Pixar's Soul

[Jules]

"Streaming exclusively on Disney+"

Does this mean no physical blu-ray/4K release?

God, I hope not.

[Farerb]

"Streaming exclusively on Disney+"

Does this mean no physical blu-ray/4K release?

God, I hope not.

We can't know for sure. Mulan is going to have a Blu-ray release, but from what I know it was ready back in March and Disney were sitting on it. However, I think it will eventually be released on physical because it's Pixar, they'll give it a better treatment than Ivan/Artemis.

[Sotiris]

Maybe what happens is that the soul of either 22 or Joe is exchanged with the cat's soul when it touches the animal's body and Mr. Mittens' soul goes up to the Great Before.

That makes sense. That's probably what happens.

He does look like a kooky old mentor, and also a bit hippie. Apparently, the character will also appear in human form in the film.

Based on this still, it looks like Joe and 22 first meet Moonwind as a human after they fall from the Great Before to Earth. So, how does he have a Soul form? Does he die later on in the film? Does that mean Joe and 22 return to the Soul world? I assume they meet up and interact in the Soul realm as well otherwise there would be no point in him having a Soul form.

I wonder if Joe will be able to speak when he's in the cat's body.

I think only 22 will be able to hear him (along with the audience.) There's also the less likely scenario where Joe as a cat will communicate in pantomime and we won't hear him talk.

[D82]

Based on this still, it looks like Joe and 22 first meet Moonwind as a human after they fall from the Great Before to Earth. So, how does he have a Soul form? Does he die later on in the film? Does that mean Joe and 22 return to the Soul world? I assume they meet up and interact in the Soul realm as well otherwise there would be no point in him having a Soul form.

Well, he's with Joe and 22 in the Soul realm when they both fall to Earth, so I guess they meet him in his soul form first, but I don't know how he can appear in the real world in a human form apparently just a few minutes after that. Mild spoilers: I've just read this footage description and I think Moonwind must be a mentor, which according to the article are "souls who have been to Earth before and in the afterlife have opted to help new souls who are struggling to find their way".

I think only 22 will be able to hear him (along with the audience.) There's also the less likely scenario where Joe as a cat will communicate in pantomime and we won't hear him talk.

I guess you're right, it must be the first option you mentioned. It wouldn't be too believable if everybody could understand him and I don't see them communicating in pantomime during the whole movie either.

[Sotiris]

Well, he's with Joe and 22 in the Soul realm when they both fall to Earth, so I guess they meet him in his soul form first, but I don't know how he can appear in the real world in a human form apparently just a few minutes after that.

That doesn't make any sense.

They have more distinct features than new souls, making it easy to recognize the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc, Nelson Mandela, Vincent Van Gogh, Aretha Franklin, Catherine the Great, Muhammad Ali and more. And all of them have failed to help Joe’s new soul apprentice 22.

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/pixars-soul-footage-reaction/


This scares me. Are they really going to have Soul caricatures of all these historical figures? That would be so tasteless and cringeworthy.

[Disney Duster]

I think those historical cameos are cool! Not tasteless or cringe-worthy.

[Disney's Divinity]

Of Disney's upcoming theatrical films, the one that strikes me as most likely to move to D+ is "Cruella." It's been in post-production for almost a year, so it should be more-or-less finished at this point.

Cruella would be a good fit for a streaming service, too. It already looks like a complete joke as it is. Lady and the Tramp deserved a theatrical release more than that thing. (I don’t assign Stone or Thompson any blame. I’m sure if there’s anything good at all about the film, it’ll only be because of their involvement.).

As for Soul, I don't really care either way. I was more sad about Onward since I actually had a little interest in that one (I still haven't seen it, unfortunately).

[Sotiris]

More articles.

5 Things You Need to Know About Pixar’s Soul
https://d23.com/5-things-you-need-to-kn ... xars-soul/

Disney and Pixar’s Soul Concept Art
https://d23.com/disney-and-pixars-soul-concept-art/

How Pixar’s Soul Celebrates and Represents Black Culture
https://d23.com/how-pixars-soul-celebra ... k-culture/

Pixar’s ‘Soul’: Creative Notes on the Meaning of Life
https://www.animationmagazine.net/featu ... g-of-life/

Pixar’s ‘Soul’ Deftly Tackles the Risky Constructs of Life, Death, and How We Enter the World
https://www.awn.com/animationworld/pixa ... nter-world

Designing the Illusory: Souls, Counselors, and The Great Before of ‘Soul’
https://www.awn.com/animationworld/desi ... great-soul

“Soul” Team on Their Ambitious Upcoming Disney/Pixar Feature
http://www.animationscoop.com/interview ... r-feature/

Life Before Life: Creating The Great Before in Pixar’s “Soul”
https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... at-before/

Animating Life into "Soul": Behind-the-Scenes of Pixar’s Upcoming Film
https://www.laughingplace.com/w/article ... nterviews/

How ‘Soul’ Was Nearly Pixar's 'Oceans 11'
https://collider.com/pixar-soul-heist-movie-oceans-11/

[Kyle]

"Streaming exclusively on Disney+"

Does this mean no physical blu-ray/4K release?

