Amy Poehler reacts to ‘Inside Out 2’ being Beyoncé’s top 2024 film

Amy Poehler can’t contain her emotions when it comes to Beyoncé.

Like most of us, the Emmy Award-winning actress is obsessed with the superstar’s music, as well as her comedic tour de force in the 2002 Austin Powers film “Goldmember.” So naturally, Poehler is verklempt when she learns that Beyoncé recently called “Inside Out 2” the best movie she has seen this year in a rare interview with GQ.

“Well, she’s a Virgo, so she knows what she’s talking about,” quips Poehler, who voices Joy in Disney/Pixar’s animated hit. “Wow! I’m kind of overwhelmed that Beyoncé liked it – I’m going to need a minute. (Laughs.) That means a lot. She’s just such a GOAT; she’s incredible at absolutely everything she does.”

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“Inside Out 2” is now streaming on Disney+, and available to purchase on digital platforms such as Apple TV and Prime Video. The sequel earned roughly $1.7 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time and the eighth-biggest film ever (not adjusted for inflation).

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Poehler chalks up much of the sequel’s success to timing. Like the first movie, “Inside Out 2” is set inside the mind of a girl named Riley (Kensington Tallman), only this time, she’s dealing with new teenage emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke). In the near-decade since the last film, popular culture has helped normalize discussions around mental health, particularly among Gen Z.

“People were really ready to talk about anxiety and how it bumps up against joy, and what is toxic positivity,” Poehler says. “People have just spent the past 10 years really going in and talking about their feelings, so it just felt like everyone was ready to meet it where it was.”

And for audiences like Beyoncé, a mother of three, “there’s a lot of themes in there about being a parent,” Poehler says. “How do you try to let the people that you love experience these things and not try to feel it for them?”

In the three months since “Inside Out 2” hit theaters, Poehler has enjoyed seeing how viewers have embraced Pouchy (James Austin Johnson), a talking fanny pack whom Joy encounters in Riley’s mind. (She admits there’s something a bit freaky about the character: “He doesn’t mind opening up his pouch, let’s just say that.”) The movie also teases Riley’s Deep Dark Secret (Steve Purcell), although to some fans’ disappointment, it’s revealed to be fairly innocuous in the post-credits scene. (The filmmakers “didn’t want to stress kids out” by leaving the secret unaddressed, Poehler explains.)

The movie was a highlight of “the best summer ever” for Poehler, who turned 53 last week. The beloved “Saturday Night Live” veteran rang in her birthday at the red-carpet premiere of Marvel series “Agatha All Along,” where she celebrated with her former “Parks and Recreation” co-stars Aubrey Plaza, Kathryn Hahn and Adam Scott.

“I’ve loved being in my 50s,” Poehler says. “I’ve had a really wonderful year filled with a lot of love, and I’m grateful for that. I’m trying to take a look at the stuff I have, and not focus too much on what I don’t.”

Looking ahead to awards season, “I really hope, to be very honest, that people consider ‘Inside Out 2’ for an Academy Award for best film,” she says. The last time an animated movie received a best picture Oscar nomination was in 2011, with Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3.”

She insists that there have been no discussions yet about an “Inside Out 3,” but “I’m always ready for more. I play Joy, so I’m always like: ‘Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!’ ”

And who knows? Maybe Beyoncé could voice a new emotion in the third movie.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” Poehler says with a grin. “God, aka Beyoncé.”