Soul (2020 film)

Soul is a 2020 American animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Pete Docter, who co-wrote it with Mike Jones and Kemp Powers, the film stars the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, and Angela Bassett. It follows Joe Gardner (Foxx), a middle school teacher and aspiring pianist who falls into a coma following an accident and seeks to reunite his separated soul and body in time for his big break as a jazz musician.

Docter conceived Soul in January 2016, examining the origins of human personalities and the concept of determinism. During his first meeting with Jones, he pitched the idea about spacetime involving souls with personalities. The film's producers consulted various jazz musicians, including Herbie Hancock and Terri Lyne Carrington, and animated its musical sequences using the sessions of musician Jon Batiste as a reference. Apart from Batiste's original jazz compositions, musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the film's score. Production on Soul lasted for four years on an approximate $150 million budget. It was the first Pixar film to feature a black lead.

Soul premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 11, 2020, and was scheduled for theatrical release on June 19 and November 20; however, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released direct-to-streaming on Disney+ on December 25, 2020, accompanied by the short film Burrow, and in theaters in countries without the streaming service. It was theatrically released in the United States on January 12, 2024, and grossed over $122 million at the worldwide box office.

The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Soul one of the top ten films of 2020. It was nominated for three Academy Awards at the 93rd Academy Awards, winning two, and received numerous other accolades.

Plot

In New York City, pianist Joe Gardner teaches music part-time at a middle school while dreaming of playing jazz professionally. When he receives an offer to teach full-time, his mother Libba urges him to accept, although Joe is resistant. Joe learns famous jazz musician Dorothea Williams has an opening in her quartet and auditions at a jazz club. Impressed with his piano playing, Dorothea hires him for that night's show. As Joe heads off, his excitement distracts him, and he dies falling down an open manhole.

Joe finds himself a disembodied soul heading into an afterlife called the "Great Beyond". Unwilling to die, he tries to escape but ends up in the "Great Before" (aka "You Seminar"), a realm where new souls are prepared for life on Earth with guidance from otherworldly counselors — all named Jerry — and experienced souls who act as mentors. Each new soul has a badge that grants passage to Earth once it has been completely filled in with interests and personality traits. Mistaken for a mentor, Joe is assigned to 22, a stubborn soul who has been in the Great Before for thousands of years and hopes to avoid Earth. Intrigued by Joe's desperation to return to an unremarkable life, 22 agrees to let Joe help find her "spark", which will complete her badge and enable Joe to use it to return home. After Joe fails several attempts to find 22 a passion, they visit "the Zone", a place that souls enter when their passions create a euphoric trance, but which becomes a trap for obsessed, lost souls. They meet Moonwind, a sign twirler who regularly enters the Zone to rescue lost souls, and helps the duo locate Joe's soulless body in a hospital.

Joe returns to Earth but accidentally brings 22 with him, and they awaken in Joe's hospital room in the wrong bodies, with 22 inhabiting Joe's body and Joe inhabiting the body of a therapy cat. They locate Moonwind, who agrees to meet at the jazz club that night to restore Joe to his body. In the meantime, 22 settles into Joe's body and starts to find enjoyment in trivial things like food, wind, and music. She holds poignant conversations with Libba, Joe's student Connie, and Joe's barber Dez, deepening her understanding of life. Meanwhile, Terry, the being in charge of counting souls, discovers the count is off and arrives on Earth to find Joe.

As the day ends, Joe and 22 visit Moonwind to return Joe to his body, but 22, having finally discovered the joy of living, refuses to leave Joe's body and flees. As Joe chases her through a subway station, Terry disconnects them from life and returns them to the Great Before. 22 discovers her badge is complete, but Joe bitterly insists it was the result of experiencing life in his body with his preferences and that she has no purpose of her own. Distraught, 22 throws the badge at him and retreats into the Zone. A Jerry informs Joe that a spark is not a soul's purpose in life, but Joe refuses to believe this and discreetly uses 22's badge to return to Earth.

The show at the jazz club is successful, but Joe is confused when it does not bring the fulfillment he was expecting. Looking at small objects that 22 collected while occupying his body, he recalls the moments they had enjoyed together and realizes these experiences gave 22 her spark. Joe plays piano and enters the Zone to return 22's badge but discovers she has become a lost soul, obsessed with the idea that she has no purpose. Joe chases her down and shows her a helicopter leaf she collected to remind her of her time on Earth. They realize that a spark is not a soul's purpose, but simply a desire to live. Joe's actions restore 22 to normal; he returns her badge and accompanies her for as long as he can on her journey down to Earth.

As Joe prepares to enter the Great Beyond, a Jerry stops him and offers him another chance at life in thanks for finally inspiring 22 to live (while another Jerry distracts Terry to manipulate the count). Joe returns to his body on Earth, committed to fully living life.

Voice cast

• Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, a jazz pianist and music teacher
• Tina Fey as 22, a cynical soul with a dim view of life on Earth
• Graham Norton as Moonwind, a spiritual sign twirler
• Rachel House as Terry, an obsessive soul counter
• Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, and Zenobia Shroff as the five soul counselors in the Great Before who are all named Jerry
• Phylicia Rashad as Libba Gardner, Joe's mother, who works as a seamstress
• Donnell Rawlings as Dez, Joe's barber
• Questlove as Lamont "Curley" Baker, a drummer in Dorothea Williams' band and a former student of Joe's
• Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams, a jazz saxophonist

Additionally, Daveed Diggs plays Paul, Joe's neighborhood frenemy; Cora Champommier plays Connie, one of Joe's middle school band students; Margo Hall and Rhodessa Jones play Melba and Lulu, Libba's co-workers; June Squibb plays Gerel, a soul who meets Joe before going to the Great Beyond; Esther Chae plays Miho, a bassist in Williams' band. Cody Chesnutt provides his vocals, from his song "Parting Ways", as a street singer with a guitar.

Sakina Jaffrey, Calum Grant, Laura Mooney, Peggy Flood, Ochuwa Oghie, Jeannie Tirado, and Cathy Cavadini provide the voices of Doctor, Hedge Fund Manager, Therapy Cat Lady, Marge, Dancerstar, Principal Arroyo, and Dreamerwind.

Production

Development and writing

Soul began development in January 2016 following the announcement of the 88th Academy Awards when director Pete Docter had pitched an idea for a new film to then-studio head of Pixar John Lasseter. Docter pondered the origins of human personalities with the concept of determinism. In his first meeting with co-writer Mike Jones, Docter pitched an idea set in the astral plane involving souls with personalities. The film spent four years in production, with an approximate $150 million budget.

Docter and Jones worked on the development of the main character for about two years. Initial ideas included portraying Joe as a scientist, which did not feel "so naturally pure". Pixar eventually settled on portraying the film's main character as a musician because they wanted an appealing profession for the audience. According to Docter, once the creative team decided the main character played jazz music, the filmmakers chose to make him African-American due to the race being tied to jazz history.

With co-writer Kemp Powers's help, Docter wrote Joe during the film's early development. Powers's initial contract was 12-weeks long, but was later extended. After making extensive contributions to the film, Powers became a co-director, making him Pixar's first African-American co-director. Powers based several elements of Joe on his personal life, but wanted the character to "transcend [his] own experience" in order to make him more accessible. Powers also placed additional emphasis on authentically depicting Joe's relationships within the black community. In order to portray accurately African-American culture within the film, Pixar worked closely with an internal "Cultural Trust" composed of black Pixar employees, and hired several consultants. These consultants included musicians Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Quincy Jones, and Jon Batiste; educator Johnnetta Cole; and stars Questlove and Diggs.