Inside Out 2: Revenues grow exponentially as Riley grows up

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 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. The possibilities explode to an astounding 650 million by combining six tales!

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 of Inside Out 2

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 score 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. Plot structure is the most important but least understood element of storytelling

Any plot structure that borrows events from at least 3 mythological tales has high resonance. In our own lives, each one of us identifies with at least one quest to fulfil a basic human desire. The more quests woven into a story, the wider its appeal.

The nature of mythological tales used, makes the plot structure fresh & unique. Besides, appealing to a larger audience size the interweaving of various human desires creates a unique and original story.

Interweaving mythological tales makes the plot structure cohesive. Stories become seamless when characters are woven with each other through their quests and not merely by relationships.

Characters are consistent when they mirror a single mythological tale. Characters pursuing more than one quest appear confusing due to their divergent desires.

Borrowing 35% or more events from each mythological tale strengthens both the plot structure & character. The plot structure becomes flat when characters borrow less than the threshold. Each mythological tale has multiple twists & turns hence no forced injection is required. Characters become layered & complex when their journey is deep.

2C. Measuring the revenue potential of Inside Out 2

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

Unfortunately, the gap in the plot structure, i.e. below par interweaving of quests, 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 by the existing quests, we looked for unexplored opportunities. The current plot structure has 2 underdeveloped quests of Sadness & Embarrassment.

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