Soul Trivia | 90 facts about the new Pixar film

Soul is a new film by Pixar Animation Studios and it was released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 23rd by the famous studio.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the film.

1. Soul is a 2020 American computer-animated fantasy comedy-drama film
2. It is produced by Pixar Animation Studios
3. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures
4. The film is directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers
5. The film stars the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, and Angela Bassett
6. The story follows a middle school music teacher named Joe Gardner, who seeks to reunite his soul and his body after they are accidentally separated, just before his big break as a jazz musician
7. Docter began developing the film in 2016, working from his contemplations on the origins of human personalities and the concept of determinism
8. He co-wrote the screenplay with Mike Jones and Powers
9. The film’s producers consulted various jazz musicians including Herbie Hancock and Terri Lyne Carrington
10. They animated its musical sequences using the sessions of musician Jon Batiste as a reference
11. Jon Batiste created original compositions for the film
12. Soul is the first Pixar film to feature an African-American protagonist
13. Soul premiered at the London Film Festival on October 11, 2020
14. It was originally intended to be a theatrical release in the United States
15. The film was released to stream on Disney+ on December 25, 2020
16. It was theatrically released in countries without the streaming service
17. It received highly positive reviews from critics
18. With praise for its animation, story, voice acting, and music
19. Pete Docter began developing Soul in January 2016, as he sought new creative directions after winning his second Academy Award for Inside Out
20. Producer Dana Murray recalled, “Pete had this feeling, ‘Is this it? Do I just do this again?’ I don’t know if it was a midlife crisis as much as a midlife what-am-I-doing? moment”
21. Docter pondered the origins of human personalities as well as the concept of determinism
22. In his first meeting with co-writer Mike Jones, Docter pitched an idea “set in a place beyond space and time, where souls are given their personalities”
23. In June 2018, it was announced that Docter was planning to complete his film despite being appointed Chief Creative Officer at Pixar after John Lasseter’s departure
24. In June 2019, Pixar formally announced the new film, titled Soul, with Docter directing and Murray producing
25. A synopsis released on Twitter described the film as a cosmic journey through New York City
26. Pixar chose to portray the film’s main character as a musician, because they wanted a “profession the audience could root for”, and settled for a musician after trying for a scientist, which “[didn’t feel] so naturally pure as a musician’s life”
27. Docter described Soul as “an exploration of, where should your focus be? What are the things that, at the end of the day, are really going to be the important things that you look back on and go, ‘I spent a worthy amount of my limited time on Earth worrying or focused on that’?”
28. Docter and Jones worked on the development of the main character for about two years
29. According to Docter, once they settled on the main character being a jazz musician
30. The filmmakers chose to make the character African-American, as they felt it made sense due to how closely African-Americans have been tied to jazz history
31. Powers originally joined as co-writer early in development to help write the character of Joe, and was initially given a 12-week contract, which was then extended
32. He was subsequently promoted to co-director after his extensive contributions to the film
33. Thus, making him Pixar’s first African-American co-director
34. Powers based several elements of Joe on his personal life, as the character’s story shared several elements with Powers’ own
35. He also wanted him to “transcend [his] own experience” in order to make the character more accessible
36. Powers also placed additional emphasis on authentically depicting the black community as well as Joe’s relationships with them
37. In order to portray accurately African-American culture within the film, Pixar created an internal culture trust composed of black Pixar employees, and hired several consultants, among whom were musicians Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, Quincy Jones and Jon Batiste, educator Johnnetta Cole, and stars Questlove and Daveed Diggs
38. The filmmakers worked closely with them through the film’s development
39. The idea for the therapy cat and Joe landing inside its body came from Jones
40. Docter and Powers appreciated the idea, as it offered the filmmakers a much needed way for Joe to “be able to look at his own life from a different perspective” and appreciate it
41. According to Murray, the filmmakers were undecided on the ending of the film “up until the last screening”
42. Some versions of the ending had Joe actually passing on to the Great Beyond, while other ones had him returning to Earth a year later, or staying in the Great Before as a mentor
43. A number of brief scenes showing 22’s life on Earth after her new birth, including one of her reuniting with Joe in New York, were storyboarded
44. Docter considered it “much more powerful to give the decision to the audience” and ultimately discarded these scenes
