WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Inside Out 2!
Summary
I love watching a good double bill at the movie theater, andStar Trek III: The Search for Spockand Disney Pixar’sInside Out 2are a perfect pairing. To celebrateThe Search for Spock’s 40th anniversary, the movie had a short theatrical re-release in the UK on the same weekend asInside Out 2hit theaters.Given that Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is an emotionally repressed Vulcan, it may seem insane to compareStar Trek 3to a movie where each emotion has a cartoon avatar. And yet, as I watched both movies on the big-screen, I was really struck by their thematic similarities.
InStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Enterprise risk their lives and careers to bring back their fallen comrade before the Genesis Planet destroys itself. InInside Out 2, Joy (Amy Poehler) and her fellow emotions have to reunite Riley (Kensington Tallman) with her sense of self before she’s torn apart by new emotion Anxiety (Maya Hawke). Both theStar Trekmovieand the Pixar sequel are classic quests that also examine what it’s like to experience the emotional turbulence of puberty.
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Star Trek 3 & Inside Out 2 Are Movies About Puberty
Inside Out 2tackles the complex set of emotions that we all experienced while going through puberty. As in the first movie, Joy is unnerved by the arrival of these new emotions, particularly Anxiety, who banishes the other emotions from the control room, meaning they can’t help Riley through this turbulent time. It’s not unlike how Kirk and the Enterprise crew are barred from returning to the Genesis Planet inStar Trek III: The Search for Spock. As Joy and her fellow emotions navigate Riley’s psyche,the landscape becomes increasingly unstable as the teenager struggles to respond to the physical changes that define puberty.
It’s no coincidence, after all, that the Genesis Planet finally falls apart when Spock is on the cusp of manhood.
Spock undergoes pubertyinStar Trek 3, which has a similarly destructive effect on the Genesis Planet. Like the destructive wave of negative memories and the Sar-Chasm inInside Out 2,the Genesis Planet also rips itself apart in response to Spock’s physical changes.It’s no coincidence, after all, that the Genesis Planet finally falls apart when Spock is on the cusp of manhood. Watching both movies back to back, I was really struck by how, 40 years apart,The Search for SpockandInside Out 2portray the destructive transition from childhood to adulthood in such a similar way.
The Search For Spock & Inside Out Are Both Quest Movies
Star Trek III: The Search for Spockis a quest movie, as Kirk and the crew ofthe starship Enterpriserace against time to reunite Spock’s “katra” - his life essence - with his newly regenerated body. At the end ofStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock placed his katra in the mind of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley). To make both Spock and McCoy whole again, Kirk and the crew have to take them back to Vulcan, wheretheir souls can be untangled during the “fal-tor-pan” ceremony. Spock’s katra is removed from McCoy, which heals both men and completes the Vulcan.
Inside Out 2tells a very similar story, as Joy is on a quest to retrieve Riley’s life essence from the Back of the Mind, a dark region where she’s been dumping Riley’s negative memories. The moral ofInside Out 2is very similar to the first one, which is that no matter how inconvenient they are, we need all our complicated emotions to be ourselves. Therefore,the climax ofInside Out 2is the inverse ofStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, as it relies on Anxiety’s “new” Riley and Joy’s “old” Riley combining to create the teenager’s true sense of self.
The fact that a Pixar movie from 2024 and aStar Trekmovie from 1984 can both tap into the universal experiences of puberty and struggling with emotions like anxiety and anger is a demonstration of their timeless appeal.
It was fascinating to watch bothInside Out 2andStar Trek III: The Search for Spockback-to-back in a movie theater. The fact that a Pixar movie from 2024 and aStar Trekmovie from 1984 can both tap into the universal experiences of puberty and struggling with emotions like anxiety and anger is a demonstration of their timeless appeal. We all struggle with our mental health from time to time, andInside Out 2genuinely helped me remember that, like Spock on the Genesis Planet, we’re nothing without our complex and conflicting emotions.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Cast
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is the third installment in the Star Trek film series, directed by Leonard Nimoy. Following the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the film follows Admiral James T. Kirk and his crew as they embark on a mission to recover the body of Spock, leading them to the Genesis Planet. The cast includes William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Christopher Lloyd.
Inside Out 2
Inside Out 2 is the sequel to the 2015 original film, which starred a young girl named Riley with a head full of emotions. - literally. With Amy Pohler as Joy, Bill Hader as fear, Mindy Kaling as Disgust, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, and Lewis Black as Anger, the all-star cast brought to life the emotions that adolescents face as they grow, change, and adapt to new situations. This sequel, currently in development, will bring Amy Pohler back as Joy, with Riley, now a teenager.
