Pixar's Soul

[Sotiris]

Soul's score has been deemed eligible by the Academy's music branch.

Disney-Pixar’s “Soul” has been declared eligible for the original-score Oscar. Voters from the Academy’s approximately 375-member music branch will choose 15 songs and 15 scores for the shortlists (to be announced Feb. 9) that will be the basis for final voting for the five nominees in each category. The Academy qualified 105 songs and 136 scores.

The biggest question was: would “Soul” qualify for original score? It initially appeared doubtful, as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s dramatic score constituted less than the required 60 percent of total music in the film; and Jon Batiste’s jazz, a critical element in the film, might be considered “source music” and not “dramatic underscoring” as defined under Academy rules.

The branch executive committee, which rules on these matters, clearly decided that Batiste’s music played a key role and should be taken into account as part of the overall musical tapestry. This presents the unusual possibility that three composers will be listed if “Soul” makes the final five when nominees are announced March 15.

Source: https://variety.com/2021/music/news/osc ... 234897434/

The last score by three credited composers to receive an Oscar nomination was Mulan (1998), in the now defunct category of Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. Matthew Wilder and David Zippel collaborated on the songs; Jerry Goldsmith composed the orchestral score. The previous year, Anastasia was nominated in the same category. Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens collaborated on the songs. David Newman composed the orchestral score.

The last time three composers won an Oscar for scoring was 33 years ago when The Last Emperor took the 1987 award for best original score. Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su collaborated on the score for that film, which won swept all nine Oscars for which it was nominated – including Best Picture.

Source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news ... nal-score/

[Disney Duster]

Good.

[D82]

Soul will be available on digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 23. There'll also be Best Buy and Target exclusive editions. These are the bonus features:

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.

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/soul-blu-ray-release-date/

[Disney Duster]

All great sounding bonus features!

[Disney Duster]

So, does Joe really kill the cat when he enters its body, or did the cat die in its sleep before Joe landed in it, or what?

[DisneyFan97]

I like this movie

[D82]

So, does Joe really kill the cat when he enters its body, or did the cat die in its sleep before Joe landed in it, or what?

I totally forgot about the real cat by the end of the movie, but I found an article that I finally didn't post where they explain it.

[Disney Duster]

Thank you, D82! I wish I could have seen what they storyboarded! Maybe a short someday!

[Sotiris]

Soul won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score.

[D82]

Thank you, D82! I wish I could have seen what they storyboarded! Maybe a short someday!

No problem! Yes, it would be nice if they made a short about that.

[BelleGirl]

Outcry Across Europe As Joe, The Black Lead Of Pixar’s ‘Soul,’ Is Dubbed By White Actors
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/voice-actin ... 00918.html

This is getting ridiculous... it's like expecting a black voice actor to do the chinese dub of the movie...

It always happened that way, Tiana was also voiced by white voice actresses and I never heard any outcry about it.

I was thinking of 'Pocahontas' when I read this. In the original American version the voices were done by Native American actors like Irene Bedard and Russel Means, which I think was quite suitable. However, this film was also dubbed in many other languages and you cannot expect to find many native American actors in say, Russia, or The Netherlands.

Do we really hear the difference between a 'white', 'black' or 'asian' voice, especially when they all talk the same language fluently? I think not.

This focus on race is very unhealthy and only divides people. There is just one human race, the homo sapiens, with some variety in skin color and shape of the eyes and noses. That is all.

[UmbrellaFish]

Every country should have their own approach which is sensitive to the culture, demographics, and history of that country and language. That said, it seems like most of the critics of these white-person-playing-Black-person-dubs in the New York Times article come from the countries where these dubs are made. And their voices should be heard. It’s time we give POC the same opportunities as their white colleagues. It’s as simple as that.

[blackcauldron85]

Inside the Soul Cultural Trust | "Not Your Average Joe" Soul Bonus Feature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ZepLuLD4c

[Rumpelstiltskin]

OK, I have now seen the movie. It's possible others have already mentioned it, but here is my impression; my favorite part was the birthplace of the souls and the Jerrys and Terry. But manually counting every soul in the afterlife day after day and year after year? That sounds like a horrible job. And it did seem a bit easy to escape his fate at first.

