Following the critical and financial success of Inside Out 2, fans may be wondering whether a third Inside Out movie is in the works at Pixar.
Pixar is no stranger to trilogies — in fact, a third Incredibles movie was announced at 2024s D23 expo, marking the third Pixar franchise to surpass two movies (after Toy Story and Cars).
Given both this and that Inside Out 2 is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time, an Inside Out 3 would likely not be a huge surprise if it were to happen.
Will There Be an Inside Out 3 Movie?
Throughout several interviews, multiple executives at Pixar have expressed interest in making Inside Out 3, though the potential threequel has not been officially announced.
Speaking with Fandango in August 2024, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter said that after making the first (presumably Inside Out, though he seems to have mistakenly said Toy Story) movie, they "weren’t thinking about anything else."
When people were "still talking about it" years later, though, they started "hunting around" for directions to take the sequel.
Docter said that he feels they are "now at the same place as we were after 1" when it comes to a potential Inside Out 3:
"'Toy Story 1,' [presumably meant 'Inside Out 1'] we were just trying to finish that movie, we weren’t thinking about anything else. Then, after it came out, I was surprised two, three years later people were still talking about it, so we started hunting around, and then, yeah. I think it’s been nine years since the first one came out, cause we needed about four to actually do it. I think we’re now at the same place as we were after 1, where we’re just like, ‘Okay, well, if we were going to do something, what would it be?’ And we’re kind of just thinking of ideas."
Docter remarked there is still a lot of this world left to explore, and "there's gotta be something" for a third movie. He added that his goal with the first Inside Out was "for it to feel as though out of this vast world, we only saw like 3%."
Still, there have been other sequels or continuations that he had "been pushing for that we’ve tried and tried and just haven’t cracked," so it is never a guarantee:
"If we don’t find something, then… There’s gotta be something. Well, who knows? Who knows?
There’s a few [sequels or continuations] that I’ve been pushing for that we’ve tried and tried and just haven’t cracked. This one, from the beginning on the first one, which I directed, I was like 'I would love for it to feel as though out of this vast world, we only saw like 3%, and the rest of it’s still out there.' And so there’s a lot to explore, a lot of stuff that we played with in the first movie or the second movie that didn’t work for story reasons, didn’t fit thematically, so we have a lot to play with."
Ultimately, it comes down to something Docter shared earlier in the interview — there needs to be "something that feels like, 'oh, this is furthering the story:'"
"It’s imperative for us that we find something that feels like, 'Oh, this is furthering the story, it’s something that we didn’t explore in the first one, something deeper about the human condition or our own experiences in life.'"
He expressed similar sentiments in an interview with Good Morning America, adding that when director Kelsey Mann brought up the idea of making anxiety a focus in Inside Out 2, it "felt ... so right for this world to explore."
Docter again said they are "looking, [they're] thinking, and [they] hope to find something" for a third movie:
"When we made 'Inside Out 1,' we were just trying to finish that, but we had no thought of where it would go, we were just trying to make one good movie. And as the years went on, we were surprised by how many people kept talking about it, and how relevant it seemed to them, so we started digging around, and when Kelsey Mann, the director, came up with this idea of really talking about anxiety, that felt like, 'Oh, that’s something we’ve all felt, something very universal, and something that is so right for this world to explore.' So we’re basically at that point. We’re looking, we’re thinking, and we hope to find something."
Mann spoke with Brandon Davis (formerly of ComicBook) about ideas teased in Inside Out 2 that could end up in a sequel:
"I love this world. It's such a great world to play in. And ideas just kind of come from playing in this world, both for locations and characters. There's so many ideas, not only from the first film, but especially in this one where I'm like, 'That's a really fun clever idea... I don't know how it fits into this particular story, but it should be used at some point.'"
One such idea is "Procrastination Land." Mann said that he "won’t tell you everything about it" but thinks it "has to be used somehow in the future:"
"One of my favorites is a location that we came up with called Procrastination Land. This is the land I definitely have, especially at this age, where it was a land which had a big sign that said ‘Procrastination Land’ and then it said 'Coming Soon.' And Anger was like, ‘When are they gonna start building that place?! It just keeps sitting there! They haven’t made any movement on it.' It’s such a funny idea. We had trouble figuring out why in this particular story, but it's such a funny idea that I'm like– And I won’t tell you everything about it. There’s some other stuff about it that’s really funny. So I’m like, ‘This has to be used somehow in the future.'"
Disney CEO Bob Iger also spoke with Good Morning America about a potential third Inside Out, saying he "would love" to see it get made but that he would "just leave it at that."
How Long Could It Be Until the Potential Inside Out 3?
If Inside Out 3 does eventually happen, it likely will not be for another few years.
Pete Docter said that making the second one took four of the nine years between it and the first Inside Out, which may mean a third could take just as long.
Beyond that, though, Pixar has several other movies coming out over the next few years, including Elio, Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3, and Hoppers.
Besides, the world of Inside Out will be expanded further in December 2024's Dream Productions animated series, so the franchise is not going anywhere for now.
After a long wait, Inside Out 2 is streaming on Disney+.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
