Inside Out 2: As Riley grows up, revenues grow exponentially
Est vs Actual domestic box office revenue: $526 – 608/$653MM
Ideal Plot structure reconstructed with 3 mythological tales increase revenues by ~1.5X
Inside Out 2 is a struggle between old & new emotions for dominance and its fallout on Riley’s life. Pete Docter & Ronnie del Carmen explore 3 basic human desires of vindictiveness, selfishness & protection in the story. These primal motivations take turns to drive the plot forward. Mythosis uses 3 mythological tales to extract the plot structure of the movie.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of any story
1A. 91% of the events are borrowed from 3 mythological tales
Joy's quest is driven by the desire to nurture & protect loved ones and mirrors the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology. Both Demeter & Joy attempt to save their abducted loved ones
Riley’s quest is driven by selfishness and mirrors the tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Riley realize the adverse impact of their selfishness.
Anxiety’s quest is driven by the desire to confront offenders and mirrors the tale of Duryodhan from Hindu mythology. Both Duryodhan & Anxiety acquire unscrupulously and refuse to compromise leading to a disastrous outcome.
Sadness & Embarrassment have underdeveloped quests.
The quests of all other Emotions are subsumed in the quests of Joy & Anxiety.
Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters and their mythological counterparts”
1B. 32 mythological tales are the source of all stories, even the untold ones
Human beings are driven by 16 fundamental desires. Every desire, whether encountering fulfilment or unfulfillment, gives rise to two distinct quests. Thus, a spectrum of 32 unique quests mirrors every human desire.
We have discovered mythological tales from across civilizations that uniquely portray each one of these 32 human quests. While each mythological tale stands as a distinct quest, the true magic unfolds when these tales are combined. This synergy is evident in the epics of Odyssey and Ramayan, where various universal quests seamlessly intertwine.
Combining any five tales from the 32, generates a staggering 24 million unique story plots. Take it a step further, by combining six tales the possibilities explode to an astounding 600 million!
The unique plot structure of Inside Out 2 is # 6,724. It emerges from interweaving the tales of Demeter, Valmiki & Duryodhan.
2. Plot structure potential of Inside Out 2: $526-608MM
2A. Plot structure evaluation
An analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plots has led to the discovery of Mythosis Code. The Code reveals the story principles shared by all Blockbusters. We use the Code to estimate a story’s potential.
All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Inside Out 2 uses 3 universal quests of Family, Accumulation and Vengeance.
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Joy mirrors the quest of Family. Riley mirrors the universal quest of Accumulation whereas Anxiety mirrors the quest of Vengeance.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Joy borrows 68% of events from the quest for Family. Riley borrows 42% from her universal quest whereas Anxiety borrows 40%.
Blockbusters interweave different quests to create a tight plot structure. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. The quest interweaving score of Inside Out 2 is 0.33 and is below par. An example of interweaving the quests of Joy & Anxiety:
2B. Estimating revenue potential from the plot structure
Inside Out 2 has a powerful plot structure. The strength lies in deeply using 3 universal quests. The only drawback is the interweaving between the three quests.
We have created an algorithm by assigning weights to the principles of The Mythosis Code. The algorithm calculates the potency of a story’s plot structure and estimates its corresponding audience appeal. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Inside Out 2 has a script potential score is 0.47 and the movie will appeal to 13.51 – 16.51% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $526 – 608MM in the domestic market.
3. The ideal plot structure of Inside Out 2
We have identified 32 universal quests that represent every human desire. These quests are the superset of thousands of stories across cultures that reflect our collective subconscious. Each quest has a structured sequence of events divided into 5 major arcs.
We map a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale (universal quest) which reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. The ideal Plot Structure is constructed by plugging these gaps with the missing events from the tale. These events strengthen both the journey of characters as well as the weaving of quests without altering the story.
3A. Quest of characters and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Joy mirrors the universal quest for Family
Joy’s desire for Family stems from the need to nurture and protect. The tale of Demeter from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Family.
Quest 2: Riley mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Riley’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect & own. The tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology has a robust expression in Dicken’s character of Scrooge which is the universal quest for Accumulation.
Quest 3: Anxiety mirrors the universal quest for Vengeance
Anxiety’s desire for Vengeance stems from the need to confront & punish offenders. The tale of Duryodhan from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Vengeance.
3B. Gaps in the current plot structure
The only gap in the rather robust plot structure is below par interweaving of quests. Unfortunately, it cannot be solved. Since the Emotions trigger Riley’s actions and events in Riley’s life trigger the Emotions into action it is not possible to interweave Riley’s quest with either Joy or Anxiety.
Since the above gap is not addressable, we looked beyond the existing quests of Joy, Riley & Anxiety. The current plot structure has underdeveloped quests of Sadness & Embarrassment that can be leveraged.
3C. Unlocking the hidden potential
For the ideal plot structure, we chose Embarrassment’s quest since it has more events than Sadness.
Embarrassment’s underdeveloped quest is driven by fairness & justice and mirrors the tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology. Both Prometheus & Embarrassment are, a. trusted lieutenants b. who recognize the exploitation by their masters c. and protest d. which makes their masters vindictive e. resulting in them leading a rebellion.
The investment in Embarrassment’s quest solves for the below par interweaving score. More importantly, an underdeveloped quest transforms into a compelling quest. And is as potent as the other 3 quests.
The ideal plot structure # 169,124 interweaves the tales of Demeter, Valmiki, Duryodhan and Prometheus. It adds another $250MM to the domestic revenues.
Tags:2024, Accumulation, Demeter, Duryodhan, Family, Idealism, Josh Cooley, Meg LeFauve, Pete Docter, Pixar Animation Studios, Prediction, Prometheus, Ronnie del Carmen, Valmiki, Vengeance, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