I liked how Terry took on the shape of geometric figures and lines while he was on Earth. And the scene where he grabs the wrong guy was hilarious.

If I was a member of Pixar's brain trust during production, I would have asked some questions, starting with what happened to the famous child psychologist that Joe was mistaken for. Wasn't he present at all, and his card was just laying around?

When they enter the place where they can try out all what Earth has to offer in an effort to find the spark, why can they stimulate all senses except taste and smell? That would of course made it a little harder to write the script, but it does make you wonder what the point was in including this if the souls can't experience it.

If Joe was dead, how could he (or more correctly, 22) wake up in his body again? The only explanation I can think of is that he did not die when he fell down the manhole, but later, in the hospital bed. What kept his body alive was the machines he was connected to, even if his soul was gone.

And a little nitpicking; how could he afford to pay the taxidriver when his only clothes was the hospital gown? The same with how he could enter his apartment without his key.

The part with his pants and having a serious talk with his mother felt a bit like fillers (as mentioned in a video on Youtube, but I agree). Then again, these kinds of fillers are often present in Pixar movies.

Then there is the zone. I don't understand how they could both be occupied in the real world while having conversations in the zone place. And was it anything that prevented them from visiting the place where the young souls live? The souls in the zone also seemed to be mostly adults if I remember correctly. Where were all the children that are completely lost in a comic, a novel or a movie? It is easier for children to enter the zone that adults. Unless children have their own zone.
(The hole were they jump actually reminds me strongly about a dream I had once. Except that it had nothing to do with souls or seeing down on our planet)

About the maple seed. How was Joe able to bring it with him to a higher plane of existence? One explanation could be that he just visualized it. Which means they can create objects with will power alone (is that where the ship in the zone came from?). The fresh souls don't have any experience with the real world, and therefore don't have the mental foundation to do the same.

Also found it a little sad that 22 would forget his/her whole life after being born on earth. What about giving the dead souls back all their memories at some later point?

[D82]

Soul got one of the two Grammys it was nominated for, Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, tying with The Queen's Gambit:

Best Jazz Instrumental Album

Jazz Selections: Music From and Inspired by Soul — Jon Batiste

Absence — Terence Blanchard featuring the E Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet

WINNER: Skyline — Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette & Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Akoustic Band Live — Chick Corea, John Patitucci & Dave Weckl

Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) — Pat Metheny


Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

Bridgerton — Kris Bowers, composer

Dune — Hans Zimmer, composer

The Mandalorian: Season 2 - Vol. 2 (Chapters 13-16) — Ludwig Göransson, composer

WINNER: The Queen's Gambit — Carlos Rafael Rivera, composer

WINNER: Soul — Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, composers

Source: https://ew.com/awards/grammys/grammy-aw ... ners-list/

[Disney's Divinity]

I wasn't as excited for this one as I was Luca and Turning Red--the Ghibli / Aardman-esque quality to those two played a big part in the difference (among some story-related things that were intriguing about both)--but my instinct was correct because this wasn't as good as either of them to me.

This film felt like one that was very hampered by the buddy roadtrip formula, imo, which makes it fitting its been the last of its kind at PIXAR in that regard for now (with Luca being more of a trio story and Turning Red being focused on a girl, her mother, and her friends). I found 22 very annoying and didn't really enjoy the part of the film with Joe wandering around in a cat's body, although some of the few movements 22!Joe made at points were cute. And the ugliest cat design ever, might I add at that. Joe himself and his mother, as well as the light beings, were the most interesting parts of this, imo, although even the stuff with the mom felt like I'd seen this conflict a thousand times over (and better) in animated fare. Oh, and the lost souls' designs were very interesting, too.

