After Vice Versa’s emotions, Disney/Pixar takes us into the world of souls to discover where our personality comes from. What we love, our passions, our character, in short, this great existential mystery of our deep being. Discover Soul.
Summary:
Passionate about jazz and a high school music teacher, Joe Gardner finally has the opportunity to fulfill his dream: playing in the best jazz club in New York. But an unfortunate misstep rushes him into the “Great Before” – a fantastic place where new souls acquire their personality, character, and specificity before being sent to Earth. Determined to find his life again, Joe teamed up with 22, a playful and witty soul, who never grasped the interest of living a human life. By desperately trying to show 22 how great existence is, Joe might well discover the answers to the most important questions about the meaning of life.
You can watch the trailer here
Reflection on life:
If Disney animated films are true tales, Pixar animated films have for the most part a much deeper meaning. This makes them more accessible to adults and makes us forget that we are watching an animated film. Soul is one of them by the true reflection on the life he brings. But beware, one does not forget its magic…
We therefore have in opposition two characters. One is enthusiastic and passionate, happy to live and not at all ready to die. The other is blasé and disinterested, especially not wanting to put a foot in the world of the living. The film is based on a single question that is formulated in several ways: What is the purpose of our life? What is the meaning of our life? Believe us, even Joe Gadner and his enthusiasm are wrong to answer this question. The entire journey of the characters, each event, leads to the answer to this fundamental existential question.
My Opinion on Soul:
Soul is a very beautiful film, both visually and in the message it carries. As often with Pixar, the animation is impeccable and takes us into a rich and abundant universe. In the real world or in the afterlife, the adventures of Joe Gardner are a pleasure to see.
The animated feature also emphasizes beautiful values. Friendship, resilience, passion, altruism, love of neighbor and many others… his heroes are very endearing.
Visually, Soul is definitely what Pixar does best. With its pastel color palette and clean lines, this fantastic universe is a visual slap and a monster of ingenuity.
Music is central to the plot, and that’s probably what makes Soul so special. As a full-fledged character, she plays an essential role and the composers have succeeded brilliantly in transcribing the different atmospheres of the film.
It’s dynamic, funny, and witty. Perhaps the only downside is that the animated film does not seem very easy to apprehend for the younger ones. Soul is sometimes more complex than it seems, and children may not grasp all its ins and outs. However, it remains excellent, and we recommend you to watch it.
Some anecdotes from Soul:
– The director, Pete Docter, came up with the idea of the film by observing his son at birth who he said was born with a personality. So, he wondered how one is born with something unique and specific that is already inscribed in us.
– This is the first time for the Pixar that the main character in the film is an African American.
– If the character who accompanies Joe during the film is called 22, it is indeed because 22 is the number of films produced by Pixar before “Soul”!
– After being pushed back several times by Pixar, the film was finally released in 2020, in the middle of Covid-19. Having thus had difficulties to realize it, the credits mention that “Soul” was produced “in homes at least at six feet away from each other”
– As in all Pixar movies from “Toy Story”, the Pizza Planet truck also appears in “Soul”. Indeed, it is in the room where souls try to find what animates them.
– A tower is also present and it is not just any tower since it is the Eiffel Tower in tribute to “Ratatouille”, the Parisian cook!
– For the “Grand Avant” aspect, the teams were inspired by the “101 Dalmatians” films.
– A viral photo was posted on the Internet in 2015, on which a rat was shooting a piece of pizza on the street. Thus, the «Soul» teams wanted to pay tribute to this rat since we find him in the film!
More :
Soul is a particularly ambitious film, a new proof of the mastery of Pixar studios. The concepts and ideas shown in the feature are as inventive as they are mature, leading viewers to a certain introspection. Not to mention that it is, in addition, a visual and musical slap.
In addition, in 2021, Soul won the Oscar for Best Animated Film and Best Film Score: the Golden Globe, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, the British Academy Film Awards and the Annie Awards.
Authored by : Marie-Lorraine Viry