Disney’s “Soul,” which released on the Disney+ streaming platform on Dec. 25, is the latest film from Pixar. Similar to Disney’s “Inside Out,” which personified emotions as brightly colored sprites controlling our actions through a control room in our minds, “Soul” depicts how our personalities are created in a summer camp where blobs and squiggles collide to create a soul. Despite the movie being mired in some racial controversy, it is a very well-animated movie with complex themes that high-schoolers, who grew up with Pixar movies, can relate to.
The movie follows the story of Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher, whose adult life has not gone the way he thought it would. His whole life, he dreamed of becoming a professional jazz musician and waited for his big break. Just as he receives his big break, however, an untimely accident separates his soul from his body. Instead of accepting his death and going to “the Great Beyond,” or the afterlife, Gardner escapes to “the Great Before,” a place where souls develop their personality before being sent to Earth. Once there, Gardner works with Soul 22, a soul that does not understand the concept of life, to explore their passions and understand what it means to be a soul.
The movie conveys the idea that living a life only focused on one passion or purpose is restrictive—people’s passions can change throughout their lives, and what they thought they were destined for may be something that they do not expect. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “Soul” co-writer Kemp Powers said, “For anyone in the creative arts, it’s an almost religious obsessiveness you have to have success. … It feels like that obsessiveness is detrimental to the rest of your life.” This idea is represented in the movie when Gardner reflects on his life in the Great Before and realizes that his life has amounted to nothing. It is his obsession with his goal of becoming a jazz musician that has been keeping him from experiencing what life has to offer.
The movie also tells the viewer that you must live like a jazz artist—or the jazz music itself. While traditional music follows the ABABCB structure, jazz is almost never performed the same way twice and relies heavily on inspiration, improvisation, and the emotions of the musician. The movie emphasizes the importance of drawing on your own abilities to overcome challenges in your everyday life, taking chances and trying new things, and living in the present through focusing your complete attention on your daily life. The decision of the movie directors to use jazz definitely added a deeper meaning to the movie which could not have been made if they had chosen another art form.
On top of everything, “Soul” is an ode to teachers and mentors alike, especially those who push students to do better and see the potential in them. One takeaway from the film is that professionals in any field are not always the best people to teach others or become mentors. The movie depicts teaching as a gift which is only present in a small amount of people and is terribly underappreciated. It shines a light on our society today and how it does not recognize educators as much as those (usually entrepreneurs) who are successful in their field. In the movie, Gardner does not measure his success based on the amount of lives he has impacted, instead opting to measure it with the tangible goal of being a jazz musician—which the movie describes as a horrible way to live one’s life. It is not until the end of the movie that he realizes his joy in life comes from imparting his passion for jazz onto others and helping them realize their potential.
Overall, “Soul” is witty and well-articulated. It appeals to people of all ages with new meanings for whatever stage of life you are in, whether you’re a child, high-school student, or adult. The movie is an inspirational piece that needs to be seen, especially now when a lot of students may be losing motivation or are stressed thinking about what they want to be in the future.
