plane launches and Joy at the controls at the national premiere of “Vice-Versa 2”

The French premiere of “Vice-Versa 2” was held this Friday as part of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Among the most anticipated films of the event, the feature film received thunderous applause.

Wait until the end of the session to applaud? Not here ! In the large room of the Bonlieu Cultural Center, the bravos do not wait for the credits to appear. Thirty minutes before the start of the first French screening of the highly anticipated Vice-Versa 2, organized this Friday, June 14 as part of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the audience’s hands clap merrily and only stop to clap harder. Nobody on stage, however, and the big screen displays nothing other than the traditional reminder of the ban on filming the projection. To understand what arouses such enthusiasm, we must first look up.

“This one is going to go far!” Thomas, festival-goer “ten and a half years gets up from his seat. He holds a small white paper airplane in his hand and throws it energetically towards the screen. The projectile spins around and falls, to his great dismay, a few meters further.

This childish-looking activity is far from being practiced only by young boys. The plane jet is the main occupation of the 925 spectators in the room. The intention is the same for everyone: to reach the stage, or – this is the ultimate success – to manage to touch the screen. Applause begins as soon as a projectile hits the target. Technique and perseverance mean that at the end of the session, the victorious planes number in the hundreds, as do the smiles of pride.

A few minutes before the film screening, the bravos continue but this time are addressed more clearly. Kelsey Mann, the director of Vice-Versa 2, takes the stage to announce the winners of the Disney art challenge, a digital drawing competition for students and organized by the studios for the twelfth consecutive year. He awards four of the 414 participants prizes ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 euros then grabs a plane and successfully launches it into an ultra-joyful audience, more willing than ever to see the rest of Riley’s adventures.

In 2015, during the theatrical release of the first part of Vice versa, Riley, the heroine of the saga, was eleven years old. Almost ten years later, the young girl is now thirteen and leads a quiet life with her parents and friends. But surprise, puberty knocks at the door. From one day to the next, Riley fears people’s gaze and can no longer stand being considered a child. She is overcome by completely new emotions.

This second part of Vice-Versa takes up the structure of the first film. The plot alternates between Riley’s daily life – college, family meals, hockey games – and his psychological life where characters embodying emotions manage his reactions and his mood. With the arrival of puberty however, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear are joined by four characters: Anxiety, Envy, Boredom and Embarrassment.

Disruptors like few do, formidable agents of chaos, these new kids provoke numerous reactions among spectators. During the screening, the audience laughs, exclaims and, inevitably, once the film is over, applauds for a very long time. Some praise the different animation techniques used, others debate which is the best new character.

If opinions on this subject differ, the pleasure, for its part, seems to be collective. “Vice-Versa is without a doubt the film that I have seen the most in my life. As a teenager, I watched it over and over again,” explains a student. “I hate to say it, but I think this one is even better than the first,” he continues.