On December 25th, 2020, Disney/Pixar’s Soul was released to Disney+. Originally slated to be released to theaters, it was moved to Disney+ due to the pandemic. The film won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score, as well as Golden Globe Awards in the same two categories. Three years later, the film was finally released to theaters on January 12th, 2024. Here’s my review:
Synopsis: Joe Gardner is a part-time middle school band director who possesses an exceptional piano-playing talent. While grateful for the opportunity to be employed at the school, his real life’s ambition is a professional performing gig, preferably in Dorthea Williams’s New York City nightclub. When he finally auditions, he lands the gig, but his excitement causes him to accidentally fall into a sewer, where he finds himself disembodied. As he struggles to “reembody” himself, he begins to examine his life which is a poignant challenge to how he views himself.
Pixar’s current head of animation, Pete Docter, co-wrote and co-directed “Soul.” In addition to “Soul,” Docter is also known as the screenwriter/director of Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), and Inside Out (2015), the latter two of which also won the Best Animated Feature Oscars. Taking that body of work into consideration, there’s no denying that Pete Docter knows how to make animated movies that inspire audiences to feel soul-based emotions. “Soul” is no exception and is distinguished from the others in the sense that “Soul,” rather than a story about children being looked after by the main protagonists, it’s a story about an adult struggling inside himself.
“Soul’s” all-star voice cast includes Oscar-Winner Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, Oscar-Nominee Angela Bassett, Emmy-Winner Tina Fey, Tony-Winner Daveed Diggs, Graham Norton, and Emmy-Nominee Phylicia Rashad. Pete Docter shares writing and directing credits with Kemp Powers, who received a Best Adapted Screenplay Nomination for 2020’s One Night in Miami and who also directed 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Mike Jones also co-wrote the film and the following year Jones co-wrote Luca (2021) for Pixar which also received a Best Animated Feature Oscar Nomination. (Like “Soul,” “Luca,” and Turning Red (2022) also were released as Disney+ exclusives, but both will be released to theaters this year, “Turning Red,” on February 9th and “Luca,” on March 22nd.)
Overall, “Soul,” is a wonderful and beautiful film. It inspires us to consider doing what we love or what we’re passionate about in our lives, but also to recognize that life on Earth entails all kinds of “purposes,” and it’s meant to be lived to the fullest. Being open to new things is important, but we need to also see that many “seemingly boring” or mundane parts of our lives can also carry great meaning. It’s a more unconventional message for an animated film and continues to show how Disney/Pixar poses our thinking on important topics.
