NHL Revisits Animated Altcasts with New "Inside Out Classic" Next Month

The NHL is once again getting in on the animated altcast fun, this time heading right into the mind of Riley as they present the Inside Out Classic.

What's Happening:

• Next month, Joy and Sadness will take the ice in a new NHL altcast on ESPN+, Disney+, Disney Channel, and Disney XD.
• The Inside Out Classic altcast will feature all the emotions from Pixar's Inside Out and Inside Out 2, playing hockey alongside animated versions of the live Washington Capitals and New York Rangers in the real-time animated alternative broadcast.
• The animated version of the live game will take place on Hockey Island inside Riley's mind, appropriate since Riley herself is a hockey player in the smash-hit sequel, Insider Out 2, which came out back in 2024.

• Voice talent from the films will be featured during the altcast, including Phyllis Smith (Sadness), Lewis Black (Anger), Tony Hale (Fear), and Maya Hawke (Anxiety).
• Inside Out Classic will blend two types of tracking technology: NHL EDGE positional data for puck and player tracking, and Sony's Hawk Eye Innovations optical tracking - to help fans visualize limb and stick movement and mannerisms. The whole thing will be produced in association with the ESPN Edge Innovation Center.
• ESPN's Drew Carter, Kevin Weekes and Arda Öcal will wear virtual reality headsets for motion capture, and will also be featured in the animated environment to call the action.
• Meanwhile, the traditional NHL game featuring the Washington Capitals vs. the New York Rangers will be broadcast live from Madison Square Garden on ESPN.
• Both games start on Sunday, April 5 at 7:00 PM EDT.

Big City Blues:

• While this may be the first time that NHL has featured Pixar characters in one of their altcasts (which we've already seen a few times from the NHL), this is actually the third animated altcast of an NHL game.
• The first came back in 2023 featuring the hit Disney Channel animated series, Big City Greens, which had the cast of characters (and all the chickens!) hitting the ice in a game that also featured the Capitals and the Rangers.
• The following year, the NHL Big City Greens Classic 2 hit the ice, now with more characters and the players even getting in on the fun as the Boston Bruins took on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the animated realm of Times Circle from the series.
• The Inside Out Classic marks the first of the three NHL altcasts that doesn't feature the Disney Channel series.