Nine years after Pixar released the delightful film Inside Out, the beloved animation studio is finally giving fans the long-awaited sequel. Riley, now thirteen years old, and all her emotions are back for another adventure, and fans can watch the story in all its glory on the big screen right now.
Ahead of the film’s release, in partnership with AMC Theatres, we sent some of CinemaBlend’s editors to IMAX® headquarters in Toronto and Los Angeles to learn about what goes into adapting a movie like Inside Out 2, and not surprisingly, it turns out everyone loves working on Pixar movies. As an example, during our conversation with IMAX’s Sr Manager of Digital Mastering Jeff Dunant, he talked about how there’s something about the animation studio’s color choices that just naturally “pop” on the big screen. Here’s a portion of his quote…
Pixar’s colors are always just so vibrant and striking, especially with the IMAX projection systems. The contrast is so good so the colors just pop. You see all of the emotions of Inside Out 2 and (the) saturated colors the Pixar filmmakers intended.
It’s not just the colors though, nor is it just Pixar. There have been huge improvements in how animated movies as a whole are formatted and adapted to the big screen. Because of those advancements, IMAX is now really able to immerse viewers in ways that can feel reminiscent of live action films.
We got a chance to speak with IMAX’s VP of Post Production Original Content and Image Capture Greg Ciaccio, and he had a lot to say on the matter. He told us about how more and more animated directors are starting to think about the IMAX Experience as they’re making the movie, which means they can make choices that will play as well as possible on the big screen.
For animation more lately than not, movies are actually thinking about IMAX when they are composing. When your seeing things in a normal theater it’s kind of like a portal, you’re kind of looking through a window. In IMAX you’re really experiencing the whole thing, it’s just larger than life.
That theme of directors working hand-in-hand with IMAX has been a recurring talking point in all our interviews. Whether films are shot using IMAX cameras or not, a team at the premium format leader has started engaging with and working alongside filmmakers during every step of the process. This allows the final print, which is different than the ones that run in other theaters, to be as authentic to the filmmaker’s vision as possible, whether that means it needs to be big and loud during the action scenes or it needs to be quiet and intimate for more personal scenes.
You can check out more from our IMAX interviews in the following video…
Inside Out 2 stars Amy Poehler, who is once again back for the lead role of Joy. She’s joined by a host of famous faces including Diane Lane, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Maya Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Ayo Edebiri and more. Go experience it in IMAX at your local AMC Theatre.