Soul (2020 film)

Director Pete Docter in 2009

Soul began development in January 2016, when director Pete Docter sought new creative directions during the announcement of the 88th Academy Awards.[14][15] He pondered the origins of human personalities with the concept of determinism. In his first meeting with co-writer Mike Jones, Docter pitched an idea set in the astral plane involving souls with personalities.[16] The film spent four years in production,[17] with an approximate $150 million budget.[18]

Docter and Jones worked on the development of the main character for about two years.[16] Initial ideas included portraying Joe as a scientist, which did not feel "so naturally pure". Pixar eventually settled on portraying the film's main character as a musician because they wanted an appealing profession for the audience. According to Docter, once the creative team decided the main character played jazz music, the filmmakers chose to make him African-American due to the race being tied to jazz history.[19][20]

With co-writer Kemp Powers's help, Docter wrote Joe during the film's early development. Powers's initial contract was 12-weeks long, but was later extended.[16] After making extensive contributions to the film, Powers became a co-director, making him Pixar's first African-American co-director.[20] Powers based several elements of Joe on his personal life, but wanted the character to "transcend [his] own experience" in order to make him more accessible.[19] Powers also placed additional emphasis on authentically depicting Joe's relationships within the black community.[21] In order to portray accurately African-American culture within the film, Pixar worked closely with an internal "Cultural Trust" composed of black Pixar employees, and hired several consultants. These consultants included musicians Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Quincy Jones, and Jon Batiste; educator Johnnetta Cole; and stars Questlove and Diggs.

The idea of Joe's soul entering the body of a therapy cat came from Mike Jones. Docter and Powers appreciated the idea, as it allowed Joe to "be able to look at his own life from a different perspective" and appreciate it. According to Murray, the filmmakers were undecided on Soul's ending before the last screening. Some test versions of the film ended featuring Joe pondering whether to pass on to the Great Beyond; returning to Earth a year later; or staying in the Great Before as a mentor. Initial storyboards featured several brief scenes showing 22's life on Earth after her new birth, including one of her reuniting with Joe in New York. These scenes were ultimately discarded.[22]

In August 2019, it was announced that Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad and Daveed Diggs had joined the cast.[2][7] In March 2020, Angela Bassett announced she was cast in the film. During the release of the film's trailer in October 2020, Richard Ayoade, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, Zenobia Shroff, Donnell Rawlings and June Squibb were also announced to be in the cast.[4]

Docter said Jamie Foxx (himself a classically trained pianist) was perfect for Joe, citing his comedic skills and musical background.[18] Foxx related the film's "bittersweet [feeling] of losing someone but gaining a vision of joy".[23][24]

Tina Fey, in addition to voicing 22, also contributed to the screenplay, helping to write her character's lines.[25] She considered the film, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a "helpful reminder that [life] isn't defined by achievement or attainment".[23]

Soul is Pixar's first film to feature an African-American protagonist.[26] Pixar and Docter were mindful of the history of racist imagery (particularly caricatured depictions of African-Americans) in animation and wanted to create black characters[16] as well as integrate authentic African-American culture into the film's "DNA" to prevent caricatures, stereotypes, and tropes.[27] Pixar sought to capture the fine details of the characters, including the textures of black hair and the way light plays on various tones of black skin.[16] According to Powers, the animators used lighting in emphasizing the character's ethnic features.[28] Cinematographer Bradford Young worked as a lighting consultant on the film.[28]

Animators used footage of several music performers, including Batiste, as reference for the film's musical sequences. By capturing MIDI data from the sessions, animators retraced the exact key being played on the piano with each note and animated the performances authentically. According to Docter, the animators assigned to specific musical instruments often either had experience playing them or a great appreciation for them.[28][29]

