BACKGROUND
In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many movies that were supposed to have theatrical releases ended up debuting on streaming services.
Luckily, Disney had just started up their streaming app Disney+ in November 2019, starting in the US before spreading outwards to other countries. Their timing was impeccable, gaining subscribers as slowly, country-by-country, much of the world was thrust into lockdown by their respective governments.
There wasn’t much to do other than watch television, which helped keep adults and children alike occupied. Streaming content meant we could also avoid the news, which became more and more bleak as 2020 wore on.
It was a troubling time for most of us, and sadly, although Christmas was supposed to give many of us a ray of hope that normality might be returning for some of the world, that was not the case for everyone. But no worries, because a new Disney+ release was going to come out on Christmas Day to brighten everyone’s day, and thankfully, Soul was not released on Disney+ with an additional fee, as Mulan (2020) had been just a few months before. It would be available to anyone with a Disney+ subscription.
In the UK, although we had been promised a relatively normal Christmas Day, just a few days before the big day, the government told everyone that Christmas festivities should be smaller, telling large families they should not spend the day together, and that on 26th December, many areas were going to be thrown into strict lockdowns once again. I did get to spend Christmas Day in 2020 with my family, and we did watch Soul. However, with the news that we would be “locked down” again, Christmas Day was not much fun and sadly, Soul did nothing to boost our moods.
It’s not that we thought Pixar had made a complete dud with Soul, because they didn’t. Initially, we decided it was like a new version of Inside Out (2015), a hugely popular and very clever Pixar movie. Then, once the early scenes of The Great Before were over, we struggled to really understand the point of Soul. Perhaps we were all distracted and annoyed about how Christmas had been ruined, but for whatever reason, we just didn’t get it.
I went back and rewatched Soul a few months later to try and figure out if timing had simply made Soul less appealing. Although I enjoyed Soul a bit more that second time around, I still found myself not liking it all that much. The animation was great, as usual, but the message just seemed lacking for me, and confused at times. Like, what’s the difference between “a spark” and “a purpose”? We’re told in the movie they are two different things, but I couldn’t work out how. Don’t get me wrong; parts of the movie were touching and clever, like Inside Out, but overall, it just didn’t hit me like I thought it would.
PLOT
Soul begins at a middle-school band practice, which is being overseen by teacher Joe Gardner. Joe finds that one of his students, a trombonist, gets lost in the music during a solo. This causes the other students to laugh – because, you know, kids can be cruel – but Joe says getting lost in the music is a good thing, explaining how he came to love jazz after his father took him to a jazz club, falling in love with the piano at that point. Sadly, the students have no idea what he’s talking about and don’t feel the same way, or at least won’t admit it.
Joe is then told by the school principal that he is now being contracted to be the band teacher full time. Joe isn’t too enthused by this job offer. On a visit to see his mother, Libba, who is a seamstress and runs her own shop, she tells him he should be accepting that job because it is a permanent position, not like all these gigs he does. However, Joe then gets a call from a former student, Curley, who is the new drummer for accomplished saxophonist, Dorothea Williams. She needs a new pianist and Curley thinks Joe should audition. Joe races over to audition at a jazz club for Dorothea. Dorothea doesn’t seem overly impressed but tells Joe to get a good suit and to come back for the show that evening. Joe is so excited he calls everyone he knows to tell them the good news, getting so distracted that he runs into traffic, walks through construction sites – and then falls down a manhole…
Joe finds he has turned into a little blue thing and is on a travelator heading towards a great white light. Joe is confused and asks the other little blue things around him what’s going on. They tell him they are going to The Great Beyond. Joe can’t believe it; on the best day of his life, he’s only gone and died! Joe won’t let this happen and starts running away from the light, falling off the travelator, and falling down, down, down…
Joe falls into a strange blue land. He sees little ball-like things bouncing around and discovers that these are new souls, with a counsellor named Jerry settling them down as they get excited about this new arrival. Jerry tells Joe he is in The Great Before, specifically at The You Seminar, where new souls receive their personality traits. Jerry tells Joe he is not dead yet and believes she knows where he needs to be. At The You Seminar, Joe learns that once souls receive their complete personality, they are sent down a portal, heading to Earth to start their new life. Joe tries to head down this portal too, but ends up right back where he started. He is soon found by the other counsellors, all called Jerry, who believe he is a lost mentor. They take him to an auditorium where he watches an educational video about The You Seminar. The You Seminar involves mentors being assigned to new souls in order to find their spark, which will complete their “Earth Pass” and allow them to start their lives on Earth. Joe is believed to be an educational specialist by the counsellors and is assigned to a soul called 22. However, 22 is not like any of the other souls, as 22 has no desire to go to Earth, having been matched with multiple mentors – including Mother Theresa, who 22 made cry – and not yet finding a spark.
Joe believes he can change 22’s mind, and they head off to the Hall of You, featuring the best moments of the mentor’s life. 22 isn’t interested in this guy’s life, saying Joe should just accept defeat and go to The Great Beyond now like all the others did. Joe then tells 22 this isn’t his life and finds his own, with the Hall of You now filling with all of Joe’s accomplishments – only, there haven’t been too many of those… Joe says he wants to get back to Earth to live his life, which intrigues 22, who can’t believe someone as unremarkable as Joe would go to all this effort to get back to Earth. 22 says if they can find the spark to complete the Earth Pass, then 22 will give it to Joe and send him back to Earth. They set off to the Hall of Everything instead, hoping something there will interest 22. Joe tries all sorts of careers, like cookery and firefighting, but 22 is cynical about all of them. One of the Jerrys then arrives to tell Joe his time is up, but 22 asks for some more time. Jerry is surprised to find 22 engaged in the process and allows this. 22 then takes Joe to The Astral Plane, the space between the physical and spiritual, believing 22 knows someone who might be able to help Joe get back to his body.
