The young character Riley from Disney/Pixar's 2015 animated film Inside Out is now a teenager in the new sequelInside Out 2, and lesbian moviegoers couldn't be more excited at a prospective new development brewing for the main character.
In the new movie, written by Meg LeFauve and directed by Kelsey Mann in his feature directorial debut, the personified basic emotions dwelling in Riley's mind—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust—are about to be joined by a bevy of new emotions as Riley prepares to navigate her teenage years.
You can watch the trailer here.
Inside Out 2 | Official Traileryoutu.be
Riley, voiced by Kensington Tallman, is seen celebrating her 13th birthday, getting accustomed to wearing braces and joining a girls' hockey team as the new emotional additions of Anxiety (voiced by Stranger Things actor Maya Hawke), Envy (The Bear's Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (French actor Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Black Bird actor Paul Walter Hauser) take up residence inside Riley's crowded mind.
The trailer shows high school female hockey player Valentina "Val" Ortiz (voiced by Nickelodeon star Lilimar), who sports a cool pink streak of hair, sparking Riley's interest.
Valentina asks Riley if she wants to sit with her friends, to which Envy gushes, "These girls are so cool!"
In response, Riley awkwardly agrees with a finger gun-pointing gesture, prompting Anxiety to comment:
"That's not going to haunt us for the rest of our lives at all."
That must be a familiar sentiment for Disney, based on the studio's history of taking risks and appealing to certain demographics only to fall short of expectations.
The trailer sparked a discussion on one of the film's themes.
@DisneyAPromos A bold move from Disney. \n\nExcellent. \n\nThey need desperately to grow and pursue new audiences.\n\nAnd of course, the #LGBTQ community sales, alot.\n\nIts not sarcasm, I approve and support diversity, but let's see what happens (:— (@)
The sapphic contingent of X (formerly Twitter) was excited about the new direction the adolescent Riley was heading.
Fans thought there could be more to the story.
While there has been no official confirmation Riley could identify as lesbian, it's not far from the realm of possibility, as previous Disney films like Lightyear and Strange World featured LGBTQ+ characters.
Unfortunately, the inclusionary efforts from the two animated features led to backlash from homophobic pundits and conservative moviegoers who accused Disney of going "woke" and indoctrinating their children with the "gay agenda."
Audiences supportive of normalizing LGBTQ+ representation braced themselves for the possibility of homophobic reactions to Inside Out 2.
That doesn't mean Riley couldn't be a lesbian in Inside Out 2.
This could be Disney's cowardly way of expressing LGBTQ+ allyship in a way that doesn't entirely ruffle feathers with homophobic audiences and jeopardize box office numbers.
While the LGBTQ+ community and conservative audiences may be exasperated with Disney's ambivalent stance, the positive reaction to Riley having a maybe-crush on another girl only reinforces the importance of representing marginalized groups in mainstream family entertainment.
Inside Out 2 opens in U.S. theaters on June 14, 2024.
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