Pixar's Soul Looks Fascinating

All images: Disney/Pixar

Pixar's second project for 2020 delves into the existential. While Onward is set in a world full of mythical magic, Soul looks at the beauty and complexity of the human soul.

Here's the official synopsis from Disney and Pixar:

Next summer, Joe Gardner will discover his brilliant, passionate self. According to director Pete Docter, the idea for the story is 23 years in the making. “It started with my son—he’s 23 now—but the instant he was born, he already had a personality,” says Docter. “Where did that come from? I thought your personality developed through your interaction with the world. And yet, it was pretty clear that we’re all born with a very unique, specific sense of who we are.” 

“Soul” introduces Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher whose true passion is playing jazz. “I think Joe is having that crisis that all artists have,” says co-director Kemp Powers. “He’s increasingly feeling like his lifelong dream of being a jazz musician is not going to pan out and he’s asking himself ‘Why am I here? What am I meant to be doing?’ Joe personifies those questions.” 

22 and Joe

In the film, just when Joe thinks his dream might be in reach, a single unexpected step sends him to a fantastical place where he’s is forced to think again about what it truly means to have soul. That’s where he meets and ultimately teams up with 22, a soul who doesn’t think life on Earth is all it’s cracked up to be. Jamie Foxx lends his voice to Joe, while Tina Fey voices 22. “The comedy comes naturally,” says producer Dana Murray. “But the subtle emotion that reveals the truth to the characters is really something special.” 

Soul arrives in theaters on June 19, 2020.