For years, Pixar earned a reputation for the unique way it spun its animated stories – they were adult films masquerading as children’s entertainment. Start with a cute, child-friendly concept (toys come to life; monsters in the closet; a family of superheroes) and then use it as a platform to explore deep and thoughtful questions about life, relationships, and maturity. These films lured audiences in with the promise of a fun day at the movies, but gave so much more than they advertised.
Then, somewhere around the late 2000s, the formula began to shift. Pixar’s films became more adult, not merely in subtext but at the surface. Certainly kids could still enjoy the stories with clever, marketable concepts (a rat who loves to cook; two robots in love; a house that literally balloons through the air), but the films catered more overtly to adult sensibilities – slower pacing, greater emphasis on atmosphere, headier themes than most animated fare would ever grapple with.
Throughout the 2010s, Pixar continued to produce emotionally challenging films like Inside Out and Coco (even as it countered them with kiddie fluff like Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur). But no matter how mature the films became, there was always an effort to keep at least one foot in kid-friendly territory. It was a delicate balancing act, but one the studio pulled off with polish.
All of which is to say that I was more than a bit taken aback by Soul, the latest film in the Pixar oeuvre. Although there are certainly elements in the film that young audiences will enjoy, Soul is, by some measure, the most mature and adult film that the studio has ever produced. Had I been a child when it premiered, I doubt I could process more than a tenth of its thematic depth and world-building; even as an adult, it’s a film that demands repeated viewing to fully process it.
Soul took me by surprise, but it was a delightful surprise. Because it is a delightful film.
(I’m unsure what length of discussion around this film will constitute spoiler territory, especially since most of its finer points were not revealed in the trailer. So I’ll just throw in a SPOILER tag before I get into the discussion. If you want to go into this movie without knowing much about it – which I do recommend – click away now.
Soul tells the story of Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a music teacher from New York City with aspirations of being a jazz pianist. On the eve of his big break, Joe has an unfortunate encounter with an open manhole, with his soul (depicted as a small and wispy blue version of his human self) winding up in the afterlife. Trying to escape, he stumbles into the Great Before, the place where new souls gain their personalities before entering the physical world. Joe is determined to regain access to his life and body, but his quest is complicated by 22 (Tina Fey), a mischievous soul who cares nothing for the physical world she’s being prepped to enter.
From the outset, Soul looks to be a metaphysical spin on Inside Out. Where that film literalized the human emotional spectrum with an industry of memories and experiences, Soul takes human life back to the beginning, envisioning the pre-existential plane as a world of exhibits and seminars. But Soul tells the story from the perspective of a human character, and that proves key to distinguishing it from Pete Docter’s previous Pixar film.
The film’s first act doesn’t spend a lot of time on Joe in his human form, but what we do see of him tells us everything we need to know. His love of jazz is instrumental (no pun intended) to his character, beautifully illustrated in the scene where he auditions for a spot in a popular band. Joe loves his music, appreciates the beauty and rhythm of it, his talent showing in every keystroke (and beautifully realized in the distinctive animation, which animates the music in marvelously understated fashion). Our first impression of Joe is that he has it all figured out; he knows his passion, his true love, and he wants to follow his dreams. Most Disney protagonists take an entire movie to realize their best selves; Joe appears to have it all figured out from the start.
But first impressions in Soul are more complicated than they seem. Joe may appreciate music, but he appreciates so little else in life. He darts this way and that through the city, oblivious to construction mishaps and oncoming traffic, and not noticing the fateful manhole until he’s plummeted through it. Soul aims to take its message a step further than most Disney and Pixar films: What if your true passion isn’t the most valuable thing in your life? What if the most valuable thing about life is… life itself?
This is wonderfully illustrated with the character of 22, who winds up becoming the true soul (literally and figuratively) of the film. Through a series of mishaps, Joe and 22 soon wind up back in the real world, but with 22 in Joe’s physical body and 22 occupying the body of a cat. For a moment, Soul seems poised to veer into body-swap comedy, but the story smoothly shifts gears, focusing now on 22’s introduction to physical reality. After spending eternity in the Great Before, 22 is suddenly thrust into the hustle and bustle of Earth, and saddled with the senses of smell, taste, and touch. All the childlike wonder of a newborn; all the physical development of a fully grown adult.
