children. Our big challenge is to develop our art form and constantly surprise.
Age: 55 years.
Family: Wife Amanda, two children.
Lives in: San Francisco.
Occupation: Animator, director, artistic chief at Pixar Studios.
Previous films: As director "Monsters Inc", "Up", "Inside Out", "Soul". Screenwriter for "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", "Monsters Inc", "Wall:E", "Up", "Inside Out" and "Soul".
Currently with: "Inside Out 2" which gets its Swedish cinema premiere on July 17.
