Soul
Directed by Pete Docter
Produced by Dana Murray
Written by Pete Docter, Mike Jones, & Kemp Powers
Starring Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, & Angela Bassett
Music by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, & Jon Batiste
Cinematography Matt Aspbury & Ian Megibben
Edited by Kevin Nolting
Production companies: Walt Disney Pictures & Pixar Animation
Soul is the latest from Pixar, and might just be the best feature animation they’ve done to date. Directed by Pete Doctor (Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out) Soul is an amazingly subtle and layered story of a man, Joe Gardner, a middle school music teacher (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who is unaware that his love for performing jazz piano has put him at odds with being fully human. He dies, and his passion for jazz puts him, not in the great beyond, but in the Great Before, a sort of celestial nursery where souls are send to find their “sparks” before going (or returning) to Earth. He, along with a disaffected and cynical soul named 22 (Tina Fey) wind up on Earth, inextricably tangled up with an ordinary house cat. This results, in a refreshingly subtle and sophisticated telling, of spiritual and emotional growth in Joe, 22, and possibly even the cat.
They meet and solicit help from Moonwind (Graham Norton, playing a combination of Bob Dylan and Monty Python). He is one of several outstanding characters (and performances) including Phylicia Rashad as Libba Gardner, Joe’s mother, Donnell Rawlings as Dez, Joe’s barber, Questlove as Lamont “Curley” Baker, a drummer in Dorothea Williams’ band. Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams, a respected jazz musician and saxophone player. But they have great backing in the story: An incidental but vital character is a 12 year old girl named Connie, played by Cora Champommier.
Joe still has much of his personality, but much of his awareness lies in the cat, while much of 22’s persona has become “Joe”. It’s Joe’s interactions with the other characters that provide the impetus for his progression.
The animation meets or exceeds Pixar’s normally high standards, and becomes exceptional in the Great Before, unique and beautiful. The coloring is much more nuanced than Pixar has ever tried before.
The music Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Atticus Ross (Social Network), Jon Batiste (Best known for Stephen Colbert Show) and a bit of Bob Dylan (dis New York guy, I dunno…) is wonderful, especially matched by the animation of players performing it, which is extraordinary.
It’s a beautiful, moving, and inspiring cap to a miserable year. See it, and feel better.