Inside Out 2 has smashed box office records, overtaking Frozen 2 to be the highest grossing animated film of all time. The character design is firmly at the centre of the film’s appeal, especially the new depiction of Anxiety, which has been added because the film’s main character (Riley) has reached her teenage years. Though anxiety looks perfect to me (that hair, mouth and stance just sums the uncomfortable emotion up so well), according to a fascinating video the design was almost very different.
See the video below for a clip of the video, shared by IGN on TikTok which shows how Anxiety almost looked, then watch the full video for more on the Inside Out 2 character design process.
According to director Kelsey Mann, it took a long time to reach the final character design – and the above clip shows his own concept drawings that portrays Anxiety as “reptilian” in nature. This approach would have seen Anxiety growing over time to become “almost Godzilla-esque” as Riley got more anxious. “And then,” he says, in “my epilogue version, when [Riley] realises how to manage it, it actually shrinks down to the proper size, and is super cute.”
See the full video below to learn more about Pixar’s approach to animating Inside Out 2, including more detail on character design.
Pixar Animation Studios Tour: Inside Out 2 Director Interview, Anxiety, and More! – YouTube
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Concept art is a fascinating way to explore what a film might have been. We’ve seen first versions of everything from Sonic the Hedgehog (which did not go down well with fans) to scrapped designs from the Mario movie.
But what’s it like to be a concept designer? Go inside the art of Ben Hauro, a concept designer to find out more about how he brings video game concepts to life.