That said, all three of these films are very "small," focused on very intimate and personal stories. I think that's why I was annoyed when Joe's story got hijacked by the annoying 22 character (no offense to Tina Fey at all, I don't blame her). I thought both 23's and Dorothea's designs left a lot to be desired, tbh. So naturally the short they made for 23 also did little for me--although I did laugh when the one soul's spark was the fact he was a follower (and then a sheep symbol appeared). Btw, one of the biggest laughs in the film was when Joe first finds himself in the cat's body and he doesn't understand how a soul could have gone into a body that was already inhabited by a soul (cut to the cat on the escalator going into the light--"Meow."). What I don't get though, is for a moment I wondered if Joe entering the body killed the cat, but I thought that was saying the cat must've died on the lap of Joe's body and so its body was "open" when Joe fell into it. But then later when Joe leaves the cat, it's soul returns somehow? Even though it should've entered the light a long time before that happens?? So Joe had pushed the cat's soul out...

I think I would've enjoyed the film more if Joe had "moved on" at the end after acknowledging what one of the light beings told him--that a person's spark and their purpose aren't the same thing. What satisfies you isn't the same as what you do for others, in other words (Joe's love of jazz v. his work as a teacher to so many others). The way it actually ends feels incomplete somehow. I thought that, if he was going to return to life, that they'd flash forward to him meeting 22 as a student 10 years later or something.

A long time ago, in 2008, when Pixar’s Wall-E first came out, I was so mad at Pixar being considered better than Disney I tried to hurt them by pointing out robots couldn’t feel love like they do in Wall-E, because they don’t have souls. I was stupid. People were saying why couldn’t the robots be alive and fall in love in the same way other anthropomorphic objects in Disney or Pixar films did? I should have listened to them, but I didn’t get what they were saying. Then a member named TM2-Megatron started debating with me over if humans are only alive and have their personality from souls, why robots could be just like humans, and if God exists, and his points against mine were so convincing it sent me into a deep depression.

Today I am still deeply depressed, and will never get out of it till I die, but I at least I have some sort of revenge. Pixar is now making a film going completely against what TM2-Megatron argued, and is all in favor of what I argued for. Here is what transpired between me and TM2-Megatron:

https://www.dvdizzy.com/forum/viewtopic ... 34#p400234

I didn't realize you were partly saying that over anger over PIXAR. I'm sorry it all sent you into a depression. I think it all sounds like an argument over nature (are you simply born with your personality?) versus nurture (you become what you are through your experiences, particularly early, formative ones). Personally, I've always thought the answer is a mix of the two rather than one or the other. I think you are born with a personality already in tact because you existed before this life, but naturally your early life here impacts how that personality is expressed. Such as if you're an extrovert versus an introvert, how you view yourself and the world around you (such as if you have a traumatic experience that inhibits you at a young age), what parts of your personality were encouraged or discouraged (sort of like a flower that's watered, some things grow and some things you try to hide about yourself), etc.

So, does Joe really kill the cat when he enters its body, or did the cat die in its sleep before Joe landed in it, or what?

I totally forgot about the real cat by the end of the movie, but I found an article that I finally didn't post where they explain it.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought about this. Their explanation is pretty flimsy.... And, personally, I think they made the wrong decision about the ending (the article talks about it being debated whether Joe should die at the end or not).

[Disney Duster]

Disney's Divinity, I liked Soul better than Luca and Turning Red, but it may be because I love afterlife and soul and "what makes you you" topics. Thank you so much for addressing my depression and how it started on here. I think you are very smart and wise about what a personality is/how it is formed. You sound very correct in what you said. It probably is something like that, if not exactly like that.

[Disney's Divinity]

I like those topics, too... I think I was never enthused by Soul because most of its portrayal seems nothing like what I believe. I mean, seminars?? I did like the light figures, they made me think of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Mrs Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time.

[Disney Duster]

Ohhhh... well Soul hardly comes close to what I believe either. I just thought it was a fun and very imaginative and creative way of thinking how souls become, well, souls. Just a fun idea even if none of it is true. I actually do not believe we live before conception. I have no idea if in any Christian religion there is any info on that. I'm Catholic and I don't think there is any in that religion. I'm a bad Catholic, though, lol. I'm glad you like those same topics I do, though, that's cool!

[Disney's Divinity]

I meant as far as God knows what we are when he creates us.