In 1937, Disney changed the film industry with the release of the world’s first feature-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Nearly 60 years later, Disney would team up with Pixar Animation Studios to once again change the way movies are made and watched with the release of Toy Story (1995).
Toy Story was the first film to be completely animated. Since then, Disney and Pixar have teamed up to create some truly memorable movies.
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It’s hard to believe that the studio that brought us classics like A Bug’s Life (1998), Finding Nemo (2003), Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009), and Coco (2017) would ever struggle. However, that is exactly what started to happen when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
The trouble began with Onward, which was only in theaters for a couple of weeks before the shutdowns caused movie theaters to close. Pixar’s next three films — Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red (2022) — were not even released in theaters. Then there was Lightyear (2022), which was controversial from the start and completely tanked when it hit theaters.
Sadly, when Elemental was released in 2023, it didn’t see domestic box-office success either. This was especially disappointing, considering the film received rave reviews. On a brighter note, Elemental was the best-performing Pixar movie since the start of the pandemic. And the movie performed incredibly well overseas, even becoming the most successful Pixar film ever released in South Korea.
There were rumors that Pixar was “on life support” after its string of failures, but that all changed last month, with the release of the highly anticipated sequel Inside Out 2.
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Inside Out 2 was released on June 14, 2024, and was expected to do well. Reports indicated the movie would make a little over $100 million in its opening weekend. Well, the movie shattered those expectations and made nearly $300 million between the foreign and domestic box office. Within a couple of weeks, the animated movie became one of the most successful films of the year.
And now, Inside Out 2 has made Pixar history.
On July 10, Inside Out 2 officially reached the $1.25 billion mark, making it the most successful film in Pixar history.
The hit family film has earned $1.25 billion globally and passed “Incredibles 2,” the animation studio’s previous record holder that earned $1.24 billion worldwide over its run. “Inside Out 2” now ranks as the fourth highest-grossing animated movie of all-time, behind “Frozen” ($1.29 billion), “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.36 billion) and “Frozen II” ($1.45 billion). The “Frozen” franchise was released by Walt Disney Animation Studios, which shares a parent company with Pixar, while “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was produced by Illumination and Universal. Expect “Inside Out 2” to keep climbing up the charts, shattering records as it ascends.
Directed by Kelsey Mann, Inside Out 2 starred Amy Poehler as Joy, Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Kensington Tallman as Riley, Liza Lapira as Disgust, Tony Hale as Fear, and Lewis Black as Anger. Phyllis Smith voiced Sadness, Ayo Edebiri played Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos voiced Ennui, and Paul Walter Hauser voiced Embarrassment. The iconic June Squibb even joined the project as Nostalgia.
Have you seen Inside Out 2? Did you love it? Let us know in the comments!