In The Astral Plane, also known as The Zone, human souls can find themselves engrossed in a passion, for example, like when Joe is playing his music. However, this can also be a place where souls become trapped in obsession, becoming “lost souls”. A hippie soul, named Moonwind, along with other spiritual souls, try to rescue these lost souls and send them back to Earth with a renewed thirst for life. Moonwind has a body on Earth; he is a sign spinner in New York City. 22 asks Moonwind for his help with Joe, however, Moonwind has never connected an untethered soul before. Moonwind and his fellow souls begin a ritual to find Joe’s body, asking Joe to listen out for cues. They discover Joe is in hospital and in the rush to get back, Joe and 22 fall through this portal between worlds.
Joe wakes up in hospital, but he can still see himself. It turns out Joe has returned to Earth, but is embodying the hospital’s therapy cat! 22 is in fact inside Joe’s body. Joe tells them they just need to find Moonwind in the city and then they can get back to their rightful selves. The two bust out of the hospital, however, 22 quickly becomes overwhelmed by New York City and hides in a stairwell, believing Joe’s body is about to die. Joe quickly returns with a slice of pizza for 22, knowing that his body is probably just hungry. 22 eats the pizza and finds it’s actually pretty good. The two find Moonwind, who is excited to find he resolved everything for Joe. It soon becomes clear to him that it didn’t work properly and now they need to do a new ritual to get back. Moonwind believes the best time to do this would be at 6:30pm. As Joe needs to get to the Half Note Club at 7:30pm for his performance with Dorothea Williams, that should work well.
Joe says his body needs to be cleaned up before the performance, as he is still wearing the hospital gown, so he tries to get 22 in a cab. But who should walk out of that cab but Dorothea Williams, who looks stunned to see Joe in this state. Joe and 22 quickly get in the cab and go to Joe’s apartment, hoping she didn’t notice! At the apartment, Connie, the trombonist from band, arrives to tell Joe she wants to quit. 22 in Joe’s body is told to go and speak to her. 22 initially tries to make Connie quit, however, Connie doesn’t actually want to and plays a solo. 22 is moved by this music and tells Connie she shouldn’t quit. Connie heads home with a new motivation for music. Joe, still in cat form, tries to get his body ready, however, he messes up a hair cut and finds his old suit is a bit tight. They need to fix the hair at least, so it’s a trip to Joe’s barbers. Meanwhile, Terry from The Great Beyond has found that their count is wrong and heads to Earth to find Joe to correct it, knowing he escaped his fate and headed back to his body.
At the barbers, Dez, Joe’s barber, sees the disaster of Joe’s hair and tells him to sit. 22 as Joe speaks to Dez about his life, and learns that Dez never got to live out his dreams because of a family illness but that he is still happy. 22 also starts to discover the joy in the little things in life, like food and leaves blowing in the wind. However, as 22 goes to pick up Joe’s hat on the street, his trousers split open. Joe knows they’ll have to see his mother at her shop to fix it, and orders 22 to keep the Dorothea Williams gig a secret. It turns out Joe’s mother already knows about the gig and is not impressed. Libba is not amused because his father struggled as a musician, with her work needed to steady the family; she doesn’t want Joe to struggle like that. 22 as Joe tells Libba that it is his dream to be a jazz pianist and that things are finally starting to work out for him. Libba tailors Joe’s father’s old suit for him and tells Joe she has always been proud of him. Now Joe is ready for the club.
At the Half Note Club, 22 starts to have a change of heart, finding she actually likes living, but Joe wants his body back. 22 runs off into the subway, trying to avoid returning to The Great Before, however, both 22 and Joe are caught by Terry and returned there. In The Great Before, the Jerrys are stunned to find that 22 finally got her Earth Pass and tell Joe to go to the Earth Portal with 22 to see 22 head to Earth as other mentors would do. 22 begrudgingly hands the Earth Pass over to Joe as she promised and runs off. Joe learns from Jerry that a spark is not the same thing as a purpose, which makes Joe think about his own life briefly. Joe feels guilty but knows he has to get back and jumps in the portal.
Joe wakes up in the subway and runs to the Half Note Club. He is late and Dorothea has found a replacement pianist, however, Joe won’t accept that and bursts into her dressing room saying this is his purpose and he has to perform tonight. Dorothea says he can perform that night with them, but there’s no promises of further work with her if it doesn’t go well. Joe performs well with the quartet that night and is asked to join them. Joe then asks Dorothea what happens next and she simply says they do it all again tomorrow. This doesn’t excite Joe who finds he isn’t as happy as he expected to be, and heads home.
At home, Joe starts to play his piano whilst looking over the keepsakes from his day with 22, like a lollipop from the barber and a pizza crust. He plays music as he thinks about the good, smaller moments in life. Joe soon finds himself in The Zone and The Astral Plane. Moonwind finds Joe and tells him that 22 has become a lost soul. Joe and Moonwind go to find 22. When they do find 22, Joe runs after her and apologises for what happened, trying to return the Earth Pass to 22, however, 22 is consumed with negative thoughts, which say 22 will never be good enough. Joe loses the pass in the chaos, but manages to pass her a maple seed from their day together. This snaps 22 out of the self-loathing, and Joe tells 22 it was fear about living that meant 22 hadn’t found her spark before, and now 22 is ready to live. 22 is no longer a lost soul thanks to Joe and he returns the pass, jumping down with 22 through the portal, knowing he’ll be returned to The Great Beyond before 22 reaches Earth.
