Jones was announced to be creating a series based on Inside Out at Pixar in June 2023.

Mike Jones, who previously wrote Soul (2020) and Luca (2021) for the studio, was set to develop the series.

[13] Executive producer and Inside Out director Pete Docter said the series would explore "the power of dreams and how they affect us in our waking life".

[15] The producers consulted with the group of nine teens Pixar assembled to consult for Inside Out 2 (dubbed "Riley's Crew") to provide feedback for the show; their feedback led the filmmakers to increase the Hollywood-esque aspect of the show after they reacted positively to it.

He also noted this allowed the series' team to reuse several character models from the film.

[7][19] Disney announced the first episode had 5.6 million views worldwide in its first five days, having the biggest premiere for an animated series on Disney+ since What If...?

[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.