Inside the Mind of Paula Persimmon and the Four Episodes of Inside Out’s “Dream Productions” Coming to Disney+ December 11th 2024. During D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event back in August we were in a small room for a panel called Exploring New Parts of the Mind: Behind the Design of Inside Out 2 + a Dreamy Surprise. That dreamy surprise was when Pixar showed the first episode of the upcoming series, “Dream Productions,” set in the same world as Inside Out.
Creating dreams at Dream Productions is a huge challenge—there’s a lot of pressure. According to producer Jaclyn Simon, the gold standard is not just if Riley remembers her dream—there’s more to it. “It might just be something she feels,” says Simon. “Everyone who’s working on her dreams is doing it to help Riley in some way, even if their methods conflict with each other. For Paula, it’s about letting go of what she knows—listening and learning.”
Top of mind for all the filmmakers at Pixar was the idea that the dreams in production are Riley’s dreams. “It was a lot of fun diving into it and pulling out my own memories of being that age,” says Valerie LaPointe, who directed the first two episodes. “We all loved exploring what’s going on with dreams and how influential they can be.”
According to LaPointe, the mockumentary style opened some creative avenues. “It was very appealing because we haven’t done anything like that before,” she says. “In episode 2, Janelle confides something shocking to the camera in an interview, and when she turns to walk away, you can see that Paula has heard it all. She looks directly at the camera. It’s gut-wrenching, and we wanted to lean into it.” Filmmakers employed tactics like hiding a camera behind a bush to ‘capture’ private moments as if the characters are not aware they’re being filmed.
PAULA PERSIMMON: is a seasoned director who’s the recipient of several Slumber Awards for her extraordinary productions. Unfortunately, those awards aren’t as shiny as they used to be. It’s been a long time since Paula has had a hit—and she’s struggling to relate to an older, more mature Riley. “All Paula knows are Rainbow Unicorn dreams,” says director Austin Madison. “If Joy is like Riley’s mom, taking care of Riley, then Paula is her fun aunt who loves to visit and spoil her. She’s a ball of energy. But she’s that aunt who was cool when you were little, but now needs to figure out how to reconnect.
For animation supervisor Tim Pixton, the series offered a lot of opportunities. “I think that’s one of the cool things about the show—the style of every dream is unique to the characters that are making them. It was a lot of fun for our animators to explore.”
PART 1: THE DREAM TEAM
Paula Persimmon was once the hottest director at Dream Productions, directing Riley’s favorite childhood dreams. But now that Riley is a teenager, Paula’s glitter-filled, cupcake-fueled productions are missing the mark. Worse, her dependable assistant director Janelle gets promoted. Desperate for a hit, Paula throws everything she has into her latest dream. The episode reveals Riley’s worries surrounding the upcoming school dance, including a dress her mom wore when she was a kid that’s “still in style.” Says LaPointe, “That was a literal memory of mine at around 12 years old. My mom got very excited about a dress that looked like a little girl’s dress with puffy sleeves and bows. I might’ve loved it when I was younger, but I had turned a corner.”
PART 2: OUT OF BODY
Paula’s new assistant director Xeni (aka the boss’ nephew) is a pretentious former daydream director—his indie vision confounds Paula. Tasked with helping Riley process her feelings about a school dance, Paula creates a more mature dream that fails. She fires Xeni and tries to win her old partner back. But Janelle’s debut dream is a huge hit, leaving Paula’s job on the line. “Paula isn’t in a great place, but she’s trying to put a positive spin on it,” says LaPointe. “She butts heads with Xeni in the first episode and now she’s handcuffed to him, so this episode has fun with their relationship. Paula directs a dream that is just painting over one of her old hits—of course, it’s a huge failure.”
PART 3: ROMANCE!
Paula reluctantly rehires Xeni, and they tackle a new dream genre: romance, starring Riley’s Canadian boyfriend, who’s resided in her imagination for years. The rocky partnership between Paula and Xeni sends their production off the rails, leading to unsettling and dangerous behavior in real life when Riley sleepwalks. Back in Dream Productions, the fallout will be dire. Austin Madison directed the episode. “Canadian boyfriend immediately makes this episode a win,” he says, who likens the beginning of the episode to the ‘Inside Out’ version of a rom-com. “We had so much fun riffing on the genre. Riley’s not boy-crazy so she gets bored, which prompts Paula to start chasing the wrong thing. “When Riley starts sleepwalking, it turns into a bit of a kinetic horror-movie sequence,” Madison continues. “The studio lights come down and the camera tilts and it goes off on its own.”
PART 4: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
When the studio boss strips creative freedom from the directors, everybody is on edge, including Xeni, who plots revenge on Paula. He writes a horrifying nightmare script that inadvertently ends up in production. Paula and Xeni must team up to stop the shoot— but surprisingly their efforts lead to an entirely new dream that just might give Riley the confidence she needs. “Paula is given one more shot,” says writer/director Mike Jones. “She and Xeni are finally on the same page. They know how important it is to stop this awful dream, which is really a recurring nightmare in which Riley meets her teenage self over and over again and gets embarrassed in front of her friends.” According to Jones, set art director Josh Holtsclaw and his team devised a brilliant set for the climactic part of the episode. “They created this cool carousel set that is circular, representing that constant repetition—Riley can’t wake up from the dream.”
Inside the Mind of Paula Persimmon and the Four Episodes of Inside Out’s “Dream Productions” Coming to Disney+ December 11th 2024
