When I watched Inside Out for the first time, I immediately started thinking about who would voice the emotions in my head. And as a fellow human named Riley, I’ve always thought Amy Poehler would be my voice of Joy, just like she is in the movie. However, I’ve also always wondered who would voice the happy emotion in the Parks and Rec alum’s mind, and she recently revealed that answer. Let me tell you, it’s actually the best choice ever.
With Inside Out 2 right around the corner on the 2024 movie schedule, the voice of Joy has been out and about chatting about the sequel and the new emotions Riley gets in it. While chatting about some of the things we know about the Inside Out sequel with Seth Meyers on Late Night – like the incorporation of Anxiety – the actress took a second to fantasize about her own emotions’ voices. When her SNL co-star asked her who would voice Joy, she said:
Somebody asked me who would be the voice of Joy in my head, and I immediately thought of Martin Short. He's so joyous and fun and funny too.
As we learned from the Inside Out 2 trailer, the movie is continuing its streak of A+ casting by adding Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, and more into its ensemble. However, it’s also fun to fantasize about who else could voice the emotions.
Martin Short is actually a perfect choice for Joy! He is bursting with energy, and I could totally see him buzzing about Amy Poehler’s head as he tried to make sure she was always happy. Much like Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building, I think Short’s Joy would be eccentric, silly and who knows, maybe he’d be constantly trying to get the other emotions to start a podcast. I don’t know about you, but I could see it.
Seth Meyers agreed with his “Weekend Update” co-anchor’s choice, and he also threw out that in his head, Anger would be voiced by Bill Burr – which, again, is a fantastic choice. You can see their full discussion about this delightful topic below:
Inside Out is one of the best Pixar movies, and the voice actors behind the emotions are a big reason why. They all embody Riley’s feelings so well, and with the sequel coming out soon as well as other Inside Out sequels not out of the question, I have no doubt that the new people brought in to voice various emotions will only add to this amazing universe.
I, for one, would love to see Martin Short as the voice of someone’s Joy in a project like this. Amy Poehler’s reasoning for him being her happy voice is incredible, and I feel like now the comedian needs to find his way into one of these projects.
If that ever happens, we’ll be sure to keep you posted. However, when it comes to what we know for a fact, I’ll be smiling about Martin Short voicing Joy in Amy Poehler’s head, and I’ll be checking out both their projects coming out this summer, and you should too.
You can catch Short being his joyful self in Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building with a Hulu subscription when it premieres on August 27. In terms of Amy Poehler, you can hear her back as Joy when Inside Out 2 hits theaters on June 14, and you can go back and stream the OG animated movie with a Disney+ subscription.
