I’m giving Animation Scoop one final look “inside” Pixar before their latest movie is “out” in theaters next week. Here are my conversations with four more makers of Inside Out 2. (These interviews were combined and edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: What do you want to say to the teens of 2015 and the teens of today?

Rebecca McVeigh (Story Artist): The teens who saw the first one who are a little bit older now: I think you’re gonna recognize what Riley’s going through. And also for the teens of today. I think it’s very relatable that way.

JM: What were some of the most difficult decisions as far as bringing in the four new characters?

RM: Some drawing challenges. The more characters in a shot, the more work it is. But it’s also, “How do you know who to focus on?” — when there’s so many brightly colored, beautiful characters to look at. Making sure the audience is looking where they’re supposed to look and never feeling distracted.

JM: In coming to Pixar, what other film gave you the emotions that we feel in these “Inside Out” movies?

RM: My favorite Pixar film is “A Bug’s Life”, but maybe it doesn’t tap into the deeper, emotional feelings. If I had to think of one that really tugged at my heartstrings, it’s “Up”. I saw that when I was a teenager, and it really gets you in the first 15 minutes, and I couldn’t believe that a film could pull that off. It’s so incredible.

JM: Riley looks to Valentina as inspiration — being at this hockey camp. Who have you looked to as inspiration?

RM: I have a lot of mentors at this place. I feel very lucky to be able to say that. Our head of story, John Hoffman, was a huge voice of support for me on this film. When I was first coming up as a story artist, I was actually an intern here. When I was here, I had two mentors, Jason Katz and Scott Morse. They’ve also given me so much invaluable advice over the years.

JM: And how did that internship shape who you have become as a part of “Inside Out 2”?

RM: It really taught me the craft of what we do here. The internship is so focused on, “I know you know what storyboarding is. This is how we do it at Pixar.” It built me from the ground up into the type of storyteller Pixar is looking for. I loved that entire experience, and it gave me the foundational knowledge I needed to work on this movie.

JM: Dovi and Evan, you both worked on the first “Inside Out”. Riley is growing up and learning about maturity. How would you say you have grown and matured in this animation space, right alongside these characters?

Dovi Anderson (Animation Supervisor): With every film you work on, you learn something.

Evan Bonifacio (Animation Supervisor): And this is our first time as leads, so I think we’ve both grown as leaders in this department. Really stepping into that role for the first time. Pretty huge for the both of us.

JM: Another high-profile sequel for Pixar. Even though this is a sequel, could you start anew in some way?

DA: Definitely playing with Riley in a new phase of her life. A new challenge. She is different — navigating some different waters. But also in the mind world: figuring out how we make these four new emotions just as fun and meaningful and poignant to fit into this much bigger pantheon. It’s a big challenge to make them feel like they’re not just shoe-horned in there.

JM: What kind of guidance are the voice performances for you as far as the work that you do and the decisions that you have to make?

EB: Definitely a lot. When they do the recordings, they video tape them as well, so animators are able to reference those.

JM: One of the big themes is change. When you look at the technology space since the first “Inside Out”, how do you look at change?

EB: We’ve got a lot more tools.

DA: We have a higher character count, and we’re very lucky that the efficiency of our tools has increased. We were able to work just as fast with more characters that were more dense and more complicated than we were nine years ago.

JM: We insert ourselves into a hockey sequence at the beginning of the movie, and it’s a cool way to bring us in. How did that excite you?

Jason Deamer (Production Designer): The way Kelsey [Mann] spoke about it, and I agree with him, is that it’s almost a surprising start. “Are we in the right theater?” The sequels that I love the most are the ones that expand the world and don’t feel like they’re repeating the film before. It’s tonally different than the way the first one starts. With “Inside Out 2”, I don’t want to feel like we’re in the memory stacks again. That was the first movie. It should feel like you’re in the same mind, but in new places that are exciting and interesting.

JM: What is a special moment you got to bring to life that audiences should pay attention to?

JD: There’s something that happens in the back of the mind… storytelling-wise it’s really powerful. It’s very, very moving and spectacular.