God, I hope not.

Dont see why you'd get that from that. It just means the only place you can stream it is on D+.

[unprincess]

They have more distinct features than new souls, making it easy to recognize the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Joan of Arc, Nelson Mandela, Vincent Van Gogh, Aretha Franklin, Catherine the Great, Muhammad Ali and more. And all of them have failed to help Joe’s new soul apprentice 22.

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/pixars-soul-footage-reaction/


This scares me. Are they really going to have Soul caricatures of all these historical figures? That would be so tasteless and cringeworthy.

I dunno, it reminds me of the famous Latinos seen in Coco. Abe Lincoln and Joan of Arc? (I hope we see Cleopatra, JFK and Gandhi)

so Joe not only spends much of the movie as a blue blob but also as a cat? wow, I dont think alot of people are gonna like that.

[D82]

5 Things You Need to Know About Pixar’s Soul
https://d23.com/5-things-you-need-to-kn ... xars-soul/

Disney and Pixar’s Soul Concept Art
https://d23.com/disney-and-pixars-soul-concept-art/

That's a lot of concept art! Thanks for sharing! Here's yet another article:

How the Animators of Pixar’s Soul Combined Technology With Imagination
https://news.disney.com/animators-of-pixar-soul

Well, he's with Joe and 22 in the Soul realm when they both fall to Earth, so I guess they meet him in his soul form first, but I don't know how he can appear in the real world in a human form apparently just a few minutes after that.

That doesn't make any sense.

It occurred to me later that maybe these mentors are Pixar's take on angels and they'll have the ability to teleport and appear on Earth in a human body to help the souls they're responsible for.

I dunno, it reminds me of the famous Latinos seen in Coco. Abe Lincoln and Joan of Arc? (I hope we see Cleopatra, JFK and Gandhi)

I was going to say the same thing. It reminds me of the celebrities in Coco too. Personally, I guess it depends on the way it's portrayed, but in principle, I don't mind it.

so Joe not only spends much of the movie as a blue blob but also as a cat? wow, I dont think alot of people are gonna like that.

I had the same thought. Well, at least Joe's body will also be on screen when they're on Earth even though his soul is in the cat's body. But, yeah, I guess people are not going to like that.

[Jules]

"Streaming exclusively on Disney+"

Does this mean no physical blu-ray/4K release?

God, I hope not.

Dont see why you'd get that from that. It just means the only place you can stream it is on D+.

farerb and Kyle:

I knew that was far-fetched when I wrote it. After all, Disney should know better than anyone that new Pixar and WDAS films are guaranteed to sell on DVD/BD/UHD, even if they are readily available on Disney+, right?

Nevertheless I still get this sinking feeling that we just might get to the point where new animated films from Pixar and WDAS (and more likely Blue Sky) may not get a home release but instead become Disney+ exclusives. And the only way you can watch them will be on Disney+ as there will not be a physical release available for purchase.

Besides the fact that needing to pay a monthly subscription alongside other bills just to have access to the latest Disney animated films leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth, I also hate the idea of a movie being available only in a low bitrate HD or 4K stream with lossy sound, as well as the inability to play the content in 24p (I find having to watch Netflix movies with micro-stutters in 2020 to be unacceptable, especially as virtually every TV and projector since the late 2000s has a 24Hz mode.)

[D82]

In a new article, the directors talk about the controversy over the fact that Soul is yet another movie with a black protagonist that is transformed into a creature of a different color during a big part of the movie:

“We were unaware of that [trope] as we started, but we certainly became aware,” Docter, who’s also Pixar’s chief creative officer, said during the conference.

Pixar has been working on “Soul” for about the past five years since the release of 2015’s “Inside Out,” which earned an Oscar.

“My hope is that when you see the whole film, there is plenty of Joe on screen,” Docter continued. “I think we have over 50 per cent on Earth that follows Joe’s life, his places of where he goes, people he’s with, and then the other part is in the soul world.”

Powers, who joined the film during its last two years of production, told press that at the time he joined, the film was in “pretty rough form.” The director, who initially joined the film as a writer, said Joe’s character needed a lot of fleshing out.

“I think it’s a legitimate concern, but it’s also about context,” Powers, who identifies as Black, added. “I’m as sensitive to those things as anyone else. For me, it’s definitely about the context in which you tell this character’s story. There were a lot of caution cones we had to put up … [to,] for the first time, [tell] a Black man’s story in an animated film, being aware of how easy it is to go off the rails.”

