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Minnesotan behind ‘Inside Out 2’ helps kids name ‘hard emotions’

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Pixar’s second installment of the movie features characters we’ve already met — Joy, Sadness and Anger — and gives them a new roommate named Anxiety.

MINNEAPOLIS — Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” universe plays out inside the mind of the movie’s adolescent protagonist, Riley.

She plays a kid from Minnesota whose family uproots her life by moving to San Francisco. But did you know that what plays out in Riley’s mind actually comes from the mind of a real-life Minnesotan?

“You are one of us!” said Breaking the News anchor Jana Shortal. 

“Yes, I am!” said Burnsville native and the movie’s creator and director, Kelsey Mann. 

Mann was chosen for the role by ANOTHER Minnesotan — Pete Docter, the man behind the original movie, “Inside Out.”

“I don’t know if Pete asked me to do this movie because I was from Minnesota and he was from Minnesota … I just think it worked out that way,” Mann said.

How two guys from the south metro made a pair of Pixar movies that would change the game is a hell of a story that began with Docter in 2015.

“He [Docter] was just trying to tell a fun story — an emotional, fun story — and didn’t realize how much it would help give kids a vocabulary to talk about things they were feeling because they are feeling those emotions, but they’re really hard to talk about,” Mann said.

Some parents, counselors and teachers might even tell you it did more good for kids than just entertain them. It unlocked their emotions and begged for what Mann set out to create at the beginning of 2020.

“That part was fun, particularly fun,” he said. “I think the daunting part was following up a film that everyone really loved.”

But Mann knew what he wanted to do with the movie’s follow-up, “Inside Out 2.”

“Diving into Riley’s adolescence … that was just fun,” he said.

This time around, Riley is 13, hitting puberty and facing all of what, and who, comes with it. The franchise’s second installment features characters we’ve already met — Joy, Sadness and Anger — and gives them a new roommate named Anxiety.

“I think that’s what’s fun about the ‘Inside Out’ world: You can take something we all know and give it a face,” Mann said. “We can give anxiety a name and a face.”

The film follows Riley’s emotions fighting it out for control of her life. Joy wants Riley to stay young and hold on only to joy, while anxiety is hell-bent on taking over Riley over at the age of 13 because as a lot of us know, that’s when anxiety often moves in.

“I always pitched it as a takeover movie, like an emotional takeover,” Mann said. “Anxiety can kind of feel like that; it can take over and kind of shove your other emotions to the side and repress them.”

For a kids’ movie, it’s hard to watch this animation play out, even when an adult has the keys to decide.

“I’m making a movie about anxiety and I still have to remind myself to have my anxiety take a seat,” Mann said.

All of our individual anxieties have a place in this world.

“The whole movie honestly is about acceptance. Both acceptance of anxiety being there and also of your own flaws,” said Mann.

Even for our kids, we have to remember that this is life.

Anxiety will come for them; it does for us all.

The “Inside Out” world just shows them it’s so.



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Kare11

Minnesota voters approve extending lottery funds to environment

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Voters first approved the constitutional amendment back in 1988.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Voters in Minnesota overwhelmingly said yes to a constitutional amendment that renews the use of proceeds from the Minnesota Lottery for environmental projects and causes across the state. 

The Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund was up for renewal in the 2024 election. About 77.5% of constituents voted yes, renewing the source of funding until 2050 and additionally, increasing the dollars that can be spent annually from this fund, according to the Associated Press. 

With 99% of the vote reported, only 16.2% of voters said no to the amendment. 

Minnesota voters first approved the constitutional amendment in 1988, opting to dedicate a portion of lottery proceeds to the fund. Each year since the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources has worked to help disperse that funding for projects that reflect Minnesota’s love of the outdoors and preservation of the environment. 

Those projects have included research on drinking water, wastewater and air quality. They have also helped fund new parks, trails and campsites; supported loon and bison populations; and fostered outdoor activities. Lottery proceeds have provided more than $1 billion since 1988. 



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Special election gives control of Minnesota State Senate to Dems

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DFL Sen. Kelly Morrison resigned her seat to run for Congress, prompting a special election.

MINNETONKA, Minn — The stakes were high in west metro suburbs going into this election. Voters in Senate District 45 had a special election to determine the balance of power in St. Paul. 

Voters in the district chose DFLer Ann Johnson Stewart with 52.43%% of the vote, over Republican Kathleen Fowke, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State.

This was the only Senate District with an election Tuesday. The other 66 districts won’t be in play until 2026, because senators currently serving were elected to four-year terms back in 2022. But DFL Sen. Kelly Morrison resigned her seat to run for Congress, prompting a special election to replace Morrison in SD45 the same day as the November 5 General Election.


Morrison’s departure left the chamber deadlocked at 33 Democrats and 33 Republicans. Now, when lawmakers come back for the 2025 Session, the DFL will have a one-seat advantage. 

Johnson Stewart is a civil engineer who served a two-year term in 2021-2022 Legislature. As a result of redistricting in 2022, she ended up in the same district as Morrison, who won the DFL endorsement in SD45. 

She told KARE 11 in an October interview she wants to solve the water supply and wastewater treatment issues in the district, which wraps around Lake Minnetonka.



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Minnesota college students excited to vote for the first time

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Steve Simon visited a polling location at the Lakeville Water Treatment Facility on Tuesday morning.

LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Leading up to Election Day, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said he’s hopeful for two things: high voter turnout and low drama. Speaking from a polling place in Lakeville Tuesday morning, Simon said that’s exactly what he’s seeing at polling locations across the state.

When polls opened at 7 a.m. on Election Day, Simon said more than 1.2 Minnesotans had already voted absentee and by mail.

“It’s a good day to be a Minnesotan,” he said. “We were number one in America for three out of the last four elections including the last presidential election, and we want to get back to number one, back to that top spot, today.”

As of Tuesday morning, the Secretary of State’s office said about 128,000 absentee ballots had not yet been returned. Simon urged anyone who has not returned their absentee ballot to deliver it in person or have someone they trust to deliver it on their behalf.

Dakota County Director of Elections Michelle Blue said roughly 40% of voters in the county voted early. 

Still, the line to vote at the Lakeville Water Treatment Facility was constant and steady Tuesday morning. Despite a soggy start to Election Day, many people stepped outside to cast their ballots — some for the very first time.

“This is my first time voting, so it’s really exciting,” St. Olaf College student Rylan Nakamura said. “We have a polling place at St. Olaf College, so it made it really accessible and easy, and it was really exciting.”

St. Olaf is a campus well-known for encouraging civic engagement. On Oct. 28, the Secretary of State recognized the school for having the highest voter turnout of any college in Minnesota during the previous election.

Simon reiterated that Minnesota’s election results should be readily available by Wednesday morning. However, that is likely not the case for several other states. 

“It’s no surprise that in those battleground states, they will be counting into tomorrow and the next day and maybe the next day,” Simon said. “It’s not a sign that someone did anything wrong. It’s not a sign that there’s any unlawful activity. It’s a sign that they’re following their state laws, and I just want to condition everyone and talk about that in terms of expectations.”

RELATED: How to watch KARE 11’s live coverage on Election Night 2024



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