Inside Out 2 Features A Stealthy Tribute To A Sesame Street Icon

Pixar Animation often brings in some of the best voice talent in the business for the animated features, even if it's just for bit parts. For example, the original "Inside Out" featured the voices of Frank Oz and Dave Goelz as a pair of bickering subconscious guards inside Riley's mind. Oz is probably best known for bringing life to Yoda in the "Star Wars" saga, but he was also behind beloved Muppets like Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy, as well as "Sesame Street" characters like Grover and Bert. Meanwhile, Goelz is known for playing Gonzo and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in various Muppets productions over the years. Both of them return with small parts as Mind Cops in "Inside Out 2," and if director Kelsey Mann had his way, there would have been one more legendary contribution to "Sesame Street" and the Muppets making an appearance.

During a press conference leading up to the release of "Inside Out 2," Mann reminisced about his love for both the Muppets and "Sesame Street." The two franchises often had characters crossover between them, because all the puppet characters on the children's program are Muppets creations. The filmmaker even noted, "I watched it way beyond the age I should watch it." In fact, his love for "Sesame Street" went so far that he once recognized Caroll Spinney, the man behind characters like Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, in a shopping mall. Mann recalled:

"He was such a lovely man. I feel so grateful I had a chance to actually meet him. I actually recognized him in a mall. [...] I felt like I had won the lottery. He was such a kind, gentle-hearted person. Yeah. You have your heroes, and you wish that they could live up to your expectations, and he did that times a thousand. Anyway, he's passed away, but I would've put him in the movie as a voice. But there's a little Easter egg nod to Carroll Spinney in this movie."

If you missed it or you want to see it for yourself in the theater, we know right where this tribute to the late Caroll Spinney appears.

In "The Art of Inside Out 2," Mann revealed that there was once going to be a more obvious Easter egg honoring Caroll Spinney. Mann explained:

"Spinney's Pizza was a restaurant the girls visit after their championship game. Although we cut the scene for time, we were able to repurpose the pizza and the logo later in the film."

That means we would have seen Spinney's Pizza appear pretty early on in the movie after Riley and her friends have that big game victory that leads to their hockey camp recruitment. Thankfully, as Mann said, they were able to reconfigure Spinney's Pizza for an appearance later in the movie. In the scene where Riley is hanging out with the Firehawks during hockey camp, they're eating pizza in a common area, and if you look carefully, you'll notice on the boxes that the pies come from Spinney's Pizza. Below, you can see that Spinney's likeness inspired the pizza logo in various concept art designs. 

Pixar Animation / Chronicle Books

That's just one of the many Easter eggs you'll find in "Inside Out 2." Keep an eye out during the scene where all the emotions are asleep in headquarters, and you'll see a little makeshift statue of the beloved imaginary friend Bing Bong sitting on Joy's shelf. Plus, the traditional appearance of Pixar's A113 Easter egg pops up outside the vault where Riley keeps her secrets. Riley's bedroom also has a poster for 4-Town, the boy bad from "Turning Red." There are likely many more waiting to be discovered.

If you'd like to know more about Caroll Spinney, there's an entire documentary about him called "I Am Big Bird," streaming now on Peacock, Kanopy, Hoopla, and more. But if you want to hear more about "Inside Out 2," be sure to listen to our episode of the /Film Daily podcast, where we dig even deeper into the Pixar sequel:

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