Pete Docter also reveals that the film originally spent most of its time in the soul world:

“The very first incarnation of the story spent almost no time on Earth,” Docter told Insider in a separate interview via Zoom. “It was all in the soul world. I’m not sure Joe was African American at that point.”

“I don’t know that we specified too much, but the roles were flipped. 22 [a soul voiced by Tina Fey] was the lead, this character, who doesn’t want to go be born,” Docter continued.

The director said when the lead character ultimately became Joe, they decided to add more moments from his life.

“As we got into the specificity of who this guy was, it wasn’t like a mandate, ‘We have to spend 50 [minutes] … that was the way the story organically grew,” Docter said of the nearly equal amounts of time Joe spends on Earth versus being a soul.

“Honestly, going back and forth between the realms was always a part of the story,” Powers told Insider. “We didn’t realise percentage-wise how much time was spent in one or the other until someone asked us outright. We counted up all the sequences, you’re like, ‘Oh, look at that about 50-50,’ but it wasn’t in any way, a conscious effort. It was, very much organic because understand, Joe doesn’t turn into a soul. The point of the film is that everyone has a soul … All of our souls are presented in the same way and the same colour.”

[DisneyFan09]

Whoa! So at the end, Soul will also be heading to Disney Plus? What a pity. It`s understandable that Mulan was eventually released to Disney Plus, but I`m surprised that Soul will get it, too. I thought that Disney and Pixar had bigger ambitions for it at the end. Well, well.

[Disney Duster]

Of course Disney and Pixar had bigger ambitions for it. They had to release it on Disney+. Releasing films to theaters in these times is a joke.

[D82]

Soul Early Reviews: A Return To Form For Pixar
https://screenrant.com/soul-pixar-movie ... s-preview/

Based on the one below, I think it becomes clear that 22 will go into Joe's body and Joe into Mr. Mittens body. Joe seems scared and disoriented which he wouldn't be if he were in his own body and the cat points to a specific direction indicating he's familiar with his surroundings which excludes 22 who's new to Earth.

You were right about that, Sotiris. This review confirms it. It also gives some details about the character called Moonwind. It's even weirder than we thought. I'd say the following excerpt is quite spoilery, so be warned:

Joe and 22 do return to New York, and the film then takes on a comic, body-swap element involving the wrong soul in the wrong body. Joe has come back as a cat, and I don’t mean of the jazz hepcat variety.

It’s a change of tack and tone. There ensues a race against time for Joe to get his body back, repair his suit, fool his Mom, inspire a trombone student and make it to the gig, all while 22 (now contained in Joe’s body — stay with me on this) learns what it is to live in the big city, to wear shoes, take the subway, to taste pizza and get a haircut for the first time.

I haven’t even mentioned a surprisingly large part for British chat show host Graham Norton voicing a twinkly, spiritual leprechaun-type figure called Moonwind who sails a galleon on the Astral Plane rescuing moody, dark-grey lumps he refers to as “lost souls.” He exists, too, in New York, as a sign-twirler who can help 22 return to the Great Before.

[DisneyFan97]

Is it true that Rachel House,Alice Braga ,Wes Studi, Sakina Jaffrey,Cathy Cavadini, Donnell Rawlings, and June Squibb have all joined the cast of this movie ? or is Wikipedia Lying ?

Here is a Link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_(2020_film)

[UmbrellaFish]

The reviews look very promising! But I am confused as to why Disney has released the embargo for this movie so early— more than two months before its Disney+ release. Why waste this great buzz?

[estefan]

Is it true that Rachel House,Alice Braga ,Wes Studi, Sakina Jaffrey,Cathy Cavadini, Donnell Rawlings, and June Squibb have all joined the cast of this movie ? or is Wikipedia Lying ?

Here is a Link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_(2020_film)

If you're uncertain about the validity of information on Wikipedia, click the number next to the info, which links to the original source. Wikipedia cites The Hollywood Reporter's review of the movie, which lists the cast and crew at the bottom of the article, likely taken from press notes sent by Disney. So it's probably true.

You can even hear Rachel House's voice at the end of the second trailer.

[DisneyFan97]

Is it true that Rachel House,Alice Braga ,Wes Studi, Sakina Jaffrey,Cathy Cavadini, Donnell Rawlings, and June Squibb have all joined the cast of this movie ? or is Wikipedia Lying ?

Here is a Link

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_(2020_film)

If you're uncertain about the validity of information on Wikipedia, click the number next to the info, which links to the original source. Wikipedia cites The Hollywood Reporter's review of the movie, which lists the cast and crew at the bottom of the article, likely taken from press notes sent by Disney. So it's probably true.

You can even hear Rachel House's voice at the end of the second trailer.

Thank you so much for the info