SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center:'Inside Out 2' spoilers! How the movie ending will tug on your heartstrings

Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Centerthe ending of the new Pixar animated sequel “Inside Out 2,” so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.

Sometimes we all need a little help from others, even the personification of anxiety itself.

In “Inside Out 2,” Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) arrives with other new emotions in young Riley’s mind when she turns 13. A stressful hockey camp turns into an inner battle for the girl’s Sense of Self, with Anxiety “suppressing” the core emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira) by sending them to the far reaches of Riley’s brain. They venture back, while Anxiety is left to her own devices and does more harm than good as Riley ditches her besties and desperately tries to make a good impression on her coach.

Anxiety "comes in with a lot of energy about how she's going to fix the problem and then realizes that her toolkit is not enough on its own, and that she needs this team and needs to work together,” Hawke says. “The end goal she sees is, ‘How do I get Riley everything she wants?’ But happiness doesn't necessarily come from getting everything you want. It comes from aspiring to get what you want in a healthy way.”

Director Kelsey Mann breaks down the ending, a post-credits scene and what a third “Inside Out” could look like.

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What happens in the ending of Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’?

During an important scrimmage at her camp, Riley feels intense pressure to perform, leading to her being sent to the penalty box. She has a panic attack and inside her mind, Anxiety has whipped herself into such a frenzy that she gets stuck at the console in the middle of a literal storm of emotion. Joy makes her way to Anxiety and tells her to “let go,” which allows Riley to calm down, finish the game and reconnect with her friends.

Mann reveals that climax evolved during the making of “Inside Out 2.” Anxiety “taking over and spinning out of control was always there” but having her be part of the solution, and it being clear that Anxiety loves Riley as much as Joy does, didn't come till later in the process – and turned into a bit of a life lesson.

“They're two parents arguing over how to best take care of their child,” Mann says. “She's trying to help Riley, but she just went too far and got caught up in it like we all can do just as parents and as people. And like Anxiety, our anxieties can spin. I've definitely had that happen in my own life. It can get to a point where it's actually harmful.

“So it's learning how to manage anxiety in a way that can be really helpful to your life.”

Is there a post-credits scene in ‘Inside Out 2’?

Yep, and it pays off a funny bit introduced early in the film. When Joy and Co. are banished to a vault of stuff Riley doesn’t want to think about, they meet a large, Grim Reaper-type guy in black who is the girl's Deep Dark Secret. He doesn’t reveal himself at that moment – “Not yet,” he tells Joy – and the movie ends with that hanging over the narrative. At least until the post-credits scene. Joy goes back to find out what that secret is and he finally tells her: Riley once burned a hole in her parents’ rug. “That's it? I thought you were going to say the time we peed in the pool,” Joy says. Deep Dark Secret reacts with a shocked face and slinks back into the vault. “And he’s gone,” Joy sighs. 

That epilogue was a last-minute addition to the movie after some test screenings for audiences, Mann says. “I always loved the idea of leaving a little mystery with Deep Dark Secret and having audiences debate as to what the secret was. But the more we showed it, the more people were dying to know what it was.”

What age will Riley be in a third ‘Inside Out’?

The final scenes show Riley in her early high school days, hanging out with hockey pals, getting good grades and appearing to make the Firehawks – all with the nine emotions working well together. While no third movie is set yet, the fact that Riley’s now in high school opens up the floodgates of possibilities, from romantic crushes and first loves to friends and frenemies, driver’s ed and so much more.

“There's something about the ‘Inside Out’ world where it's met with open arms. Everybody's like, ‘What age is she? I can't wait to hear where she is in her life,’ ” says Mann, who already has “a whole stockpile of ideas” that were cut from the second outing. “They're too good, they're too funny, they're too interesting for them not to be tapped into. So I have no idea where the future will go, (but) it should continue because I think it's something that the audience really wants.”