45. In August 2019, Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Rashad and Daveed Diggs were announced as starring in the film
46. In March 2020, Angela Bassett announced she was in the cast
47. With the release of the film’s trailer in October 2020, Richard Ayoade, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, Zenobia Shroff, Donnell Rawlings and June Squibb were also announced to be in the cast
48. Pixar was mindful of the history of racist imagery in animation, and set out to create characters who were recognizably black while avoiding the stereotypes in old cartoons
49. Acknowledging this effort, Docter stated that “There’s a long and painful history of caricatured racist design tropes that were used to mock African-Americans”
50. According to Powers, the animators used lighting as a way to highlight the ethnic diversity in the living world
51. Pixar sought to capture the fine details of these black characters, including the textures of black hair and the way light plays on various tones of black skin
52. Cinematographer Bradford Young worked as a lighting consultant on the film
53. Animators used footage of several music performers, including jazz composer Jon Batiste, performing as reference for the film’s musical sequences
54. By capturing MIDI data from the sessions, animators were able to retrace the exact key being played on the piano with each note and create the performances authentically
55. According to Docter, the animators assigned to specific musical instruments often either had experience playing them or a great appreciation for them
56. The filmmakers animated the souls featured in the film in a “vaporous”, “ethereal”, and “non physical” way
57. Having based their designs on definitions about souls given to them by various religious and cultural representatives
58. At the same time, they did not want the souls to look overly similar to ghosts, and adjusted their color palette accordingly
59. Docter described the design as “a huge challenge”, as the animators are “used to toys, cars, things that are much more substantial and easily referenced”, though he felt the animation team “really put some cool stuff together that’s really indicative of those words but also relatable”
60. According to Murray, several artists helped create the souls’ designs by giving their suggestions and opinions on how they should look
61. The designs were also inspired by early drawings made by Docter
62. Animators created two designs for the souls in the film
63. One for the new souls in “The Great Before”, which animation supervisor Jude Brownbill described as “very cute, very appealing, with simple, rounded shapes and no distinguishing features just yet”
64. And one for mentor souls, which do feature distinctive characteristics due to having been on Earth already
65. Animators also created a distinctive design for 22, as the character had not been on Earth but has begun to evolve
66. The design of soul counselors (“Jerrys”) originated from line drawings made by story artist Aphton Corbin
67. Another artist then created wire sculptures of them, upon which the final design was based
68. For the Great Before, the filmmakers did not want it to be based in any specific culture given its nature of universality
69. They sought inspiration from the architecture of 1930s-1960s world’s fairs, which was “meant to inspire, to create a sense of awe and importance”
70. According to Docter, the aim of the design was to “make a grand statement about learning and knowledge”
71. The personality pavilions were designed to be “abstract-looking shapes” as a literal interpretation of the abstract ideas they represent
72. For the Great Beyond, the filmmakers went with a direct take on the concept of “going toward the light”, which they believe would be immediately understood by the audience
73. American musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails composed a new-age score for the metaphysical segments of the film
74. While American musician Jon Batiste composed a number of original jazz songs for the New York City-based segments of the film
75. Batiste sought to create what he referred to as “user-friendly jazz”, which would feel “authentic” and still be appreciated by a general audience
76. Reznor and Ross were brought in on the recommendation of sound designer Ren Klyce, who had worked extensively with the duo in David Fincher films
77. Several days after its release, research firm Screen Engine reported that 13% of viewers had subscribed to Disney+ in order to watch the film
78. It over-indexed among parents, particularly mothers
79. The company also said that Soul was already among the most-watched straight-to-streaming titles of the year, right behind fellow Disney+ release Hamilton and fellow Christmas release Wonder Woman 1984
80. In its opening weekend, Soul grossed $7.6 million from ten countries
81. This includes $5.5 million from China
82. Critical response to Soul has been “highly positive”
83. The film has been described as one of Pixar’s “most ambitiously existential” and finest films
84. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95%
85. This is based on 258 reviews
86. With an average score of 8.40/10
87. The site’s critics consensus states, “A film as beautiful to contemplate as it is to behold, Soul proves Pixar’s power to deliver outstanding all-ages entertainment remains undimmed”
88. On Metacritic, Soul has an average score of 83 out of 100
89. This is based on 54 review
90. On the site, the film received “universal acclaim”