Back in The Great Beyond, Joe is satisfied with his fate, however, one of the Jerrys arrives and thanks Joe for inspiring 22 to live. Jerry thinks Joe deserves a second chance at life, so another Jerry distracts Terry to trick Terry into believing the count is correct, as Joe is returned to Earth. Back on Earth, Joe states he isn’t sure what he’s going to do with his life now, but he knows he’s going to enjoy every minute of it.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Joe Gardner is down-on-his-luck, finding that pursuing his dream of being a jazz musician has not worked out as expected. He has ended up working in a school, which is an honourable profession, but this isn’t enough for Joe, who just wants to perform. When he gets the chance to perform with Dorothea Williams, Joe thinks all his dreams have come true, only for disaster to strike, his death being yet another barrier to his aspirations. After his messy day with 22, Joe finally gets what he wanted – to perform with Dorothea Williams, although he had to destroy 22’s self-confidence to do that. Funnily enough, it wasn’t everything he’d dreamt. He worked so hard to get to this moment and it wasn’t even as good as he expected. Because of this, Joe realises that dreams aren’t the point of living and wants to make things right with 22 again. This realisation gives him a second chance at life as he is deemed worthy of getting his life over again – and this time, Joe doesn’t want to waste it.
Jamie Foxx was chosen to voice the character of Joe Gardner, Pixar’s first Black lead. In film, Foxx has been cast as Drew Bundini Brown in Ali (2001); as Curtis Taylor Jr. in Dreamgirls (2006); and as Dean “MF” Jones in Horrible Bosses (2011) and its 2014 sequel. Foxx won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the film Ray (2004). He also voiced the character of Nico in Rio (2011) and Rio 2 (2014). After that, Foxx starred as Leon “Bats” Jefferson III in Baby Driver (2017) and as William Stacks in Annie (2014). He also reprised his role as Max Dillon / Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Alongside his screen roles, Foxx has also released numerous musical albums and had a Netflix stand-up comedy special called Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was… in 2024.
22 is a cynical soul, who despite never having lived, has been through many different lives, through the eyes of various mentors. 22’s previous mentors include Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Marie Antoinette, and Muhammad Ali. She even has a wall of name tags from her various mentors as a shrine to her commitment to not living! It is a struggle to get 22 to engage with The You Seminar, something that the Jerrys are well aware of, but they continue to be patient with 22. However, when 22 gets to live life on Earth in Joe’s body, she finds that actually living isn’t all bad, and without the constraints and pressures of finding a purpose or fulfilling a chosen career path, 22 is able to experience life in its purest form, just enjoying the small moments in life that many of us forget to notice, like the taste of good food, the feel of the wind in your hair, or the beauty in the ordinary. When 22 finds that life is worth living, the opportunity is cruelly taken from her by Joe, and 22 becomes a “lost soul”, being consumed with self-hatred and the perception that not having a purpose means 22 is a failure. Joe comes to his senses and lets 22 to get back to Earth, where I hope 22 lived a great life – but we’ll never know, because we never find out in the film!
22 was voiced by Tina Fey. Fey is known for being a cast member and head writer on the popular sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (1975-present) from 1997 to 2006. Fey went on to write and star as Liz Lemon in the sitcom 30 Rock (2006-13), for which she won numerous Emmy, SAG, and Writers Guild of America Awards, amongst others, before creating the Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-19). Fey also wrote the movie Mean Girls (2004) and its 2024 musical movie, appearing as Ms. Norbury in both. She has appeared in comedy movies including Baby Mama (2008) as Kate; in Date Night (2010) as Claire; and as Nadya in Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Fey has also been seen in the recurring role of Cinda Canning in Only Murders in the Building (2021-present).
On Earth, 22 and Joe come into contact with other humans, with one of the most important being Libba, Joe’s mother. Libba is thrilled to find that Joe is being given a permanent position as a music teacher, because she knows that Joe is spending too much time chasing a dream that may never come true. Libba wants Joe to be settled and secure in life. To some, it might seem like she is crushing his dreams, but she actually just wants him to avoid the difficulties that his father had, trying to live out that same dream. She means well, and the moment they share in her shop, when she tells Joe – although 22 is in his body – she is proud of him, no matter what he does, is quite moving. Libba was voiced by Phylicia Rashad. Recently, Rashad has been cast as Mary Anne Creed in Creed (2015) and its two subsequent sequels. In The Beekeeper (2024), Rashad appears as Eloise Parker. Rashad is best known for her roles as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show (1984-92) and as Ruth Lucas in Cosby (1996-2000).
In the barber shop, Joe and 22 come into contact with Joe’s barber, Dez, who Joe says he wouldn’t normally speak to much during his hair cuts. This seems to be the case with many men and their barbers, however, 22 as Joe decides to tell Dez everything that’s wrong with the world, whilst Dez says that he always wanted to be veterinarian but after his daughter became ill, he knew he’d have to find a different way of earning a living and that’s how he came upon barbering. Dez is glad that Joe – although actually 22 – has finally asked him about his life, as he was getting fed up with only talking to Joe about jazz, this being news to Joe… Also at the barbers is Paul, who likes to bring Joe down, telling him nothing is going to work out for him. Paul gets his just-desserts though, as Terry accidentally tries to send Paul to The Great Beyond, terrifying him, before realising he isn’t Joe and takes him back to Earth, with a brief apology.
Donnell Rawlings and Daveed Diggs were cast as Dez and Paul respectively. Rawlings was previously cast in the sketch comedy show Chapelle’s Show (2003-06) and as Damien ‘Day-Day’ Price in The Wire (2002-08). He also played the role of Mr. Earl in Season 1 of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022-23). Daveed Diggs is well-known for originating the roles of Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson within the musical Hamilton. Diggs won a Tony Award for Best Actor for his roles in 2016. Diggs can be seen in the 2016 recording of the musical which is currently available to watch on Disney+ since 2020. Diggs went on to appear as Mr. Browne in the movie Wonder (2017) and as Johan Johnson in the series Black-ish (2014-23). He has also voiced the character of Sebastian in the live-action remake The Little Mermaid (2023) for Disney, and voiced the character of Helen in the animated series Central Park (2020-22). Recently, Diggs starred as Andre Layton in the series Snowpiercer (2020-24).
