It was the saddest moment in the original Inside Out, and possibly one of the saddest moments in all of Pixar’s filmography. In order to help Joy (Amy Poehler) get back to Riley’s headquarters, the imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind) sacrifices himself by leaving himself behind. All that he asks is that Joy take Riley “to the moon,” and that she ensures that our favorite Pixar teenager doesn’t forget the imaginary character she cherished as a child. Those emotional jabs help Inside Out rank as one of the best Pixar movies, and it warmed my heart to see that Inside Out 2 found a way to include Bing Bong, and in a very special way.
I didn’t spot Bing Bong on my first viewing. But I was one of the millions of people who headed to the theaters on opening weekend to watch Inside Out 2 on the big screen, helping it resuscitate the box office and re-establish Pixar as a viable brand. My second viewing confirmed the feelings in all of those positive reviews… and I also managed to find the Bing Bong Easter Egg that director Kelsey Mann made sure to include in this sequel.
This isn’t very spoilery. The moment happens early in the film, when Riley has fallen asleep following the ice hockey championship, and is about to wake up and face her first day of puberty. While Riley sleeps, her five primary emotions sleep. And if you look at Joy’s bunk, she has a Bing Bong doll on the shelf by her bed. You can spot it in the background. It happens right before this scene from Inside Out 2 happens:
What I find really sweet is that Joy made it part of her mission to ensure that Riley never forgets Bing Bong. She might not be able to take Riley to the moon, as the little girl promised her imaginary friend back when they used to make up fun games to play together. But by keeping Bing Bong by her bedside, Joy reminds herself daily to inject imagination and fun into the life of this developing teenager… especially once she has all new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke) and Envy (Ayo Edebiri from The Bear) with which to contend.
As audiences saw in Inside Out 2, growing up potentially means feeling a little less joy, but it also means finding a balance in all the new pitfalls we face on a daily basis. It was so wonderfully encouraging to see audiences turn up for Inside Out 2, whether they decided to see it in 3D or not. And given the fact that there is still so much growth and exploration left in Riley, I’m not surprised in the least to hear that Pixar already has ideas for Inside Out 3. It’s important for a dream factory like Pixar to keep pushing boundaries with original movies like Soul, Coco, Elemental, and WALL-E. But there’s nothing wrong with revisiting the classics from time to time, particularly to give us updates into a character as beloved as Riley.
