Inside Out 2 Director Tells Us The Sad Reason He Had To Include A Credits Scene That Explains Riley’s Deep Dark Secret

When Pixar inside out which premiered in 2015, she invited viewers to explore the world inside young Riley’s soul, where her emotions took center stage. Now, p inside out 2 joining to The film’s release schedule for 2024fans were able to reconnect with Riley as she lived through her teenage years, an experience that quickly made the sequel one of The best Pixar movies and the highest-grossing animated film. However, in a recent interview, director Kelsey Mann revealed that the surprising twist the narrative required credits scene to clarify Riley’s “deep, dark secret.”— and its reason may simply surprise you.

In an interview with CinemaBlend Editor-in-Chief Sean O’Connell at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Mann admitted that he initially wanted to keep Riley’s mystery ambiguous so that a gullible audience would accept a bit of mystery. But as the response to the first screenings grew, it became clear that audiences’ imaginations were running wild — wild enough to merit a course correction to preserve Riley’s innocence. According to him:

At first I wanted to leave it unfinished. I thought it would be really fun for the audience to guess what it was. But I’ll be honest, some people have taken it to a dark place. Aren’t you surprised? I was surprised too. Some thought that something tragic had happened to her as a child. I say, “No, I never thought of that.” I’ve always wanted it to be the kind of secret you have as a kid, when you accidentally spill something on your grandmother’s sofa cushion, so you turn it over. This is what I intended. But some people took it to a dark place and I’m like, “I’m going to have to make sure people know that Riley’s okay!”

If you haven’t watched Inside out 2 after all—and really, why not? It is available for streaming using a Disney+ subscription— here’s a little spoiler warning. The “Deep Dark Secret” in question arises when Joy, driven by curiosity, decides to uncover what Riley has hidden in the depths of her mind. As she confronts the mysterious character guarding that secret, tensions rise, leaving viewers to wonder if Riley’s secret could be something truly scandalous. But, as it turned out, the truth is much more innocent.

Riley’s big “secret”? She accidentally burned a hole in the family rug, and her parents still don’t know about it. For an an anxious teenager like Rileyhiding this small failure feels crucial; imprisonment can be a social disaster! While this little misstep doesn’t set up a dramatic plot twist for the upcoming film, it’s just the kind of light-hearted moment that fans love. And with Inside out 2success, the director hinted that there could be more fun, revelation such moments in a potential sequel.

With great success Inside out 2Pixar’s next sequel may be just around the corner. Although the director knows what some fans think Pixar already has too many sequelsan Inside out 3 just might be on the horizon.