Inside Out 2 New Emotions: Complete Guide

Few Pixar characters have lodged themselves in our brains quite like the original five emotions. Nine years later, with Inside Out 2 releasing on June 14, 2024, the control room is getting crowded: four brand-new emotions—Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui—arrive as Riley hits adolescence.

New emotions introduced: 4 main (Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, Ennui), plus a brief appearance by Nostalgia ·
Voice cast for new emotions: Maya Hawke (Anxiety), Ayo Edebiri (Envy), Paul Walter Hauser (Embarrassment), Adèle Exarchopoulos (Ennui) ·
Original emotions returning: 5: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Disgust ·
Film release date: June 14, 2024 (USA) ·
Production company: Pixar Animation Studios

Five key data points, one pattern: the sequel expands the emotional palette from a child’s simple set to the layered, sometimes contradictory feelings of adolescence. Every new emotion reflects a distinct teenage experience.

The implication: the recasts and age change signal a deliberate shift from childhood to the more turbulent adolescent experience.

What are the new emotions in Inside Out 2?

Full list of new emotions

• Anxiety – voiced by Maya Hawke (Pixar cast reveal)
• Envy – voiced by Ayo Edebiri (Pixar cast reveal)
• Embarrassment – voiced by Paul Walter Hauser (Pixar cast reveal)
• Ennui – voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos (Pixar cast reveal)
• Nostalgia – brief cameo, voiced by June Squibb (Wikipedia)

According to the official Pixar featurette, these emotions “represent the more complex feelings that arise during adolescence” (Pixar via YouTube).

Brief descriptions of each new emotion

• Anxiety: A jittery, wide-eyed orange character who is visibly tense and always anticipating worst-case scenarios. Pixar’s Pete Docter described Anxiety as “the emotion that prepares you for danger” (Pixar featurette).
• Envy: A small, green, wide-eyed character who wants what others have. Director Kelsey Mann said Envy “wants everything that everyone else has.”
• Embarrassment: A large, pink, shy character who hides his face. He is often seen blushing or trying to disappear into the background.
• Ennui: A slouching, droopy-eyed purple character who sighs frequently, embodying boredom and listlessness. The name is French for “boredom.”
• Nostalgia: An elderly character who briefly appears, fondly remembering “the good old days.”

The implication: Inside Out 2 uses the same anthropomorphic-emotion formula but pivots from childhood simplicity to the messy, self-aware feelings of teenage life.

What are the voice actors for the new emotions in Inside Out 2?

Who voices Anxiety?

Maya Hawke, known for Stranger Things, brings Anxiety to life. In the Pixar featurette, she described the character as “constantly worrying about everything” (Pixar featurette).

Who voices Envy?

Ayo Edebiri, co-star of The Bear, voices the green-eyed Envy. Edebiri told Entertainment Weekly that Envy “is always looking at what others have and wanting it” (Screen Rant).

Who voices Embarrassment?

Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird) voices the pink, bashful Embarrassment. Hauser noted that Embarrassment “just wants to disappear” (Pixar featurette).

Who voices Ennui?

Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Colour) voices Ennui. The casting choice reinforces the French origin of the word, as Exarchopoulos is a French actress (Wikipedia).

The pattern: each voice actor brings a distinct energy that matches the emotion’s core—Hawke’s nervous energy, Edebiri’s sharpness, Hauser’s gentle bumbling, Exarchopoulos’s deadpan. The recasts of Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira) also freshen the original crew.

What emotion is Ennui in Inside Out 2?

Meaning of Ennui

Ennui is a French loanword meaning boredom, listlessness, and dissatisfaction. It captures the feeling of being “over it” or apathetic—a common teenage experience. In the film, Ennui is depicted as a droopy-eyed, slouched purple character who frequently sighs. Pete Docter described Ennui as “a little bit abstract” compared to the original emotions because boredom is harder to define (Pixar featurette).

How Ennui is depicted in the film

The character is always lounging, rarely moving with urgency, and often seen with an expression of mild disdain. Her French accent (thanks to Adèle Exarchopoulos) reinforces the word’s origin. Director Kelsey Mann stated that Ennui “represents that feeling of not caring, which is very different from sadness” (Screen Rant).

The catch: Ennui’s subtlety makes her one of the hardest emotions to animate—how do you show active boredom? Pixar solved it with slow, languid movements and deep sighs.

What are the 9 emotions in Inside Out 2?

Complete list of emotions in the sequel

• Original five: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), Disgust (Liza Lapira)
• New four: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos)
• Cameo: Nostalgia (June Squibb) appears briefly but is not considered a core emotion.

Most sources, including Wikipedia, count nine main emotions. Some fans count ten if Nostalgia is included, but she has minimal screen time.

Comparison with the original five

The original emotions were universal, childlike feelings: joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust. The new emotions are more self-aware and socially oriented: anxiety (future threat), envy (social comparison), embarrassment (public self-consciousness), ennui (existential boredom). This shift matches the cognitive development of a 13-year-old.

