Attempting to follow up Inside Out, is the animation equivalent of creating a sequel to “Lawrence of Arabia”, you are doomed to fail.

However, sometimes it remains worth trying if there is more story to tell.

Kudos to Director Kelsey Mann for taking on the challenge, moving the story forward from the first film, now covering “Riley’s” (Kensington Tallman) early teenage years.

The original brain trust group “Joy”(Amy Poehler), “Anger” (Lewis Black), “Fear” (Tony Hale), “Disgust” (Liza Lapira) and personal favourite “Sadness” (Phyllis Smith) are all back.

However, “simple” childhood emotions are now not the only game in town. The original team are dismayed when the wrecker/builders arrive, creating a new updated control desk, introducing many more buttons and levers.

New emotions include, Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Anxiety (Maya Hawke), which of course takes pride of place.

Riley has the opportunity to attend Hockey camp to qualify for the School “FireHawks” team, with BFF’s Bree and Grace. The film then introduces the concept of “sense of self”, representing the belief system most fortunate people learn from their parents or caregivers.

Riley starts to make choices, should she spend time with her hockey idol and cool buddies, which might mean alienating her old friends. Has she outgrown them, does she need them any more, is success more important than friendship, are they holding her back?

Complicated emotions now start getting in the way, with embarrassment and anxiety taking a front seat, introducing more pressure with pure enjoyment less important.

Most of the audience will recognise these feelings, however old they may be now.

The console team set about trying to help but run up against anxiety flooding Riley with negative thoughts and emotions. This represents a real threat to Riley’s core sense of self and enjoyment.

Can the suppressed emotions “old team” bring Riley back to equilibrium by finding her true self again, or will she be lost within a spiral of anxiety?

Are we recognising any real life issues here, are these themes obvious enough?

As expected the animation remains state of the art, with voice performances as strong as ever, broadening out into the new characters. The subject matter is less young child orientated as the audience grows with the films but there is much to enjoy for kids, young teenagers and adults alike.

Whether Pixar will be brave enough to delve into boyfriend territory in a third film remains to be seen, an even bigger console will be required.

Certainly with this film, Pixar steadies the ship with a real return to form after some less successful outings, admittedly after they themselves set the bar high.

Let’s hope this is not a one off and they can continue their previous stellar run.

Summary

Excellent, a worthy sequel and if you enjoyed the first film, this is a certified must watch.

Not quite scaling the heights of the first film but how could it ever?