.

Listening to the music over the end credits of Inside Out 2 (there is a post credits scene by the way) it is really nice to hear the delightful refrains from Michael Giacchino familiar score again but then these fade away, initially imperceptibly, to be replaced by different melodies and themes by replacement composer Andrea Datzman.

That is a microcosm of the whole film right there, it’s good but in ways you can’t necessarily put your finger on but are nonetheless sure of, it isn’t as good as what we had before. Interestingly voice actors Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling have not returned either with Fear and Disgust this time being played by Tony Hale and Liza Lapira. You’d not know this though as they are doing near imitations of what preceded and again, that’s what Inside Out 2 is – a near imitation.

Part of this is that original director Pete Doctor has stepped aside for first timer Kelsey Mann and so that precise sensibility that the first one had has gone too. This film is not, not quite, as sweet and moving and of course it isn’t as original anymore. All the genius physical representations of various elements of young Riley’s psyche have been extended, here the train of thought as a way of travelling around has been replaced by the stream of consciousness, but the metaphors don’t always work as they did the first time. The emotions don’t always behave as you would think they should either. The Smurf principle of each of them having a single and distinct characteristic drifts away from them a little bit.

As I say though, it is close. While some of the voice cast have not been convinced to return (nothing groundbreaking to lure them this time), there are some new players and most notable of these is Maya Hawke as Anxiety. Hawke’s vocal performance is great but also the way Anxiety takes over Riley’s life and decisions as she progresses into teenage is very well realised. This aspect of the story is well managed again. While the particular context of what Riley is living with is not as engaging as the trauma of moving house and starting a new school was from Inside Out 1, the depiction of how her emotions become dominant is sensitively realised and quite powerful just as it was last time.

Overall the Pixar sequels have been a bit hit and miss. Toy Story 2 and 3 are sublime and Incredibles 2 was great but the follow ups to Cars, Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo all failed to make enough of a mark. Similarly I’m not sure Inside Out 2 was entirely necessary. If they really want to extend this idea, which is at its heart still a good one, I’d love to see them apply it to their other cinematic properties. How about seeing how the emotions inside the heads of Carl Fredricksen and Russell rule their ongoing lives in Inside Up? Those guys have a lot going on with their feelings and self regulation so that could work. What about finding out if robots have emotions in Insid.e?The one I really want to see is Inside Ratatout though. Remi is under Linguine’s hat driving him but what is in Remi’s head driving him? Now that is layered.

I’m certainly not going to urge anyone to stay away from Inside Out 2. There are still some good ideas here (it would have been truly excellent as a short) but it is not unmissable as the best Pixar movies are, or maybe I should say were. Who knows though, maybe today I’ve just got the wrong person driving my console.