Summary
When we were first introduced to Embarrassment inInside Out 2, I immediately hated the character, but as the film went on, the lovable goof slowly grew on me.Inside Out 2premiered in theaters on August 10, 2025, to critical acclaim and financial success, withInside Out 2breaking box office recordafter box office record. With most of the returning cast, the same incredible Pixar animation, and a new intriguing plot,Inside Out 2did right by fans of the franchise.
Inside Out 2has all the requisite cry momentsthat we’ve come to expect from Pixar movies, and it retains the whip-smart sense of humor from the first film without feeling like it’s retreading ground. This time around, Riley (Kensington Tallman) is experiencing puberty, which to Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) means having a much bigger and more complicated control panel to work with. Worse, they are joined by four new emotions,one of which I had a visceral reaction to.
Inside Out vs. Inside Out 2: Which Pixar Movie Is Better
Inside Out and Inside Out 2 are both excellent movies, but when comparing their story, animation, cast, and big emotional ending, one stands out.
Inside Out 2’s Embarrassment Reminded Me Of Being Riley’s Age — On An Uncomfortable Level
One of the four new emotions to invade Riley’s mind is Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), a large pink emotion with a bulbous nose. He wears a hoodie that he zips up around his whole face whenever Riley is in an uncomfortable situation. Embarrassment hides away from the other emotions, but he obeys Anxiety (Maya Hawke) unquestioningly.Anytime Riley makes a mistake or says something wrong, Embarrassment is on the controls, ready to make her feel ashamed.
Embarrassment is often referred to as “Big Fella” and “Big Guy” inInside Out 2.
However, thanks to Sadness, he comes around to the old emotions' way of doing things and eventually helps them stop Anxiety from doing any more damage. I think it’s safe to say thatalmost everyone has experienced the awful embarrassmentthat suddenly arrives in late middle school. It starts to feel like everything you do is wrong and all you want is to hide. I may not have worn a hoodie to hide my face, but I’m sure my slouched posture was in part a result of trying to make myself small whenever I felt embarrassed.
There were so many times in middle school and high school that I would look at someone “popular” and think “They must have all the confidence in the world,” butInside Out 2points out that embarrassment is a natural emotion and one that everyone will feel.
Embarrassment is a very lonely emotion as well. It feels like there’s a spotlight on you. The reality is that everyone feels that way at one time or another. There were so many times in middle school and high school that I would look at someone “popular” and think “They must have all the confidence in the world,” butInside Out 2points out that embarrassment is a natural emotion and one that everyone will feel.
At first, Embarrassment reminded me of all the ways I felt alone, but by the end of the movie, he reminded me of what makes us all human, and thus he became my favorite.
Why I Don’t Buy The “Embarrassment Is Bing Bong Reincarnated” Inside Out 2 Theory
Embarrassment And Bing Bong Do Look Alike, But That’s Where Their Similarities End
There’s anInside Out 2theory swirling around the internet that Embarrassment is actually a reincarnated Bing Bong fromInside Out. There have been a lot oftheories surrounding Bing Bong. He’s a popular and beloved character and fans want him back. I get it. But let me put the kibosh on this. He’s not Embarrassment. Every argument comes down to “they are both big and pink”. Well, if that’s a qualifying piece of evidence, then Sadness and Forgetter Bob are also the same character. They’re both blue and blobby, aren’t they?
The two represent completely different things. Bing Bong represents Riley’s imaginative childhood and Embarrassment represents, well, embarrassment. More importantly,why would they be the same character?If the only reason for a movie theory to be true is to confirm some commenter’s suspicions, then it’s a bad theory. It might be fun to think that Embarrassment is secretly a protective hero from childhood, but he’s not. He’s a difficult emotion inInside Out 2—one we, like Riley, learn to deal with as we grow up.
Inside Out 2
Cast
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.