Dorothea Williams and Curley are two others that Joe speaks to on Earth. Curley is Joe’s former student who is now a drummer within Dorothea Williams’ quartet. He is kind enough to put Joe up for the audition as the new jazz pianist in the quartet. Dorothea Williams, on the other hand, seems quite stern and hard-to-please. Even after she tells Joe to come back and perform that evening, or after that evening’s performance, she doesn’t have much to say to Joe, not even a “well done”. But I don’t know much about jazz music; maybe it’s not cool to do that! Curley was voiced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Questlove is known for being the drummer and frontman of the band The Roots, who are the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014-present). Questlove also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary for directing Summer of Soul (2021).
Dorothea Williams was voiced by Angela Bassett. Bassett starred as Ramonda in Black Panther (2018) and its 2022 sequel. Bassett won a Golden Globe for this role in 2022. She also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for her performance as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993). She was also cast as Lynne Jacobs in Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and London Has Fallen (2016), before appearing as Erika Sloane in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018). Bassett is due to reprise this role in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025). On television, Bassett has recently had roles in the horror anthology series American Horror Story (2011-present). For Disney Animation, Bassett voiced the role of Mildred in Meet the Robinsons (2007).
In The Great Beyond and The Great Before, there are non-human characters that 22 and Joe interact with. The first person Joe meets is Jerry, one of the counsellors at The You Seminar, but it turns out there are lots of counsellors, making sure all the souls and mentors are in the right place at the right time, and handily, they are all called Jerry. The Jerrys are very patient, which they have to be with the excitable nature of the new souls, and don’t seem to be bothered or concerned about anything, not even when they hear that the count for The Great Beyond is off – though it’s not in their remit, so why should they care?
As there are numerous Jerrys, there are various voice actors for these characters. One of these is Alice Braga, who was cast as Anna Montez in I Am Legend (2007); Frey Santiago in Elysium (2013); and Sol Soria in The Suicide Squad (2021). More recently, Braga also starred as Teresa Mendoza in the series Queen of the South (2016-21), and as Amanda Lucas in the AppleTV+ series Dark Matter (2024-present). Another voice is Wes Studi who appeared as Magua in The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and as Geronimo in Geronimo: An American Legend (1993). More recently, Studi was cast as Kaetenay in the series Penny Dreadful (2014-16). Studi also voiced Windlifter in Disney’s Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014). Fortune Feimster, known for her role as Colette in The Mindy Project (2012-17), and Zenobia Shroff, who recently was cast as Muneeba Khan in Ms. Marvel (2022) and the 2023 film The Marvels, also voice Jerrys. The final Jerry we hear is voiced by Richard Ayoade; a voice familiar to UK audiences. I was surprised and delighted to hear Ayoade in this movie. Ayoade is known for his role as Maurice Moss in the sitcom The IT Crowd (2006-13) and hosted The Crystal Maze (2017-20) and Travel Man (2015-present). Ayoade also wrote and directed the film Submarine (2010). He has voiced small roles in other animated movies, such as Early Man (2018) and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019).
Terry is the counter in The Great Beyond, who is clearly a stickler for the rules and must ensure the count is correct, even if it means going to Earth and chasing that soul down, returning it to The Great Beyond against their will. I think Terry’s power has gone unchecked for too long and needs to stop being such a jobsworth. Luckily for Joe, the Jerrys help with that, by averting Terry’s attention whilst they correct the count when they allow Joe to head back to Earth to live his life again. Terry was voiced by Rachel House. For Disney, House is known for providing the voice of Tala, Moana’s grandmother, in Moana (2016), as well as the voice of Mama Binturong in The Lion Guard (2019). House also provided the Māori-language dub for Mamá Coco in Pixar’s Coco (2017). Recently, House has been cast as Nienke Van Spee in The Portable Door (2023) and as Ruth in Next Goal Wins (2023), as well as appearing as Principal Stacy “Woodsy” Woods Heartbreak High (2022-present).
Another character they meet is Moonwind. He is both a soul and a person on Earth, consistently using his spiritual nature to get to in The Astral Plane. His job is a sign spinner so I guess he needs to do something to entertain himself during those long hours outside with no-one to talk to! Moonwind admirably also tries to help lost souls, those who have lost their way on Earth. Initially, Joe and 22 witness Moonwind help another hedge fund manager, who suddenly has an epiphany and decides to quit his job and go live his life. Moonwind was voiced by Graham Norton. Norton is well-known for his BAFTA Award-winning chat show The Graham Norton Show (2007-present) as well as being the BBC’s commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest. Norton is also a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (2019-present). I must say I was surprised to find Norton was the voice of this character in Soul, but it was a good surprise, because I love Graham Norton.
MUSIC
Given Joe’s desire to be a jazz musician, music is an integral part of Soul.
Jon Batiste was chosen to compose the jazz compositions within Soul. Batiste said he wanted his musical choices to feel “user-friendly”, so that anyone could be introduced to the music and find that they enjoy it. Joe Gardner was first introduced to jazz music by his father, likely jazz from the 1960s or 1970s, so this time frame was one that inspired Batiste with his compositions for the movie. Batiste’s hands were also filmed whilst he was playing the piano, to ensure that the animation of Joe was accurate and correct. Jon Batiste was the band leader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015-present) from 2015 to 2022. In the years after, Batiste has continued to record and release music and was cast in the movie Saturday Night (2024), portraying musician Billy Preston, as well as composed the score for it.
Outside of that, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were brought on to the project to compose the overall score for the movie. Pixar generally like to collaborate with the same composers, for example, Randy Newman and Michael Giacchino have composed music and scores for various Pixar movies, however, in this case, Reznor and Ross had not previously worked with Pixar. Reznor and Ross have composed the score for movies such as The Social Network (2010); The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011); and Gone Girl (2014). They won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series for their work on Watchmen (2019). They are also both members of the band Nine Inch Nails.
