PROOF That Disney's Newest Movie Is a MASSIVE Hit With Fans…and Therapists!

Disney and Pixar have a SMASH on their hands.

Inside Out 2 is a HIT

After some surprisingly disappointing box office performances over the last several years, Disney and Pixar have seemingly rebounded in a BIG way with Inside Out 2.

The sequel to the 2015 classic, Inside Out 2 grossed $155 million domestically in its first weekend of release, giving it the biggest U.S. opening of the year so far, and making it the first movie since Barbie last July to debut with more than $100 million in earnings. The film also grossed $140 million overseas, giving it the largest overseas opening for an animated film of all time. Its overall $295 million marks the biggest animated debut of all time in like-for-like markets.

Disney

David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research praised the film’s performance to Variety, saying, “This is a sensational opening by Pixar’s own exceptional standard for a follow-up sequel. Pixar sequels are in a league of their own.”

The film follows the footsteps of the first, delving into the inner workings of the mind of a young teenage girl named Riley. Pete Docter – – current Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and the first film’s director – – said of the film’s development, “We hear from people saying, ‘This movie changed the way I think about parenting,’ or ‘The way I understand my own existence’ and like, whoa, that’s pretty heavy for a cartoon — Maybe there’s more to be done with this world? So, we tapped Kelsey Mann, who directed Inside Out 2, to think along the lines of the first movie, but in a different direction.”

Embarrassment ©Disney/Pixar

Mann himself added, “At the end of the first film, Joy asked the audience a question. She says, ‘After all Riley is 12 now, what could happen?’ Well, I wanted to answer that question.”

General audiences aren’t the only ones responding well to Inside Out 2. According to NPR, the films are also favorites for therapists and social workers who work with children. Clinical social worker Kristi Zybulewski says she’s “grateful” for the movie because it gives kids an “emotional vocabulary” so they can name their feelings. According to Zybulewski, “All emotions are welcome. … They’re all necessary. They’re all meaningful. They’re all rich.”

Inside Out 2 ©Disney

She went on to discuss the scene in the first film between Sadness and Riley’s childhood imaginary friend Bing Bong, saying “The scene … reminded me very much of being a therapist. Sitting with sadness, sitting with difficult emotions, is something that so many people feel uncomfortable with. Understandably so. But it’s such a gift we can give to each other.”

Bing Bong, as featured at California Adventure

Maya Hawke, who joined the cast as Anxiety for Inside Out 2 echoed similar sentiments to the therapists who spoke highly of the film, saying “This movie is just a force for good. It’s like a double rainbow. It takes so many tough emotions that everyone experiences, not just teenagers, and actualizes those emotions in a way that makes them feel less alienating or stressful.”

Inside Out 2’s massive box office success isn’t only being celebrated by the film and theater industries, but by therapists who are fans of the series’ message. Stay tuned to AllEars for further Disney box office coverage.