The souls were animated by the filmmakers in a "vaporous", "ethereal", and "non-physical" way. Souls were designed to depict various religious and cultural outlooks.[25] The designs were also inspired by early drawings made by Docter. Animators created two designs for the souls in the film: one for the new souls in "The Great Before" (described as "very cute, very appealing, with simple, rounded shapes" by supervising animator Jude Brownbill) and one for mentor souls (feature distinctive characteristics since they have been on Earth).[30] They differentiated souls from ghosts by adjusting their color palette accordingly.[31] Animating the souls' designs was challenging and substantial. According to Murray, several artists helped create the souls' designs by giving their suggestions and opinions on how they should look.[32]

The design of soul counselors ("Jerrys") originated from line drawings made by story artist Aphton Corbin. Another artist created wire sculptures of them, and the design was finalized.[31] Together, with the design of "Terry", they were seen by critics as a reference to Osvaldo Cavandoli's 1971 Italian animated series La Linea.[33][34][35]

Soul's fantastical elements were difficult to render. To address the issue, Docter referred to his film Inside Out (2015), where the filmmakers personified through physicality. For the Great Before, the filmmakers did not want it to be based in any specific culture given its nature of universality. They sought inspiration from the architecture of 1930s–1960s world's fairs, making a "sense of awe and importance".[36] Production designer Steve Pilcher believed in the simplicity of the Great Before, saying that it was complicated and naive.[18] According to Docter, the aim of the design was to "make a grand statement about learning and knowledge."[37] The personality pavilions were designed to be "abstract-looking shapes" as a literal interpretation of the abstract ideas they represent.[36] For the Great Beyond, the filmmakers conceptualized "going toward the light", which they believed the audience would understand.[31]

The astral plane sequence took months to create, despite the actual scene having a short duration. Visual effects supervisor Bill Watral compared the sequence to Psycho's (1960) shower scene, taking a long time to film in spite of the actual short time span. During this sequence, filmmakers painstakingly animated sands, liquids, and rocks for the brief sequence.[38]

To animate New York, the filmmakers explored jazz clubs and pizza stops for inspiration. A barbershop scene received additional input from Powers.[18] The animation style moved away from photorealism, depicting the city as distorted and crooked.[39]

Musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails composed an ambient score for the metaphysical segments of the film, while Batiste composed a number of original jazz songs for the New York City-based segments of the film.[40][41] Batiste created a "user-friendly jazz", which felt "authentic" but could still be appreciated by a general audience.[19][42] Ross composed a "somewhat ominous" musical cue in the afterlife walkway scene, which also incorporated real-world sounds.[18] Reznor and Ross were brought in on the recommendation of sound designer Ren Klyce, who had worked extensively with the duo in David Fincher films.[43]

The score and the original songs from Soul were released in two vinyl-exclusive albums, while also compiled onto a single digital album.[44][45] "It's All Right", the end credits song performed by Batiste, was originally recorded by The Impressions. A second cover of the song, a duet between Batiste and British soul singer Celeste, was released alongside the film.[46]

The 101-minute[47] Soul premiered on October 11, 2020, at the BFI London Film Festival.[48] It was initially scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on June 19,[49] but was later pushed back to November 20. This shift was reportedly made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,[50] before Disney decided to release the film on Disney+ on December 25. Unlike Mulan, Soul did not do so through Disney+ Premier Access, making it free for all subscribers.[51]

In international markets where Disney+ was not available, Soul was released theatrically.[52] These included China,[53] the Philippines,[54][55] Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, among others.[56] The film was included in their lineups of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival[57] and the Rome Film Festival; it opened on October 15.[58] In theaters, Soul was intended to be accompanied by SparkShorts short film Burrow, but it premiered on Disney+ instead.[59] A prequel short to Soul was released in 2021, titled 22 vs. Earth. It focuses on 22 leading a rebellion against her superiors.[60]

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Soul on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download on March 23, 2021. Physical copies contain an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted scenes.[61]

Soul earned $121 million in other territories.[62] The film grossed $7.65 million in its opening weekend in 10 markets, including $5.5 million from China.[63] By February 2021, Soul had become the highest-grossing Pixar release ever in Russia ($18.3 million), Ukraine ($1.9 million), and Saudi Arabia ($5.9 million). Its top international markets at that point were China ($57.9 million), Russia, South Korea ($14.8 million), Taiwan ($6.4 million), and Saudi Arabia.[64]

