‘Soul’ brings 1st Black Pixar protagonist to life
Directors turned to cultural consultants for diverse POVs
In 1963, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock was playing a show with Miles Davis when, during Davis’ solo, he played the wrong chord.
Shamed, he froze for about a minute. “Miles paused for a second and then he played some notes that made my chord right,” Hancock recalled. “(He) was able to make something that was wrong into something that was right with the power of the choice of notes that he made and the feeling that he had.
“What I realize now is that Miles didn’t hear it as a mistake. He heard it as something that happened, an event. That was just part of the reality of what was happening at that moment, and he dealt with it. He felt it was his responsibility to find something that fit.”
That classic slice of jazz history became one of the guiding lights for Joe Gardner, the 45-year-old Black protagonist of Pixar’s “Soul.” The Disney subsidiary’s 23rd feature film, and first with a Black lead, was co-directed by the studio’s chief creative officer Pete Docter and playwright Kemp Powers.
Hancock’s memory of Davis was “a perfect metaphor for the story we’re trying to tell,” Powers said. “Which is this idea that life itself is about taking whatever we have thrown at us and turning it into something beautiful.”
“That just seemed so profound and dead-on to what we were trying to say in the film,” Docter said. “It felt like jazz was a key component for the thematics of the film.”
When “Soul” lands Dec.25 on Disney+, audiences will follow Joe (voiced by Jamie Foxx), who dies just after receiving potentially life-changing news. After teaming with a rebellious unborn soul (voiced by Tina Fey), the two conspire to return his soul to his body.
Joe’s race wasn’t decided until after the decision to integrate jazz into the story.
“Jazz, both in African American culture and within the film itself, was so crucial,” Docter said about shaping the ultimate narrative. “There was something about (making the character) a jazz musician that felt (altruistic) because you don’t go into jazz to get rich and famous, you do it because you have a passion for it. Then we realized that if this guy is going to be a jazz musician, he should be Black. It felt wrong to do anything other than that because it’s such a great American art form and contribution from African American culture.”
To ensure an accurate portrayal, Docter, whose previous Pixar credits include directing “Inside Out,” “Up” and “Monsters, Inc.,” assembled teams of consultants to weigh in on story details and tapped Powers initially as a co-writer.
“Kemp is not a guy to just fill the air; when he says something you know it’s important and well-considered,” Docter said. “Wewould involve him in the art and design process and in animation — he just had contributions throughout and was a real cornerstone to making this film authentic. So we said, ‘OK, we’ve got to bump him up to co-director.’ ”
To consider a broad range of perspectives, the filmmaking team turned to cultural consultants both in-house and externally.
“Our first line of attack was to have our own culture trust within Pixar,” said Docter.
“We had anywhere between eight and 10 African American employees who would see what we had and would comment. And even then it was tricky because everybody wants to be polite. So in the room, there were smiles and nods, but later we’d hear back that somebody didn’t like (something). We really had to work hard to make sure people felt like they could speak up with no fear of reprisal.”
The directors also gathered a team of cultural and music consultants including Hancock, Daveed Diggs, Questlove, bandleader Jon Batiste, cinematographer Bradford Young and the former director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art, Johnnetta Cole. “We pretty much ran every single thing we did by Dr. Cole, from the character designs to the sets to the film in their incomplete form,” Powers said.
“She was really pivotal to understanding how far to take things and how to nail it,” Docter said. “If you look at any of our films, we try to stylize. Wemade a lot of mistakes and errors and pushed things as far as we could and then recognized where things maybe could have been seen as offensive. Things like ear size and nose size, which are standard for us, but because of the history, it was a really difficult tightrope.”
Going forward, every Pixar film will include a culture trust, including the upcoming “Luca,” which takes place in Italy and will be helmed by Italian director Enrico Casarosa.
“I’m really proud of this film,” Docter said. “Wehave more female speaking roles than males for the first time in any of our films. And we have a minority of white characters: the majority are African American and Asian and Latino. It’s reflective of the world that we were trying to create.”
“And it’s probably Pixar’s most international cast,” Powers said. “The (soul guardian) voices include Alice Braga from Brazil, Zenobia Shroff from India, Richard Ayoade from England, Wes Studi, one of our most wellknown Native American actors. ... And I think it’s representative of what you’re going to see a lot more of in the future. Not just in front of the camera but behind the scenes, you’re seeing a lot more people of color. I think fans who are celebrating the diversity of this film are going to be pleasantly surprised by what they see coming after this. I’m hoping it’s reflected across the whole animation industry.”
Disney originally planned to release “Soul” on June 19 to coincide with Juneteenth, following an expected world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but it was moved to November after the pandemic hit. Ultimately, the studio opted for a Christmas release on Disney+, without the additional charge they had experimented with for “Mulan.”
“When we finally landed on Disney Plus, it was a little bit sad at the beginning (to not have a theatrical release), but given where we are in the world, this seems like the best way to make sure that the film is seen,” Docter said. “So I’m super happy that we have this amazing platform, and I think the time is right.”
“I’m hoping this film affects different audience members in different ways,” Powers said. “For the Black audience, I hope that when they see it, it’s evident that someone like them had a hand in creating it. That’s really important to me.”