For the rest of the musical score, Reznor and Ross had to figure out how these greater worlds, The Great Beyond and The Great Before, might sound, seeing as these places are not physical and no-one would know what they sound like. In the case of The Great Beyond, this moment is quite a scary one for Joe as he has no idea where he is, just that he is on a moving platform heading towards a big ball of white light. But this couldn’t sound threatening to the audience. Instead, they chose to make the sounds ominous and strange. You’ll also notice that as the souls move into the light, there is no scream of terror or big bang; this sound actually sounds like a bug zapper. For the Great Before, the area feels light and airy, so the music chosen feels sweet and comforting[1].
This splitting out of the musical score is similar to the contrast between the very real place of New York City and the stranger worlds of The Great Before and The Great Beyond; Reznor and Ross focused on those outer worlds, whereas Batiste focused on music from the real world, although their work on Soul was highly collaborative, and necessarily so.
Outside of the score and additional music, there are other pieces of music within the soundtrack. One of these is the rap song “Rappin Ced”, which was written and performed by Daveed Diggs. This rap can be heard during the Hall of You scene, just after Joe tells 22 he is not the mentor, Bjorn Börgensson, and starts to show moments from his life. This song is part of a rap group Joe joined earlier in his life. Then there is the song “Parting Ways” written and performed by R&B and soul singer Cody ChesnuTT, which can be heard being sung by a busker in the subway. It’s a calming song, and I can see why 22 was drawn to it.
The End Credits include further music, including the song “It’s All Right”, which was originally recorded by The Impressions and written by lead singer Curtis Mayfield in the 1960s. This is then followed by a selection of the movie’s score, before ending on another performance of “Rappin Ced”. The opening of the movie featured a school band rendition of Disney’s theme tune “When You Wish Upon a Star”, which is a bit clunky as you might expect from a middle-school band practice, but that’s the whole point!
Within the jazz sections of the soundtrack, I liked the tunes “Born to Play” and “22’s Getaway” the most. For the more traditional score, I liked all the music that plays in the opening scenes of The Great Beyond and The Great Before. But the soundtrack of Soul is so diverse that different tracks will suit different people. I’ve always found an interest in the underlying score within animated movies, finding they set up the emotional moments well, so in my case, this interested me more than the jazz, although I’m by no means saying the jazz portions weren’t great too.
To highlight how successful the soundtrack of Soul was, it won the award for Best Score at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, the Grammys, and the Annie Awards.
PRODUCTION
The original concept for Soul first came about when Pete Docter, director of Pixar’s Inside Out (2015), found that, despite all of his success with the company, he didn’t feel like his life had been fulfilled. This got him thinking about whether success was worth spending your whole life trying to achieve, because does it even make people happy in the end? This question became the general idea behind Soul.
A very early draft had the soul who became 22 as the lead character. The whole movie would’ve been set in The Great Before and focused on the fact that 22 was a soul who didn’t want to go to Earth. This idea was quickly discarded as it was decided that they wouldn’t be able to prove that living was worth it unless 22 somehow ended up on Earth, so that is when the character of Joe was brought in.
First, Joe was meant to be a rock star, however, it felt to the Pixar team that being a rock star means wanting to become rich and famous, which goes against the message of the movie. So, instead, still in the realm of musicians, they decided upon Joe becoming a jazz musician, feeling that this was a more noble profession, and one that is about following a passion, not just finding a route to success. At this point, Kemp Powers was approached by Pixar to be the writer on this movie, sometime around Summer 2018. Powers later became the co-director of Soul, alongside Pete Docter[2].
Because jazz is linked to African-American culture, it was decided that the main character of Joe should be Black. Initially, in early reels, Powers found Joe to have very little depth to him, so being the same age as Joe and also from New York City – although from Brooklyn, not Queens, like Joe – Powers used some of his own life experiences to make the character of Joe feel more real.
To add authenticity and accuracy to Pixar’s portrayal of a central Black character, alongside Powers, they knew they needed to set up a cultural trust, as many Pixar and Disney movies do these days when delving into different cultures. In this trust, there were musicians such as Jon Batiste, Questlove, and Herbie Hancock, and historians such as cinematographer Bradford Young and former director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, Johnnetta Cole. With these people on board, as well as the input from Black Pixar employees, the team would be able to create a story that ensured accurate representing of Black culture. The design of Joe as a character required the input of this cultural trust, as was the case with some of Joe’s lines. A particularly important scene was also created by Powers who wanted Joe to pass through authentically Black spaces. This was the barbershop scene that Powers pitched, which sees men from all walks of life brought together to discuss life[3].
There were also other moments that were written that were either changed or did not make it into the film. One of these involved debate over how to end the film. Initially it was decided that Joe would end up at The Great Beyond, selflessly giving up his time on Earth to let 22 live. Some were happy with that ending, feeling that it would be cheating to have Joe be able to go back and start a new life; however, others were not happy with this decision, and Pete Docter was one of these. During production he had a change of heart, saying that Joe needed to get a second chance to go and enjoy his life now that he’d learnt the true meaning of it[4]. There was also a scene that would’ve communicate the rules of The Great Before a bit differently. Since this was meant to be a seminar, with a definite corporate spin to it, there was initially going to be a counsellor set up to be a motivational speaker, who would’ve explained to all the mentors about how the Earth Pass is filled, being told to “plant the seed of “wow”” in their new soul[5]. I thought this idea was quite good, actually.
In terms of animation, Soul had to showcase two contrasting areas; a real city on Earth and unknown spiritual worlds. Obviously, the movie starts in New York City with Joe, and we revisit this city often. It was recreated well, making it seem rich and vibrant, although not shying away from the wear and tear of the city, as well as its busyness. It was decided that Soul had to be set in New York City because it is the jazz capital of America and has a strong history of jazz, with many famous musicians known for their performances here[6].