It proves to be the perfect combination. Despite her early reluctance, 22 grows fascinated by the new world around her, and her body (that is, Joe’s body) gives her the full capabilities to appreciate it. Biting into a slice of pizza, feeling the rush of a subway train, watching a maple seed helicoptering earthward – most of us take these routine occurrences for granted. But to a novice like 22, these seeming mundanities become life-defining experiences.
And these experiences are beautifully realized, not just by the story but by the animation – between the depth, the lighting, and the texture, this is one of the most gorgeous animated films ever released under the Disney banner. Continuing in Pixar’s long tradition of vibrant, visually sumptuous films, Soul offers a string of innovative visuals, from Joe’s initial descent into the Great Before to the fluid-line depictions of the soul counselors. But the film’s most impressive visual achievement is its immersive depiction of New York City. The colors, the movement, the detail – all these and more will be warmly familiar to anyone who has wandered the streets of the West Side. (And following a year when so many of us restricted our activity on those streets, our appreciation for their quiet and vibrant life has grown more nuanced than ever.)
And 22’s arc is beautifully intertwined with Joe’s in a manner that allows both of them to learn and grow from the other. The script, written by Docter with Mike Jones and Kemp Powers, allows 22-as-Joe to live a more full life than Joe ever has, showing the aspiring musician what it is he’s been missing. (Soul will probably be the frontrunner for Best Animated Feature when Oscar time rolls around, but I wouldn’t object if its screenplay got a nomination as well.) Animated buddy flicks always end with the two protagonists gaining respect for one another by story’s end, but rarely has any such film portrayed the shifts in its core relationship so artfully.
This is to say nothing of the way Soul blurs the line between the concrete and and metaphysical, intertwining the two worlds in ways that any viewer – no matter how spiritual or material, how religious or atheistic – can relate. That’s because Soul, for all its focus of the afterlife, is intensely grounded in the human experience. The film introduces literalized depictions of “the Zone” (a worlds-straddling area where living humans drift when they fully get in touch with their passion) and “lost souls” (people who become too attached to the physical reality, to the point that they wander aimlessly through the netherworld). We’ve all been to one extreme or the other; we can all connect to the souls in Soul.
That’s the magic of one of the most thoughtful and heartfelt films that Pixar has ever produced. Many of us think we know our life’s passion. Soul tells us to dig deeper – our passion is life.
Scattered Thoughts
– Soul was originally intended for theatrical release in June. Following Covid, it was rescheduled for November, and then finally yanked off the big-screen schedule entirely and put straight on Disney Plus in December. A note in the credits assures us that post-production on the film was completed in multiple homes across California, each spaced at least six feet apart.
– Soul is the first Pixar film not to feature a vocal role for John Ratzenberger. (He’s had at least a small cameo in every film, ranging from Hamm in the Toy Story flicks to the Underminer in The Incredibles.) But Ratzenbeger, or his likeness, still has a cameo of sorts – an animated version of him can briefly be glimpsed during the subway sequence.
– Most of the major voice actors in this film are new to Disney animation. One notable exception is Rachel House, the New Zealand actress who voiced the grandmother in Moana and here plays soul counter Terry. (Technically, Tina Fey voiced the mom in the English dub of Ponyo, but that film is only a Disney release insofar as the Mouse distributed it in America.)
– June Squibb is also become the de facto grandmother voice for recent Disney films; she played roles of the sort in Ralph Breaks the Internet and Toy Story 4, and here plays the elderly woman Joe meets when he first finds himself on the ramp to the Great Beyond. It’s great to see the 91-year-old Squibb getting so much work.
– Early drafts for the film showed a glimpse of 22’s life on Earth at the end. Docter explains that these scenes were ultimately cut in order to leave audiences with a sense of ambiguity. It was the right call (since, as the film explains, it doesn’t matter what 22 is doing with her life, as long as she is living it), but I can’t help wondering if she wound up, as Joe did, in New York City – perhaps at 30 Rockefeller Plaza?
Soul is currently streaming on Disney Plus.
Critically Touched 