Soul

Pixar's latest film, Soul, is about a jazz pianist who has a near-death experience and is forced to look at his choices and regrets the life he took for granted in the afterlife. Unlike many of its predecessors, the film dives deep into existential themes that make adults cry. There is also a light touch into the spirit of Jazz.


Joe falls into an open manhole and ends up in a coma. It is a fatal end to a perfect day in which Joe nailed an audition to play with a Jazz legend. Joe's soul is sent to the Great Beyond but he isn't ready for The End. He flees in the opposite direction and ends up in The Great Before.


The Great Before is where fresh souls are mentored to discover their spark that will send them down to Earth. Joe assumes the identity of a psychologist and mentors a problemed soul, 22. She rejects mentorship and Joe is tasked with trying to find her spark in exchange for him to return to Earth to play his gig.


During his time with 22, Joe begins to reexamine his life and sees that it is empty and unfulfilled. His time was consumed by his dreams of being a jazz musician. The problem with this film like many other animated films is that it transforms the rare Black leading character into something else for a majority of the film.


Soul makes history by being Pixar's first Black-led film. The team reached out to consultants throughout the entire creative process to make sure the film accurately reflected Black Culture. Cultural and musical Black consultants such as Questlove and Jon Batiste were included in the process. Pixar took trips to jazz clubs and the National Museum of African American History.


Co-director, Kemp Powers, suggested that the film include a barbershop because he wanted to see Black hair animated in Pixar fashion. There was the importance to make sure that Black hair was animated correctly and the lighting of Black skin reflected reality.


Out of all the Pixar films the animation here seemed experimental with a blend of two-dimensional and three-dimensional characters. Even the score by NIN made it feel eerie and added to the feeling of having an existential crisis. Soul feels like a midlife crisis movie that has adults questioning their lives and children distracted by the bright colors. The film takes too many turns to push the main theme of not getting caught up in one thing and living your life.