Looking at the unknown worlds, The Great Beyond and The Great Before, the Pixar team talked to religious leaders to discuss how their religions view souls and afterlife. There is much discussion about what happens after death, but not much about what happens before birth. Using this information, The Great Beyond is animated as a big bright light, something that is talked about by the living, and that phrase heading “towards the light”[7].
The Great Before was free to be whatever the studio wanted it to be. However, discussions of soul normally lead to conversations about complex philosophy. Even the transition for Joe between The Great Beyond and The Great Before was a difficult “limbo-like” space to portray. It was boarded by story artist Trevor Jimenez who had an idea for this scene and was able to pitch it. This scene shows Joe falling off the moving platform into a dense black space, falling in between realms of colour and black space, becoming a simple line drawing. As he gets closer to the Great Before, Joe becomes the full coloured version of soul himself and falls onto soft blue grass from an opening in the “ceiling”.
The You Seminar ended up being an area for training that felt safe, bright, and soft. It is full of pavilions that are made to represent the personality trait that the pavilion houses, such as aloofness. Initially, because of the link to philosophy and The Great Before, Pixar looked to Ancient Greek architecture to give them inspiration for the buildings here, but, since they didn’t want to root this area to any specific culture, since everyone has a soul, they instead looked to the World Fairs that happened over the years. The architectural sculptures there were about grandeur and creating buildings to inspire people, which is what The You Seminar is supposed to do.
For the souls themselves, Pixar envisioned souls to be ethereal, non-physical balls of air. However, they couldn’t look like ghostly clouds of smoke, so they were made to be colourful, with blues and purples within their colouring. By adding facial features, it gave them expressions, and they act like excitable, little puppies, because they don’t know how to behave, being so “young”. The souls are kept in line by the counsellors, the Jerrys. They are just line drawings, but were initially conceived as wire models, to see how they would move in a 3D space. The Jerrys also needed facial features to give expressions and have their own ways of moving. Terry, for example, moves through New York City as a flat line at times, and one of the Jerrys morphs into a bus to transport souls across The Great Beyond[8].
Pixar also can’t have a movie without their usual Easter eggs either. Their usual Pizza Planet truck and the number A113, referring to the classroom number at CalArts that many animators studied at, can all be found in the Hall of Everything scene. There was also a poster on the NYC streets about PortoRosso, which was a nod to their upcoming movie Luca (2021). 22 also has a shrine of old mentor stickers on a wall, showing off how many mentors she failed. Although some are mentioned and seen in Soul, other names include Aretha Franklin, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Pixar animator and screenwriter, Joe Ranft, who passed away in 2005. Ranft was the voice of Heimlich in A Bug’s Life (1998) and his final work was as co-director on Cars (2006).
Soul took around four years to make, because the movie was initially pushed forward from a release date of Summer 2021 to Summer 2020[9]. On 19th June 2019, Soul was announced to be released on 19th June 2020, stating that the movie would look to answer some of life’s most important questions including “what is it that makes you…YOU?!”. It was planned for the movie’s release to coincide with Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the US on 19th June to commemorate the ending of slavery in the country[10].
In August 2019, at the D23 Expo, further details of the story were provided, along with artwork of the main characters of Joe and 22, as well as the Great Before, being shown to expo-goers. The voice cast was also announced at this point[11].
However, as excitement for the upcoming movie started to build, the world descended into chaos. On 15th March 2020, the US government began to implement their first lockdowns. The Pixar company suddenly went from just keeping an eye on the virus to suddenly getting everyone out of the building and sending them home to work on the movie there. The first few days were obviously difficult, getting everyone’s new work spaces set up. The usual problems of tricky Wi-Fi, Zoom problems, and pets or kids walking into offices during meetings were problems the Pixar staff had to manage as well. When Pixar left their office in March 2020, about 52% of the film was done. The movie was completed just six weeks later, right on schedule[12].
To really get home that these animators had done a lot of work at home, the credits state that Soul was created and produced at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California with this addition: “…and in homes at least six feet away from each other throughout the bay area”.
RECEPTION
Although Soul was initially scheduled to be released in theatres in Summer 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was decided that Soul would debut exclusively on Disney+, in areas that had it, on 25th December 2020. This would mean that the movie could reach up to 60 million subscribers, the number of subscribers the streaming service had within its first year of launch. Anywhere that did not have Disney+ at the time was still going to get the movie in cinemas, with some of these countries being Singapore, China, Thailand, and Malaysia[13].
In addition to this, Soul was screened as part of the 64th BFI London Film Festival in October 2020, and was also named as part of the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, which also happened to take place in October 2020.
Pixar movies typically are released alongside an animated short. In the case of Soul, this short was supposed to be Burrow (2020), which ended up debuting on Disney+ on the same day, so if you were aware of this connection, you could’ve streamed Burrow before Soul to give yourself the “authentic Pixar cinema experience”. Burrow sees a small rabbit trying to make its own burrow, however, a mole and a mouse start to elaborate on the initial plans. The rabbit then digs away from them, accidentally digging itself into other animals’ homes, before digging straight down. As the rabbit begins to dig a new burrow, it hits a water main, which starts to flood all the creatures’ homes. The rabbit goes to a badger, who initially seems scary, to explain what’s happened. The badger then alerts the other animals, who come to the rescue by digging a side tunnel to divert the flow of water. The rabbit then shows its original design for its burrow, which the animals help to build as described.
In the past, you didn’t even need to read the reviews about a Pixar movie before deciding to watch it; the studio has had a pretty good track record ever since their first animated feature-length film, Toy Story, released in 1995. They hadn’t been perfect, with Cars 2 (2011) being a particular low-point for the company, but generally, Pixar movies receive critical acclaim. 25 years later, with the release of Soul, did things change?
