“Finding that balance between old and new characters is what makes a good sequel,” says director Kelsey Mann

Among the releases on Wednesday, June 19, at the cinema in France, the sequel to “Vice-Versa”, one of the best films from the Pixar animation studio. The last opus was published in 2015 and Riley has grown up a lot since then.

And you, how are your emotions? Nine years after the first chapter, Riley is now a teenager about to enter high school with all the new emotions that this time of life entails. Everything is starting well for Riley who has aged two years, she is 13 now and after the summer she will be in high school. She still does very well at ice hockey.

We find the emotions in his head present in the first film: Joy, Anger, Fear and Sadness which are in a form of routine… But, suddenly, a red light flashes on the dashboard of Riley’s brain, he It’s about the word “puberty”.

This event marks the beginning of new adventures for Riley’s emotions, and a good source of inspiration for the film’s producer Mark Nielsen: “There are so many different ways to tell a story when talking about puberty, but since we’re in a Vice versa, we really wanted to dig into the emotional part of this period. So not exactly what happens in your body or your brain, but in your mind when a lot of feelings who are as full on as they will ever be in your life!“, he explains at the franceinfo microphone.

Vice-Versa 2 is a good film, funny and rhythmic, with several good new ideas, and many nods to pop culture. But, its greatest merit is undoubtedly to bring together over 96 minutes, a dozen characters, old and new, without ever giving the impression of overloading the whole and with a good balance between the universe of 2015 and that of 2024.

“What you’re talking about, finding that balance, is what makes a good sequel, enthuses Kelsey Mann, the director. If you just repeat things from the first one, people will hate it… And if you change everyone will hate it too! I got this advice from one of the directors at the studio who told me that the sooner I think about this film and not the previous one, the better off I will be. It’s about growing, opening new doors that we never imagined. And you know what ? Puberty was ideal for that, the idea of ​​change, of development“, he pleads.

The first Vice versa had attracted more than 4 and a half million spectators in France, nine years ago its sequel was already a hit for its first weekend in the United States.