Pixar’s Inside Out was a delight; a smart, funny, and moving animated film that didn’t talk down to its intended audience. Warm, tender, and very funny, Inside Out 2 is almost equally as charming.

Since the Oscar-winning first film, young Riley Anderson has gone from 11 to 13 years old. The five main emotions inside her personality are awakened one night by a loud alarm. Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale, stepping in for Bill Hader), Disgust (Liza Lapira, replacing Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black) are thrown into panic mode. The alarm is signaling an emergency none of them are prepared for, puberty.

Immediately, construction workers barrel in and begin “demo day”. In one of the film’s best sight gags, the workers put up a sign that reads, “Puberty is messy” and are they ever right.

The reconstruction will make way for Riley’s new emotions. Enter the newbies, Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), and the one who will try to seize full control, Anxiety (Maya Hawke). These four are cleverly written and performed and the source of some good laughs.

Having been invited (along with her two best friends) to a hockey camp at the high school she will be attending, Riley discovers her besties will not be going to the same school. Of course, puberty has only recently struck and the teenager doesn’t know how to handle her emotions; her mind (quite literally) overloaded. Stinging by the news of facing high school alone, Riley cozies up to the jock girls who already attend the new school. Overdoing her desire to be in their crowd, Riley alienates her friends and goes into emotional overload.

Visually and story-wise, Inside Out 2 is marvelously creative. Meg LeFauve and David Holstein’s screenplay (from a story by director Kelsey Mann) explores the myriad of comedic possibilities found in this time of a young person’s life. The screenwriters achieve moments of comic gold while simultaneously exploring Riley’s new emotional counterparts. Some of the picture’s comedic gems find Ennui as a constantly bored teen who is tethered to their phone and a blooming crush between Sadness and Embarrassment.

The funniest segment is where Joy, Anger, Sadness, and Fear are thrust into a vault by Anxiety and meet a character named Bloofy (modeled after the chilren’s tv show Blue’s Clues) and his helpful pouch, “Pouchy” (based on the character “Backpack” from Dora the Explorer). Ron Funches and James Austin Johnson give these characters hilarious personalities and their time in this adventure is the film’s highlight.

Keeping with Disney and Pixar’s long-standing tradition of capturing the truth of getting older, the screenplay successfully finds its way into your heart through honesty and insight. Whether or not one is a parent, when Joy delivers the line, “Maybe this is what happens when you grow up; you feel less joy.”, the essence of her declaration becomes quite profound.

Making his feature directing debut for Pixar, Kelsey Mann keeps everything fun and well-paced. As with any of the company’s projects, the visuals fill the screen eye-popping inventiveness. Mann and his team work together to keep the film visually gorgeous and emotionally relatable.

Inside Out 2  is sure to please fans of the first film who connected with its heartwarming truthfulness and laugh-out-loud comedy. With its undeniable charms, big laughs, and endearing story, Pixar has found themselves with another winner.

Inside Out 2

Written by Meg LeFauve & David Holstein (from a story by Kelsey Mann)

Directed by Kelsey Mann

Starring Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Phyllis Smith, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Liza Lapira, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Ayo Edebiri, Paul Walter Hauser, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan

PG, 96 Minutes, Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios