I’m actually not sure why it took so long for me to get to Riley and her mom Jill for this series. I wanted to do the Sleepover Raid girls who had moms early on, but I think I just got caught up in other pairing ideas. So she ended up pushed back, but we’re here now. One benefit of the wait is that I got to use her slightly older design from the second film, with this being the first time I’ve drawn this version of Riley. As for Jill, she’s one of my favorite Pixar moms, maybe second only to Helen? I’m not sure I’m prepared for a tier list but she’s definitely up there.
So Joy isn’t able to get into the specifics here, but I figured I might just in case anyone was interested. So the emotions in Riley’s head are, of course, metaphorical. Like, I don’t think if you put her in an X-ray you’d see the command center and everything in there. So, to bring Joy into the Studio, she was brought in separately as a character, which is also why the other emotions aren’t in the Studio. Then, for her brief appearance in Sleepover Raid, she was set up in a set made to resemble the inside of Riley’s head from the film. This means that, within the Studio canon, Joy can act freely and interact with other characters, including Riley. I’m sure Studio Joy wouldn’t waste much time in doting on Riley, and I tried to make it clear they have an ongoing dynamic where Joy embarrasses Riley in one way or another.
I’m hoping to do a little more Inside Out stuff sometime in the future. Riley has a new, slightly older design in that movie, plus I’ve never gotten around to her MomSwap (although that one will probably use the first movie’s designs). I have some sketches of Sadness I’m thinking of dusting off, plus I’m interested in maybe doing something with Riley and Val from the second film. No clue how much of that will end up seeing the light of day, but this Ask is me exploring going back to this franchise a little eventually.












