Inside Out 2 Cut A Hilarious Gag That The Filmmakers Hope To Bring Back For Inside Out 3

Pixar's "Inside Out 2" is coming to theaters this summer, bringing back the delightful emotions at the helm of a girl named Riley as she grows up and figures out life as a teenager. The original "Inside Out" not only delivered the touching and amusing personification of the emotions that drive our everyday decisions, but they also created an innovative world that created physical representations of the inner workings of our mind, such as a literal train of thought and a massive library of past experiences that make up long term memory. So the sequel will be expanding the interior of Riley's mind, not only with new emotions, but with unexplored areas. 

Of course, the arrival of Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) make things much more difficult for the seasoned emotions of Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Liza Lapira), and Fear (Tony Hale). But there's also the back of Riley's mind, where Joy has been sending potentially problematic memories, and two scene-stealing characters are waiting to be introduced. However, the most important new developments are Riley's belief system, an ethereal chamber where some key memories drive the principles she believes about herself and the world. And the belief system fuels Riley's sense of self, defining who she is as a person. 

For all the new developments in Riley's mind, there's at least one that we won't see in "Inside Out 2," even though director Kelsey Mann and producer Mark Nielsen were big fans of the gag it inspired. The good news is that the filmmakers love the bit so much that it could end up in a potential "Inside Out 3."

During a press conference from an early press day at Pixar Animation's campus in Emeryville, California, (where we saw the first promising, clever, and hilarious first act) I took the time to ask Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen if there was anything in particular they were disappointed to lose in Pixar's famously fluctuating development process that shapes the film across four or five years. Mann revealed:

"I hesitate 'cause I'm like, 'It's a good idea and it should come back, and I don't know what's going to happen in this world, but this needs to come back.' We had a land called Procrastination Land, and I love that land. The joke with was that it was always under construction, and it's a coming-soon Procrastination Land. And they're like, 'When are they going to finish that place?' They're like, 'Ah. They'll get around to it.' We had workers who were like, 'Hey, should we start building this land today?' They're like, 'Nah,' and they're on their phones. They're like, 'Maybe tomorrow.' It's such a good gag."

The gag in question was so good that its eventual cut from the movie disappointed a key trust of people that the filmmakers relied upon for perspective about life as a teenage girl. As part of their efforts to get into the mind of a 13-year-old girl, Pixar assembled a group of girls aged between 13 and 19 that they called Riley's Crew. They're all in high school and beyond now, but when they were younger, they would see the movie every four months and provide notes to Pixar to keep Riley's story on track, especially regarding her interaction with friends and peers. Riley's crew was bummed when Procrastination Land ended up on the cutting room floor. Mann recalled their reaction after one screening:

"They're like, 'Where's Procrastination Land? You got to bring it back,' and it's such a funny idea. I will hold back one gag of it that I think is so funny, 'cause I'm like, 'It's going to come back. It's going to come back. You guys are going to see Procrastination Land at some point.'"

You might be wondering why Procrastination Land didn't fit into "Inside Out 2," especially since it seems like just a small gag that could have easily fit into the story for just a quick laugh. But Mann explained why it ended up getting cut:

"I just couldn't fit it in a natural way. It always felt forced, and it also felt — in these movies, you just need to make sure you're having forward momentum and Procrastination Land is the opposite of forward — It makes you sit down. So suddenly the movie came to a complete halt and we're like, 'This is really funny.' But it just stopped. You know? But I swear we can make that work."

There are bound to be plenty more satisfying jokes in "Inside Out 2," so we can be patient while Pixar figures out where Procrastination Land fits. After all, Riley probably won't really get into procrastinating until she gets further into her high school years, so maybe it's better to wait until she's 16 or something like that. By then, there will probably be plenty of other emotions entering the mix too, maybe one that didn't make the cut for this sequel. At least we know that the Sarcasm Chasm made it into the movie, based on the last trailer for "Inside Out 2."

Stay tuned for more coverage about "Inside Out 2" in the near future, leading up to the movie's release on June 14, 2024.