Inside Out 2: Pixar's film at the heart of a huge controversy

Released last June, Inside Out 2 was a huge success for Pixar. However, the feature film is currently at the heart of a lively controversy. Recently, some artists who worked on the project have complained about the poor working conditions imposed by the firm.  

Inside Out 2: Huge Success

Released on June 19, Inside Out 2 is the latest from Pixar Studios. Directed by Kesley Mann, who succeeds Pete Docter (the first film dates back to 2015), Inside Out 2received rather positive feedback from the press and spectators. On the box office side, the feature film exceeded the billion mark with more than $1.6 billion in revenue worldwide. The film even entered the top 10 of the biggest box office successes of all time. A well-deserved triumph for Pixar, as this sequel, faithful to the original, allows us to reconnect with Riley's emotions, and especially ours.

A new controversy

Unfortunately, despite the quality of the film and the great ideas it advocates, the behind the scenes is rather worrying. According to IGN, several animators and Pixar employees have pointed out difficult and tiring working conditions. According to the American media, these anonymous sources have highlighted a mental and physical overloaddangerous for their health. These same sources claim that for a month or two, the animators hired on Inside Out 2 worked seven days a week.

Intensive work is not uncommon in Hollywood, especially as a production nears completion, and even more so in the world of animation. But what's different here is that Pixar reportedly implemented a general layoff, right after its employees' efforts to finish Inside Out 2. IGN cites another anonymous source:

The day of the layoffs sounded like a funeral. There were tears and complaints in the courtyard. These are images that will remain etched in my mind for a long time.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

These employees were therefore thanked without a bonus linked to the success of Inside Out 2. The animators and employees who were laid off were therefore unable to benefit from the triumph of this latest Pixar. A crazy injustice that can be explained because Pixar is not a member of the animators union, which protects animators from unfair treatment and dismissal. According to IGN, Pixar offers lower wages than some competing studios. In return, the company promises its employees a bonus based on the box office success of its works. One of Pixar's former employees told IGN that this process amounted to:

A final fuck from Disney.

He also commented on the success of Inside Out 2 which he translated as:

This success is bitter. Basically, it's like seeing your ex become a big movie star, and saying “I'm happy for you, but why?”.

Drifts that can be associated with the recent tidal waves that have hit Hollywood in recent years. Between the COVID-19 crisis and the recent writers' strikes, the balance in Hollywood has been altered.

There were also artistic differences surrounding the making of Inside Out 2.Some creatives wanted Riley to be a lesbian and have romantic feelings for Valentina. But Pixar bosses decided to do otherwise, and asked the creative teams of Inside Out 2 to rework the character numerous times. According to one of the sources interviewed by IGN, the possibility of seeing an LGBTQ+ main characterin a Pixar film is at its lowest.

Since the publication of the IGN article, neither Pixar nor Disney have wanted to react. But it seems that the same toxic pattern is being reproduced on the production of Elio, the next film from Pixar studios. Still according to the sources cited by IGN, Elio would be victim of the same problems as Inside Out 2:

It was a rushed, paranoid job, with paranoid management and mixed messages. You work 24/7. At a certain point, your body starts to fail. I think in a meeting, someone said, “Really? You killed everyone with Inside Out, and now you want to do the same with Elio?”

This This is not the first time that Pixar Studios has been in turmoil, but things clearly seem to be getting worse… It is a cruel pity that the various strikes of recent years have not fundamentally changed the abusive functioning of the big Hollywood studios… As for Elio, the film directed by Adrian Molina, it is expected June 18th in French theaters.