Well, in a way, yes. Soul received more mixed reviews than might have been expected. On the positive side, the movie was praised for its animation, particularly their authentic recreation of New York City, as well as the strange world of The Great Before. It was said to be a sweet, charming film, with a simple message at its heart to make the audience think about their lives, to decide whether they’ve really been living life to the full, or whether they have wasted their time chasing a dream. The music was also another high point, especially since jazz is not the usual musical style used in Pixar movies. Its animation of musicians playing was also seen to be very impressive. Pixar had already been successful with this type of animation in Coco (2017). The fact Soul was Pixar’s first feature film to have a Black leading character and a mostly Black cast did not go unnoticed, with this movie celebrating diversity and life.
However, there were some complaints about a Black character being the lead but actually being turned into a different physical being for most of the film. This was a gripe that many had about Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog (2009) since she is a frog for the majority of the film. For Soul, it’s not quite that bad, since Joe’s body does feature in at least half the movie, however, a different soul is inside Joe’s body, not his own. These concerns were initially raised when Pixar’s teaser trailer for Soul was first released, as some felt that having Joe become a blue soul for most of the film was problematic.
Another point that was raised was whether Soul has a “white saviour” narrative to it, since 22 manages to “fix” parts of Joe’s life for him whilst in his body. For example, 22 has a real conversation with Joe’s barber, Dez; something that Joe has failed to realise, spending his time talking to Dez about jazz. 22 also manages to convince Joe’s student not to give up music, and then has a meaningful talk with Joe’s mother about being able to pursue your dreams, which is, again, not something Joe felt he could say to his mother. This is an interesting point, and not something I’d considered when watching the movie.
However, all this being said, praise was given to writer and co-director Kemp Powers for his portrayal of Black culture in this movie, and, the fact that such a collection of Black consultants, musicians, actors, and writers had a major input in the story of Soul would suggest to me that these issues have perhaps only really been found through over-thinking of the movie’s story[14].
Some additional negative reviews stated that the story of Soul was confusing at times, and that it was potentially too deep for children to understand, since even some adults struggled to understand the message of the movie. In my case, I understand the overall theme of the movie: that you shouldn’t spend so much time chasing your dreams that you forget to truly experience and love life; that we need to “stop and smell the roses”. My problem with Soul was around the spark or purpose debate, which comes up multiple times throughout the film, but to me, was never clearly resolved. We are told that Joe’s purpose in life is to be a jazz musician, but that it is not a purpose that leads a soul to get their Earth Pass, but a spark. 22 manages to experience that spark for life as she goes through a day in Joe’s body. Ok, that’s all fine, and I understand that, but then what is the point of mentors and The You Seminar? Because to me, the Hall of You and the Hall of Everything seem to be trying to inspire souls to find a gift or a passion in their life, some sort of career path. Otherwise, why else would 22 be shown Joe playing the piano, or told to give science experiments and fire-fighting a go during their time together in The Great Beyond?
This is where I feel the movie let me down; not distinguishing between a spark and a purpose well enough. We all need a spark to want to live, but a purpose is also useful, because it gives us something to work towards. I don’t think it was helpful for Soul to tell people that working hard to hone a craft or talent is not what life is for, because, for some people, they need that drive to give them a reason to live.
But then again, maybe I’ve over-thought Soul, or the Pixar team really did want the movie to encourage this sort of debate. I also didn’t like how abruptly the movie ended. We don’t find out how Joe actually lives his “second chance” and we don’t know where 22 ends up. It might’ve been nice to see that, to fully wrap the movie up.
Anyway, regardless of personal thoughts on Soul, Soul did well in its first week on streaming. Soul got over 1.66 billion minutes of viewing time in the span of its first few days on Disney+, topping the Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 List for the week of 21st December 2020. Soul successfully beat out Season 1 of Netflix’s Bridgerton (2020-present), which just so happened to also debut on Christmas Day 2020[15].
Soul went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It won this same award at the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, and at the Annie Awards, where it also received awards in other categories, including Storyboarding, Writing, and Character Animation.
LEGACY
Soul never received a sequel movie; however, it did get a spin-off in the form of a short film, this being 22 vs. Earth, released on Disney+ on 30th April 2021.
22 vs. Earth is a prequel, set before 22 meets Joe Gardner in The Great Before. 22 is trying to tell other souls that going to Earth isn’t worth it. 22’s Earth Pass has still not been filled as 22 doesn’t have a reason to live. 22 devises a plan to stop all souls going to Earth, encouraging five other souls to join the mission. Without inspiration, souls can’t get their Earth Pass, so 22 and the other five start stealing things from the Hall of Everything, however, in enacting this plan, all five of the souls eventually become inspired and head to Earth, leaving 22 alone once again. The Jerrys wonder if 22 will ever go to Earth and discover the meaning of life, to which one of the Jerrys ask what that even is. The other Jerry starts to respond as the credits roll, so we never get to find out what it is, but apparently, it’s very simple! Tina Fey, Alice Braga, and Richard Ayoade reprised their roles here as 22 and two of the Jerrys.
Following on from this, there have been some references to Soul at the Disney Parks. For example, at Walt Disney World Resort in Epcot, an exhibit opened titled The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure, which resided within The American Adventure Pavilion, specifically within The American Heritage Gallery. This exhibit provided guests with information about the roots of jazz music in America. This exhibit opened in February 2021, just two months after Soul’s debut, and closed permanently in January 2023. It was replaced with an exhibit celebrating American Indian art. Also, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, one of the collection of 50 statues placed throughout Walt Disney World for their 50th anniversary in 2021 was of Joe Gardner playing the piano. These statues are still there today.
Following on from that, in 2024 for Pixar Fest, which ran from 26th April to 4th August at Disneyland Resort, Joe and 22 could be seen on a float during the Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration Parade. They also featured within the projection scenes of Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular. Pixar Fest also included food booths, with one of these being named The Spark, which was, of course, themed to Soul, which served the Half Note Jazz Cake, named after the jazz club seen in the film.
