Pixar’s Inside Out Spin-Off Series Follows Dream Productions In A Mockumentary Format [D23]

Pixar’s “Inside Out” took us inside the head of an 11-year-old girl named Riley as she coped with moving across the country and coming to terms with the complicated feelings that come with beginning a new chapter in life. The animated movie delivered a story that pulled at everyone’s heartstrings and provided us with plenty of laughs through the anthropomorphized emotions of Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). 

Nearly 10 years later, we returned to Riley’s mind as she turned 13 years old and suddenly found herself feeling all sorts of new sophisticated emotions while making new friends at a summer hockey camp. “Inside Out 2,” which introduced new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), became a gigantic smash hit, crushing records left and right and cementing “Inside Out” as a surprisingly important tentpole franchise for Disney and Pixar moving forward.

During Disney’s presentation at D23 in Anaheim, the studio revealed some new information about the planned “Inside Out” spin-off series, and our own Jacob Hall was on hand to see what they have in mind for the future of this franchise. Here’s what we learned.

We now know for sure that the “Inside Out” spin-off series coming to Disney+ in 2025 has the title “Dream Productions,” focusing on the Hollywood-style studio inside all of our minds from the film series. Set between “Inside Out” and “Inside Out 2,” “Dream Productions” looks, according to /Film’s Jacob Hall, like it’ll be presented in a sort of mockumentary style and focus on the cast, crew, and creators of Riley’s dreams — and it’s set in the studio where her dreams are carefully crafted each night, “on time and on budget.” Hall described the footage as having “a real vibrant, anarchic energy” and said that Riley’s dreams are “vivid and wild and a bit gonzo in their presentation,” so it seems as if the series will split its focus between the high-octane dreams and the office culture of the Dream Productions studio itself.

All in all, it looks like “Dream Productions” is Pixar’s own spin on both “making-of” documentaries and mockumentary shows like “The Office” and “Abbott Elementary,” but fans will have to wait until next year to really get to know whatever new characters emerge from this series. For now, “Inside Out” is available on Disney+, and you can rent or buy “Inside Out 2” on major digital platforms on August 20.