The French premiere of “Vice-Versa 2” took place on Friday as part of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Among the most anticipated films of the event, the feature film received thunderous applause.
Waiting until the end of the session to applaud? Not here! In the large hall of the Bonlieu Cultural Center, the cheers don’t wait for the appearance of the credits. Thirty minutes before the start of the first French screening of the highly anticipated Vice-Versa 2, organized on Friday, June 14 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the audience’s hands clapped happily and only stopped to clap louder. No one on stage, yet the big screen displayed nothing but the traditional reminder not to film the screening. To understand what is causing such excitement, you first need to look up.
“This one’s going places!” Thomas, a festival-goer “ten and a half years old,” gets up from his seat. He holds a small white paper airplane in his hand and energetically throws it towards the screen. The projectile spins and falls, to his dismay, a few meters away.
This seemingly childish activity is not only practiced by the young boy. The airplane toss is the main occupation of the 925 spectators in the room. The intention is the same for each: to reach the stage, or – the ultimate success – to touch the screen. Applause erupts as soon as a projectile hits the target. Skill and perseverance mean that by the end of the session, the victorious planes number in the hundreds, as do the proud smiles.
A few minutes before the film’s screening, the cheers continue but this time more clearly directed. Kelsey Mann, the director of Vice-Versa 2, takes the stage to announce the winners of the Disney Art Challenge, a digital drawing competition for students organized by the studios for the twelfth consecutive year. He awards prizes ranging from 2000 to 8000 euros to four of the 414 participants and then successfully throws a plane into an ultra-joyful audience, more eager than ever to see the next chapter of Riley’s adventures.
In 2015, during the release of the first installment of Vice-Versa, Riley, the heroine of the saga, was eleven years old. Almost ten years later, the young girl is now thirteen and leads a quiet life with her parents and friends. But surprise, puberty knocks on the door. Overnight, Riley fears the gaze of others and can no longer stand being seen as a child. She is engulfed by all new emotions.
This second installment of Vice-Versa follows the structure of the first film. The plot alternates between Riley’s daily life – school, family meals, hockey games – and her psychic life where characters embodying emotions manage her reactions and mood. With the onset of puberty, however, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear are joined by four new characters: Anxiety, Envy, Boredom, and Embarrassment.
Disruptive as few, formidable agents of chaos, these newcomers elicit many reactions from the audience. During the screening, the audience laughs, exclaims, and inevitably, once the film is over, applauds for a long time. Some praise the different animation techniques used, while others debate which is the best new character.
While opinions on this may vary, the enjoyment seems to be collective. “Vice-Versa is without a doubt the movie I’ve watched the most in my life. As a teenager, I watched it on repeat,” explains a student. “It bothers me to say this, but I think this one is even better than the first,” he continues.