Soul is a computer-animated fantasy comedy-drama produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Soul is directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers. The story follows a middle school music teacher and jazz musician wanna-be seeking to reunite his soul and his body after they are accidentally separated. I can no longer claim resistance from animated features as I have come across too many that are both fun and brilliantly done. Soul is a good one that is rocking the Disney world.
Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a middle school music teacher, feels stuck in life and unfulfilled at his job. He dreams of a career in jazz, to which his seamstress mother, Libba Gardner (Phylicia Rashad), objects, fearing that he will not be financially secure. Unexpectedly, Joe’s former student, Lamont “Curly” Baker (Questlove) informs him of an opening in the band of jazz legend Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). Joe impresses Dorothea with his piano playing and is offered the job immediately. As Joe happily heads off to prepare for his first performance, he stumbles and falls down a manhole.
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Joe finds himself as just a soul heading into the “Great Beyond”. Unwilling to die before his big break, he tries to escape but ends up in the “Great Before”, where soul counselors—all named Jerry—prepare unborn souls for life on Earth. Joe poses as an instructor who is set to train the souls and is assigned 22 (Tina Fey), a cynical soul who has remained in the Great Before and sees no point in living on Earth. Joe tries to assist 22 in finding a passion, but his attempts prove futile. With no other options, 22 takes him out to “the zone”, an area that people enter when their passion sets them into a euphoric trance; it also houses the lost souls who become obsessed. They meet Moonwind (Graham Norton), a sign twirler who enters the zone to rescue lost souls. He agrees to help Joe return to his body and they learn that Joe’s fall down the manhole sent him into a coma. Joe excitedly hops back to Earth but accidentally brings 22 with him, resulting in 22 entering his body and Joe ending up in the body of a therapy cat. Meanwhile, Terry (Rachel House), an accountant designated to counting souls headed to the Great Beyond, finds the count off and convinces the Jerrys to let her return the missing soul.
Soul may sound confusing but all is cleared up eventually. There has been some controversy surrounding Soul because Tina Fey is the voice of the character called 22, who should be a person of color. I think the protestors should pick bigger battles to fight, GOD knows there’s plenty to choose from. This is all make-believe, after all. I’m just saying! Anyway, Kemp Powers will go down in history as Pixar’s first African-American co-director. Back to the story; Joe hasn’t even begun to touch on the adventure he will face. I can attest to humor, excitement, and mystery as you go further into Soul. It starts off a tad bit slow but moves right along as situations heat up. The story includes Joe’s students, family, friends, and provides many messages. The character 22 is as involved as Joe and will keep you in an emotional state. You won’t want your money back as Soul is entertaining and should keep the kids, as well as some adults occupied for a couple of hours. In order to accurately portray African-American culture within Soul, several consultants worked closely through the film’s development; among them were Pixar employees, musicians Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Quincy Jones, and Jon Batiste. On review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes rated Soul 95% and IMDB rated it 8.2/10 out of 92,906 viewers. Soul is streaming on Disney + — Check It Out!
[SOUL is Oscar-nominated at the 93rd Academy Awards for Best: Animated Feature Film, Original Score, and Sound — Totaling 3 Nominations]
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