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Soul

Release Date: December 25, 2020 (Disney+)
Directors: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers (co-director)
Writter:  Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Jamie Foxx as: Joe Gardner (voice)
Co-Stars: Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Graham Norton,
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Animation
Rated: Rated PG for thematic elements and some language
Production budget: $150 million
Box office: –
Links: Imdb – Official Site

Plot Summary

Soul tells the story of a middle-school music teacher named Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), who has big dreams of following his lifelong passion for music to jazz-band stardom. But on the day of what could be his big break, Joe finds himself transported to The Great Before… and is now among the souls that live there. As one might expect, Joe desperately wants to return to his life on Earth to finally live out the life he’d worked towards. In contrast, unborn soul 22 (Tina Fey) has no interest in ever visiting Earth, positing that she lacks the ability to find the “spark” or passion that the counselors in charge of The Great Before claim every living soul should have. So when Joe and 22 meet in The Great Before, these two opposites team up for an adventure that will surely be unforgettable.

Jamie Foxx’s Character

Jamie Foxx voices Joe Gardner, a passionate jazz pianist and music teacher whose soul gets separated from his body after an accident.

Trivia

  • Originally going to be released in June 19th, 2020, but was moved to November 20th 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Eventually, the theatrical release was cancelled in favor of releasing the film on the streaming platform Disney+.
  • The first full-length Pixar film to not be released in movie theaters, but instead be released exclusively on the Disney+ streaming service.
  • Joe Gardener is the first African American main protagonist of a Pixar movie, and the second person of color to be the main protagonist, after Miguel Rivera from Coco (2017).
  • Soul received critical acclaim and holds a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

 Quotes

“Specifically, Jamie has a lot of energy and he’s a fun, fun personality. Joe as a character is very high-energy and passionate, so we tried to capture a bit of what Jamie provided and we’d get that into Joe, that intensity. He’s following his passion and desperately trying to get back to Earth. We tried to get a lot of that into his human form and his soul version.”

animator MontaQue Ruffin

Trailer