What's The 'A New Emotion' Meme? The 'Inside Out 2' Movie Scene And Its Memes Explained

Pixar's new Inside Out 2 film premiered in theaters all over the world last week and several internet users are already commenting on the animation and creating memes about the sequel. Some people are even using Anxiety's introduction scene as the exploitable "A new emotion" meme.

The little girl from the 2015 Inside Out animation already experienced emotions such as Joy, Anger, Sadness and Disgust. Now, netizens are using their creativity to add more nonsensical and funny emotions inside Riley's mind.

Where's The 'A New Emotion' Meme From?

The "A new emotion" meme started after Inside Out 2 film's first trailer was revealed in November 2023, introducing the emotion "Anxiety" as a new character.

On November 12th, Instagram user @inzanelyrejected_denied posted a version of Anxiety's character introduction scene using an image of the sitting wolf meme as the new emotion (shown below), being one of the earliest examples of the "a new emotion" meme.

How Did 'A New Emotion' Become A Meme?

The Inside Out 2 scene quickly became a viral exploitable meme on X, Instagram and TikTok, in which people replaced Anxiety with nonsensical and random emotions. For example, on June 21st, 2024, TikToker @chasingxthesun added a video of Oasis' singer Liam Gallagher as a new emotion (seen below, left), while TIkToker @orsonpadilla63 posted a comedy skit video with the Spanish dubbed version of the Inside Out 2 scene (seen below, right).

For the full history of the "A new emotion" meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.