We Regret to Inform You That Bing Bong Is Still Very Much Dead in ‘Inside Out 2’
As part of its continuing effort to make adults cry uncontrollably in front of their children, Pixar included a real emotional wallop in 2015’s Inside Out. While traversing their host’s mind, Joy and Sadness encounter Riley’s forgotten imaginary friend Bing Bong, who sacrifices his life to save theirs, ultimately fading away from existence. Just try and watch this scene without ruining your device with blubbery teardrops.
Despite the fact that this moment served as a poignant dramatization of the death of childhood, a lot of people have been clamoring for Bing Bong to return for Inside Out 2. Some fans have even concocted elaborate theories to explain possible ways that Bing Bong could be resurrected like some kind of pink elephant Jesus.
While this would arguably ruin his heartbreaking scenes from the original movie, and completely invalidate the larger point it was trying to make about child psychology, that hasn’t stopped a number of reporters from asking the folks behind Inside Out 2 about Bing Bong’s hypothetical comeback.
In a recent interview, screenwriter Dave Holstein fielded questions about Bing Bong with the “cagey” response: “I’ll leave that open-ended.” When asked the same question, Amy Poehler was more blunt, stopping short of urging all of America to get their shit together and stop crying over a cartoon character.
“Well, pour one out for Bing Bong. Bing Bong is always in our hearts. Rest in peace. But Bing Bong is the ultimate sacrifice,” Poehler told CinemaBlend. “I mean, when Bing Bong died, you know, America mourned. But it has been 10 years, and we all have had a lot of loss. We’ve gotta keep going.”
Poehler’s co-star Maya Hawke agreed that Bing Bong’s death scene was a real “knife to the heart” moment, while Tony Hale and Liza Lapira (who took over the voices of Fear and Disgust from Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling) suggested that Bing Bong is now “everywhere.”
Having seen Inside Out 2, I can confirm that Bing Bong isn’t necromanced back to life, cloned or given the RoboCop treatment. He has no long lost twin, and the events of Inside Out aren’t revealed to be a dream. He’s dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.
That being said, producer Mark Nielsen did reveal that the sequel has “a bit of a nod to Bing Bong… he’s there.” Presumably he’s referring to the fact that Joy keeps an origami representation of Bing Bong and his magical rocket by her bed. So Bing Bong is at least not totally forgotten.
Plus, Bing Bong lives on in the form of his voice actor Richard Kind. So the next time you or your kids get sad about Bing Bong’s passing, just pop on John Mulaney’s Everybody’s in L.A. and enjoy watching “Bing Bong” try to score some acid at the Hollywood Bowl.
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