What’s It About
What is it that makes you…YOU? This December, Pixar Animation Studios’ all-new feature film “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) – a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22 (voice of Tina Fey), who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. As Joe desperately tries to show 22 what’s great about living, he may just discover the answers to some of life’s most important questions.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Soul is an excellent film if you don’t think too hard about it. It’s one of Pixar’s best in years. Typically, I would give a movie such as Soul an eight or nine but not this time. At first viewing, it is a great movie. The first Pixar film with an African American lead. Excellent animation, decent music, and characters you can easily identify with. If I were a child, this movie would be in my top five. If I were White, I would give Soul my highest rating and applaud Pixar for a job well done. Well, I’m not a kid, nor am I White. No one at MoviesInMo is Caucasian. Therefore, as a Black man, I have an issue with the subliminal messages of Soul. Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a jazz-loving middle-school teacher who dreams of being one of the best jazz pianists alive. As you know from the trailers, he falls down a maintenance hole and dies – sort of. Joe becomes a soul and ends up in The Great Before, the place you go right before the stairway to heaven (or hell). Once Joe realizes he’s dead, he is in complete denial and refuses to die peacefully. He tries to run away (not sure where he thought he was going to go), and a series of events take place that causes him to pair up with 22, an unborn soul that doesn’t want to be born. From here, Joe and 22 hate each other and don’t understand each other but need each other to get what they want. As stated, the story is excellent, loaded with messages of hope and realizations that ultimately give Soul it’s soul. My problem is the way they chose to help and showcase Joe’s issues in life and semi-death. His unborn friend, 22, is a White woman, or should I say voiced by a White woman. A Black actor voices nearly every character that matters. Why is 22 a White woman? In the film, Joe made a joke regarding 22 sounding like a middle-aged White lady. Why does Joe need to learn a lesson from a White woman? There are so many questions but that would be spoiling the movie if I mention them. Instances like this continue to prove how shallow and insecure White people are generally to the degree they need to make sure Black people will always NEED their help, even in an animated movie. I know it may seem as though I’m looking for problems, but images and films such as Soul continue to pave the way for neverending systemic racism. You might think I’m reading into something that’s not there, but once you see Soul for yourself (and you will), you will have the same question. Why are the White people the saviors in a predominantly Black movie? Sooo, if you can ignore the elephant in the room, you will love Soul.
OUR RATING – A SYSTEMIC 6
MEDIA
- Genre – Family
- Street date
- Digital/DVD/Blu-Ray/4K – March 23rd 2021
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2:39.1
- Sound – English: Dolby Atmos, French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras
- Deleted Scenes
- Introduction – Writer Mike Jones and story supervisor Kristen Lester introduce the “Soul” deleted scenes.
- Mentor Orientation – Joe sneaks into the You Seminar Mentor Program orientation, trying to figure out how on earth he can get back to … Earth.
- Clubhouse Forgery – Joe follows 22 into her “secret lair” as she reluctantly agrees to help him find his way back to Earth.
- Home Lessons – Stuck inside Joe’s body, 22 clumsily attempts to help the downstairs neighbor.
- Living the Dream – Joe has a heart-to-heart with 22 about her fear of living on Earth, then tries to make his way back home via a dream portal.
- Press Shot – Joe, stuck in a cat’s body, and 22, stuck in Joe’s body, take the subway to the jazz club for a publicity photography session.
- Audio Commentary – View the film with audio commentary by director Pete Docter, co-director/writer Kemp Powers and producer Dana Murray.
- Not Your Average Joe – See the thought and care that went into crafting Joe and his story in Pixar’s first film to feature a Black leading character.
- Astral Taffy – Get an in-depth look at the artistry and technical innovation that went into creating the sets and characters in the world of “Soul.”
- Pretty Deep for a Cartoon – The filmmakers tackle big questions, such as where does a newborn’s personality come from, what’s the meaning of life, and more!
- Into the Zone: The Music and Sound of Soul – Explore the movie’s different sonic worlds and discover how music drives and adds specificity to Joe’s journey.
- “Soul,” Improvised – See how the Pixar Systems team and “Soul”’s crew managed to finish the film on schedule during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Jazz Greats – Giants of the jazz world who consulted on “Soul” share their passion and hard-won wisdom about what music is and does for us all.