Riley’s feelings for Val in Insider Out 2 revealed by the co-writer of the Pixar sequel

Pixar is finally ready to open up about Riley’s true feelings towards Val in Inside Out 2. The original film focused on 11-year-old Riley, but the $1.7 billion sequel was selected in two-year Time Jump. New emotions have also been added to the inner universe, such as anxiety (Maya Hawk), vy hope (Ayo Edebiri), embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and enny (adèlee exarchopoulos). With so many changes, Riley (Kensington Tallman) has to prepare for his life as a high school student. Meanwhile, she struggles with the need to pay respect from her teammate Val (Lilimar Hernandez).

In an interview with Screen Rant at the critics’ Choice Awards, Pixar co-author Dave Holstein explored the true nature of Riley’s Crush on Val in Riley’s Insider Out 2. Other writers wanted to “give her to someone she respects.” That ultimately means including a confident Val. See his full description below.

I think the whole film discussion is to give her to someone who respects the way freshmen respect their seniors. I mean (it’s) a girl squashes it like that, but it’s like there’s someone… I’ve always had this at school. They are probably 18 months older, but they only find confidence in themselves and speak to where people want to be that age in their lives. Frankly, it’s not even age, it’s confidence and we wanted to give her that personality, give her anxiety, and give us a movie.

What Val meant Riley in Inside Out 2

She was more than just another crash

The transition between middle school and high school is extremely difficult. For Riley, who only moved to the area two years ago, it brought more challenges. Riley was also becoming a teenager, which meant new hormones, emotions and responsibility. Meanwhile, she was forced to balance her love for hockey and with so much change in her life, Riley’s “Girl Crush” was another stage of her growth.

There was speculation that Riley might have had a romantic interest in Val, but it’s unlikely that future films will grow into more. Pixar workers reportedly decided to make Riley “less gay” after Alisha kissed his wife Kiko and after a Lightyear failure. It makes sense to some extent for Holstein to describe this relationship as a “girl crash” as there is suspicion of orders to introduce Riley as an LGBTQ+ character. Pixar’s explanation revealed that Riley was still adapting to her new life, so it wasn’t just that she needed to impress her confident friend.

Riley’s story is still underway

She can still explore romance in the future

Inside Out 3 has not been officially confirmed, but it is almost certainly on the way. It simply makes sense for Riley to leave a romantic storyline for a future film that is much older and better prepared. It gives her more space to explore that element of her life. It’s a shame that Pixar said he refused to confirm Riley as an LGBTQ+ character, but it could still be a continuing storyline for her. Val was nothing more than a role model and “Girl Crush,” but in future films, Riley was able to find other characters to win her heart.

Pixar offers insight into Riley’s future. In another interview with ScreenRant, Inside Out 2 co-author Holstein explained that Riley “has a lot of life left to explore.” He wants to see “big stories every few years” of her life, but he especially wants to follow Riley “through motherhood.” That means viewers can look in a more romantic direction for her. Everything can change as the story progresses, but romance is an important aspect of what Riley’s life will one day. What’s more, it’s particularly interesting to see the depiction of love as emotion.

Our view on Riley’s crash to Val

It works as it is now

The relationship may have provided an additional pathway to exploring Riley’s sense of self. Anxiety, embarrassment, and ennui may all have gained a deeper response from actual romantic relationships. But just because it was one potential path, it’s not the only potential storyline. The story resonates with countless viewers and continues today. After all, I had a tomatometer score of 91% and an audience score of 95% on rotten tomatoes. Even that discounts box office success. There was so much approval that there was no reason to include an arc that might not be working very well.

The original film made $859 million worldwide. That was a fair sum, but about half of what a sequel was coming. The follow-up introduced new characters, new high school environments, and new emotions that Riley would explore. Some of the inside out actors have even been recast. These were massive risks that could lead to unfortunate returns. Instead, it was a terrible success by all the key metrics. With Pixar having a $1.7 billion box office gross behind, the studio is free to take certain risks in Riley’s story after Inside Out 2.