Vice-Versa 2 and its funny nods to the first part

As the film comes out today in cinemas, we take stock of what you might have missed on first viewing.

In the United States, the film is already smashing the box office charts, achieving the best start of the year across the Atlantic during its first week of release. No surprise for this sequel, the first part of which released in 2015 was a great success with the public. Vice versa, it is an astonishing and innovative concept of anthropomorphism based on our emotions. A funny and playful exploration of the complexity of our brain which becomes a control tower guarded by our primary emotions: Joy, Anger, Disgust and Fear.

Nine years later, they return, but now they are no longer alone. We say hello to Anxiety, Boredom, Envy and Embarrassment. Riley, the main character, is full of emotions in Vice-Versa 2, when she reaches what is commonly called the thankless age. An upheaval in her life which disrupts the hockey camp in which she is participating and which challenges her self-esteem and her conception of friendship.

Is Pixar analyzing itself with Vice-Versa 2? (critical)

So as if to hang up the wagons, this new film from Pixar studios does not hesitate to make some references to the first part. For its release today in cinemas in France, we highlight its best winks to Vice versa original.

Riley grew up, but his clothes didn’t

Riley has just celebrated her thirteenth birthday, she is now in her early teens. And adolescence means change. In the first minutes of Vice-Versa 2, while Joie narrates the recent events in the young girl’s life – including her graduation and beautiful braces, we can see Riley in front of a mirror trying to put on a rainbow sweater become too small for her. A banal scene in itself, except that this garment is not just any one: it is the one worn by Riley in the first part. A clear visual transition: Riley from Vice-Versa has grown up, she is no longer a little girl. Goodbye pretty sweater!

By the way, have you noticed that there is a color for each primary emotion? The blue of Sadness, the yellow of Joy, the green of Disgust, the red of Anger, and the purple of Fear. But also, hidden, the orange of Anxiety! A warning sign of what awaits our heroine?

Boys, Boys, Boys

While this little ball of orange energy has taken control of Riley’s mind, Joy and the others are excluded and set out to find their host’s self-esteem, the one they had built together. For this, here they are exploring Riley’s brain, and it must be admitted: a lot of things have changed since Joy and Sadness’ last escapade in Vice versa.

Between all the new features stands the imposing Mount Crushmore: in place of the American presidents visible on the Mount Rushmore from which it is inspired, there are the faces of the teenager’s first loves. Among them: Lance, the brave video game hero who seems straight out of Final Fantasy of whom Riley is a fan (and she is not the only one), and Jordan.

Wait, but who is Jordan? Fans will have recognized it immediately. This is the boy in the cap and looking a little sluggish who we see at the very end of Vice versa and which we find in the following short film: First date ? It’s the beginning of love for Riley and worries for the parents…

The rest is available on Disney+.

But what is it ? Is it broccoli?!

To reach more quickly the place where self-esteem is built and where there are the buried memories where it was sent by Anxiety, our small group of emotions decides to go through a current of water, a river symbolizing the flow of thoughts. This one is quite changeable, and among the thoughts that come to Riley in Vice-Versa 2we find a vegetable well known to fans… BROCCOLI!

“The color doesn’t inspire me, it’s not great in terms of shape, no but wait, it’s broccoli!”

A long time ago, when Riley was still a young child, her parents tried to introduce her to new flavors, including this famous vegetable. Immediately, the diva Disgust who pushes the plate of broccoli far away stands out in a scene that has become cult. So when the latter resurfaces in this second part, it is difficult for the starlet to get on it and continue this adventure on the waters. But for Riley, she makes an effort.

Now the question we ask ourselves is: has broccoli been replaced by pepper in Japan like in 2015? For the wink to work, we hope it does.

Vice versa: Pixar had to modify a scene for Japanese audiences

“The friend of the teeth is Triple Tooth.”

We all have this little song that runs through our head, gets stuck there and that we sometimes think about in an innocuous way. In the middle of a meeting, why did we start thinking about these old advertising credits? We try to forget it, we send it to our deep memory, but it sometimes resurfaces. In Vice-Versa 2, while Riley is at a sleepover with her new friends, one of them asks her what her favorite band is. Anxiety, in charge, stress, and brings all of Riley’s music-related memories back to headquarters. Among them, we find an advertisement for Triple Dent chewing gum.

How can we forget this credits? If it is associated with a happy memory judging by the golden aura of the sphere, it quickly becomes annoying – especially for Anger who throws a fit every time the sound returns in the first part.

Joy and Sadness are in Riley’s mind and cross paths with two employees who we also see again in Vice-Versa 2. The latter, doing a bit of cleaning up the young girl’s memories, fall back on music and send it back to the control tower. Riley can’t help but mutter the words.

There you go, we too have it in our heads now. What if we left you with an hour of Triple Dent? Vice-Versa 2 has just been released in cinemas.