To add to that, Joe Gardner can be seen at the Pixar Place Hotel, playing the piano in the hotel lobby. Joe performs a few times a day, for around fifteen minutes in total, playing a variety of jazz tunes, as well as interacting with guests. This “character experience” was promoted as an activity during Pixar Fest, from April to August 2024, however, Joe seems to have been performing at the Pixar Place Hotel since its opening on 30th January 2024 until at least October. It is possible Joe Gardner still plays in the lobby outside of event dates, however, to avoid disappointment, it is best not to expect him to be there unless specifically stated. Joe is being listed as an entertainment offering for Disneyland’s Celebrate Soulfully event in February 2025 so he will definitely be back at Pixar Place Hotel then.
Also, just before Soul’s release in December 2020, merchandise was spotted throughout the Disney Parks, including plush toys, t-shirts, ornaments, pins, and a MagicBand. Soul-themed masks were also available, since this was during the pandemic and masks were required for most guests to experience the parks.
Finally, in 2024, Pixar decided to re-release three of their movies that debuted on Disney+ at movie theatres. These three movies were Luca (2021), Turning Red (2022), and Soul. Pixar felt that these movies had been made for the big screen, with audiences being cheated out of the theatrical experience by releasing them on Disney+. It was hoped that viewers would jump at the chance to see these movies again in this format[16]. Soul was the first of these three movies to be re-released in the US, on 12th January 2024, with Burrow, the short film, also being released alongside it as originally planned.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As the pandemic was a time that made everyone reflect on their lives, Soul was released at a very appropriate time, getting us to re-examine our lives and what is important to us.
The lockdowns that many of us experienced during 2020 and parts of 2021 limited our freedoms, to the point that we were not supposed to see family and friends, and some were limited to just one chance to get outside during the day.
Everyone responded to lockdowns differently, with some tearing their hair out and going stir-crazy at the feeling that they were trapped in their own homes. Others embraced the opportunity to start a new hobby and actually have some downtime for once.
It gave workers the chance to focus on their work-life balance, since so many were required to work from home. This is a message that can be applied to Soul. Soul tells us that if we spend too much time working, we don’t spend enough time living, so the pandemic gave those that did struggle with that the opportunity to re-adjust their attitudes towards work, probably for the better.
However, the pandemic was a few years ago now, and many work-life patterns have settled back to exactly how they used to be. Whilst some businesses encourage working from home either permanently, or one or two days a week, others banned the idea entirely. This shows that in terms of work, some learnt nothing from the pandemic. It then became the individual’s choice whether their avenue of work was really appropriate for them anymore, if their mindset had been changed.
I hope Soul had a positive impact on people, about appreciating the simple things in life, and I think when the pandemic did end, this was the case for many. But these types of messages rarely last long in the mind, as we are told in the media and online to continuously strive for riches, success, or fame, forgetting that often this means bypassing happiness.
I sadly don’t think the world is capable of changing for the better, with all the lessons we learnt in the pandemic being forgotten just as quickly as it all started. Success and happiness are supposed to go hand-in-hand, but rarely is that the case. To be truly happy requires a lot of internal examination and I don’t think the vast majority of us are willing to put in the work to do this. Soul’s message is a beautiful dream, but really, how many of us can honestly say that just being alive is enough?
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Pixar, “Into the Zone: The Music and Sound of Soul”, Disney+ (2021).
[2] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘Soul began with the Great Beyond, then evolved in Pixar’s film about Black life’, Polygon.com, 8th December 2020.
[3] Credit: Sonaiya Kelley, ‘How Pete Docter and Kemp Powers brought the first Black Pixar protagonist to life in ‘Soul’’, LATimes.com, 19th November 2020.
[4] Credit: Jason Guerrasio, ‘The director of ‘Soul’ says that initially the movie had a completely different ending’, BusinessInsider.com, 29th December 2020.
[5] Credit: Kevin Polowy, ‘Meet the character from the Great Before cut from Pixar’s ‘Soul’ in exclusive deleted scene’, Yahoo.com, 18th March 2021.
[6] Credit: Ethan Anderton, ‘The Making Of Pixar’s ‘Soul’: From The Real World To The Great Before And Beyond’, SlashFilm.com, 9th October 2020.
[7] Credit: Terry Gross, ‘‘Soul’ Creators On Passion, Purpose And Realizing You’re ‘Enough’’, NPR.org, 23rd March 2021.
[8] Credit: Pixar, “Astral Taffy”, Disney+ (2021).
[9] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘Soul began with the Great Beyond, then evolved in Pixar’s film about Black life’, Polygon.com, 8th December 2020.
[10] Credit: Clémence Michallon, ‘Pixar announce new movie called Soul for summer 2020’, Independent.co.uk, 19th June 2019.
[11] Credit: Jonathon Dornbush, ‘Pixar’s Soul Voice Cast Announced – D23 Expo’, IGN.com, 24th August 2019.
[12] Credit: Pixar, “Soul, Improvised”, Disney+ (2021).
[13] Credit: Disney, ‘Disney & Pixar’s ‘Soul’ to make exclusive holiday debut on Disney+’, Disney.com, 8th October 2020.
[14] Credit: Zack Krajnyak, ‘Pixar’s Soul Made History (But Still Has One Big Racial Issue)’, ScreenRant.com, 31st December 2020.
[15] Credit: Mónica Marie Zorrilla, ‘TV Ratings: Pixar’s ‘Soul’ Tops Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 Over Christmas’, Variety.com, 22nd January 2021.
[16] Credit: Disney, ‘Pixar’s Pete Docter on Why He’s Excited for ‘Soul’, ‘Luca’, and ‘Turning Red’ to Hit Theaters’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 11th January 2024.
The Disney Purist 