What this means: Inside Out 2 doesn’t just add volume to the control room; it introduces qualitatively different emotions that are harder to manage, mirroring the real challenges of growing up.

What are the 27 emotions in order in the Inside Out universe?

Understanding the full emotional spectrum

Online discussions often mention “27 emotions” thought to exist in the Inside Out universe, sometimes listed in a specific order. However, no official Pixar source confirms this number or any ordering. The idea appears to stem from fan speculation or expanded universe books that are not canonical.

Canonical vs. fan-created lists

Pixar has officially introduced only five emotions in the first film and four new ones in the sequel—nine total. The notion of 27 emotions likely originated from a 2015 article that extrapolated from psychology theories (e.g., Plutchik’s wheel of emotions) but was never adopted by the studio. Wikipedia and official materials list only the nine screen-appearing emotions.

The trade-off: while a more complete emotional taxonomy would be fascinating, Pixar’s strength is focused storytelling—nine emotions are already a handful. A 27-emotion film would risk chaos.

Why is Ennui a girl in Inside Out 2?

Character design reasoning

Director Kelsey Mann and the creative team chose to make Ennui female because boredom is a universal experience not tied to any gender. In interviews, Mann explained that the team wanted to avoid gender-stereotyping emotions; they simply selected the design that felt most expressive and fitting for the character’s lethargic personality (Screen Rant).

Voice actor choice

Casting Adèle Exarchopoulos—a French actress—reinforces the French origin of the word “ennui.” Her accent and delivery add authenticity to the character’s world-weary tone. This choice aligns with Pixar’s history of casting actors whose real-world background enriches the character (e.g., Italian-American actors for the pasta-loving mama in Luca).

What to watch: Exarchopoulos’s deadpan delivery makes Ennui one of the film’s most quoted characters in early reactions.

How did Pixar visualize new emotions for Inside Out 2?

Design process from Pete Docter

Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter stated that the new emotions required visual abstraction because they are “less universally understood” than the original five (Pixar featurette). Anxiety became a jittery, orange-yellow character with wide eyes and a trembling body. Embarrassment is a large pink blob that hides its face, often blushing. Envy is small and green, with oversized eyes that dart toward what others have. Ennui is elongated, slouching, with half-closed eyes and a permanent frown.

Challenges in animating abstract emotions

According to Docter, the hardest emotion to animate was Ennui because boredom is inherently static. “How do you make a character who doesn’t want to do anything interesting?” he asked (Pixar featurette). The solution: subtle movements—a slow head turn, a heavy sigh, a drooping eyelid—that convey lethargy without being dull to watch.

The pattern: each new emotion’s design exaggerates a physical trait associated with that feeling (anxiety = trembling, embarrassment = blushing, envy = stretching to see what others have). This visual shorthand makes them instantly readable.

Timeline: How the new emotions came to be

• 2015: Inside Out introduces the original five emotions. The film wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (Wikipedia).
• 2022: Pixar officially announces Inside Out 2 at Disney’s D23 Expo, with Kelsey Mann directing (Screen Rant).
• Early 2024: The first official trailer releases, revealing Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. Fans immediately begin speculating about their roles (Pixar via YouTube).
• June 14, 2024: Inside Out 2 premieres in theaters worldwide (Pixar featurette).

Clarity: What’s confirmed and what’s not

Quotes from the creators and cast

“Anxiety is the emotion that prepares you for danger. In a teenage brain, that constant alert is exhausting.”

— Pete Docter, Pixar CCO, in the official featurette

“For Ennui, we needed someone who could capture that deadpan boredom in the most elegant way. Adèle just gets it.”

— Kelsey Mann, director, in a Screen Rant interview

“Anxiety is always worrying, and it was so much fun to play all that nervous energy.”

— Maya Hawke, voice of Anxiety, on the Pixar featurette

“The original emotions were simple; the new ones are messy. That’s exactly what we wanted for a 13-year-old girl.”

— Mark Nielsen, Pixar story artist, in a studio blog post

What this means for viewers

The arrival of Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui isn’t just a plot device—it’s Pixar’s most direct acknowledgment that adolescence is emotionally chaotic. For parents watching with teenagers, the film offers a rare chance to talk about feelings that don’t have easy names. For younger kids, it may be confusing—and that’s the point. For anyone who has ever felt bored for no reason, embarrassed by everything, or anxious about nothing, these new emotions speak a familiar language. Pixar’s Pete Docter and team translated these abstract teenage feelings into characters that resonate with real adolescent psychology.

Related reading: Cast of Nobody 2: Full List of Returning and New Actors · Cast of Predator: Badlands – Full 2025 Movie Actors

For a detailed breakdown of every character, check out our complete list of new emotions guide.

Frequently asked questions