Following the release of Soul on Disney+, research firm Screen Engine reported that 13 percent of viewers watched the film, and it over-indexed among parents, particularly mothers. The company also said that Soul was among the most-watched straight-to-streaming titles of the year, behind Hamilton and Wonder Woman 1984.[65] On December 21–27, 2020, the film gathered 1.669 billion minutes of watch time, making it the number 1 streaming title that week.[66] Nielsen reported that Wonder Woman 1984, with 2.252 billion minutes of streaming on HBO Max, had surpassed Soul, with 1.7 billion minutes on Disney+, in streaming numbers on Christmas weekend.[67] Samba TV later reported that 2.4 million households streamed the film over its opening weekend.[68] Nielsen reported that Soul was the most streamed film across all platforms, during the week from January 4–10, 2021.[69]

Soul received critical acclaim.[70][71][72] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 360 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The consensus reads; "A film as beautiful to contemplate as it is to behold, Soul proves Pixar's power to deliver outstanding all-ages entertainment remains undimmed."[73] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned Soul a score of 83 out of 100 based on 55 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[74]

Several journalists praised Soul for its craftsmanship,[75][76] which they saw as an exercise of Docter's expertise,[77][78] as the film was considered a return of Pixar's form by some critics.[79][80] Leslie Felperin (The Hollywood Reporter) and Jason Solomons (TheWrap) described the film as its peak, with Solomons characterized its "colorful visuals and gentle wisdom".[10][81] A. O. Scott of The New York Times expressed its "combination of skill, feeling and inspiration".[82]

The story, characters, and music were sources of praise. Kaleem Aftab of IndieWire felt the narrative "[veered] off in many unexpected directions, so that even the inevitable end point feels just right."[8] USA Today's Brian Truitt commended the performances of Foxx and Fey.[83] For Time Out Dubai, Whelan Barzey believed Joe's story could appeal to many generations.[84] Felperin and Peter Travers (ABC News) praised the musical score, calling it "sublime".[10][85] Truitt and Travers credited Batiste, Reznor, and Ross for their music merits.[83][85]

Reviews were not uniformly positive. Kirsten Acuna from Insider felt that "the studio had taken a few steps backward" in their racial "sensitivity" as Soul used the same trope of "turning Black characters into creatures".[86] Molly Freeman of Screen Rant acknowledged the film's "message about the meaning of life and finding purpose, but it's messy and only made muddier by the questions the movie sets up then fails to answer. The result is Soul loses much of its emotional impact, with the third act playing out more like a rush to the finish line of the story without giving as much weight to the themes and emotional throughline of the film."[87] Charles Pulliam-Moore of Gizmodo wrote that "Soul comes across less like an earnest and casual celebration of everyday Blackness, and more like a twee depiction of it that's meant for white audiences' consumption."[88] Namwali Serpell of The New Yorker published an extensive critical essay of the film, citing among other issues, "Not only does Twenty-two use Joe as a vehicle but the movie must also make the grandiose and grotesque claim that he has learned to live through her" and concluding that "The most glaring artistic error in 'Soul' is its misprision—its elision, really—of what soul means for black culture."[89]

Soul was included on a number of best-of lists. It was listed on many critics' top ten lists in 2020, ranking sixteenth.[90] Several publications have listed it as one of the best animated films, including: Parade and Complex (all 2021).[91][92]

At the 93rd Academy Awards, Soul received a nomination for Best Sound, and won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score.[93] The film's other nominations include ten Annie Awards (winning seven),[94] three British Academy Film Awards (winning two),[95] a Critics' Choice Movie Award (which it won),[96][97] and two Golden Globe Awards (winning both).[98][99] It was named one of the ten best films of 2020 by the National Board of Review (where it also won Best Animated Film) and the American Film Institute.[100][101]