“This is not a kids’ movie.”
Those were James Dunmore’s words when he recommended I watch “Soul”, the newest feature from Pixar Animation Studios. Considering the studio’s excellent track record, this wasn’t difficult advice to take. Like its predecessors, “Soul” conveys sympathetic characters in evocative settings through what has become a trademark style of computer graphics. However, much like an improvisational solo, this movie circles around Pixar’s creative conventions then launches off to explore some totally new territory.
“Soul” concerns the story of middle school band teacher Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), who really longs to get his shot as a full-time jazz piano performer. While roughly half of this story takes place in New York City, where Joe lives, the other half is set on an entirely different plane of existence, outside of time and space itself. It’s a bizarre pocket containing a nondenominational representation of the afterlife as well as the beforelife, which is largely populated by – you guessed it – souls from people all over the world, plus a few ethereal beings named Jerry.
It was a risky play by “Soul’s” directors; the initial transition between settings is rather jarring (you’ll know it when it happens) and threatens to render the movie disconnected by getting just a little too abstract too quickly. But the gamble ends up paying off incredibly well, keeping the story beautifully unpredictable and packed with creative ways of shifting both setting and perspective several more times. This transition also introduces some more experimental animation techniques. Some caretakers in the beforelife look like Cubist face drawings, and there’s a scene where Joe plummets through a void that saturates his 3D blue frame with a 2D M. C. Escher-esque style. Somehow, it all meshes together effectively, displaying creative visual intuition that I can only dream of possessing.
In this interdimensional pocket, Joe meets 22 (voiced by Tina Fey), a soul who is long overdue to inhabit a body on Earth but has no motivation to do so. 22 cannot find her spark for life; she lacks passion in every known area. She’s the opposite of Joe, who tends to have tunnel vision for jazz and a desire to align his profession with that singular passion.
Everyone can find something to relate to in “Soul”; most of us find ourselves wishing we had more time to devote to our purpose or wishing we knew what our purpose was. That is, everyone except those who haven’t lived long enough to grasp such existential concepts.
That’s why I couldn’t agree more with James. “Soul” doesn’t strike me as a children’s movie. Kids who love Monsters Inc. and Cars might be apathetic or fearful towards the slightly freaky afterlife animations of “Soul,” and the beautiful lessons regarding identity, purpose, and ambition will likely go over their heads. There are plenty of references to giants of the past such as Lincoln, Copernicus, and Jung and the pressure that their legacy of achievement exerts on people today – another subtle theme that may go unappreciated by children. A heartbreaking quote like, “I’m just afraid that if I die today, my life will have amounted to nothing,” from a son to his mother, has so much more weight to an adult viewer.
In any case, while not quite as universally appealing as Pixar’s typical works, “Soul” is a truly great movie, easily one of my favorites, with lots more that could still be unpacked – a refreshed level of diverse representation by Disney standards, an utterly fantastic blend of jazz and electronic music, and plenty of laughs (thanks, Tina Fey). Please watch this movie, because it has a higher chance than most of bettering your life view.
You can stream this masterpiece exclusively on Disney Plus.
