Tonic for the soul
ANIMATION: PIXAR GETS IT RIGHT WITH DEEP TOPICS THAT WON’T SCARE THE KIDS
The team which brought the world Inside Out and Up have hit the jackpot again with Soul, a brilliantly conceived animated Pixar escapade in which questions about life and living are addressed. Questions arise such as where do people get their personalities? How much of a role do parents play in your upbringing? Are things predetermined before birth?
These are tackled by co-writer and director Pete Docter in an entertaining and believable way.
The deep, spiritual topics that he looks at provide a tonic for the soul on all levels and you leave the cinema on a high, thanks to the jazzy music and the memorable personalities who fill out this clever storyline.
Soul is a bright, whimsical musical about what gives us our individuality and most of the characters do not have bodies at all.
Jamie Foxx gives voice to the lead character, a frustrated jazz pianist named Joe Gardner who is unable to fulfil his ambitions because he works as a middle school music teacher to earn a living. One day he is given the rare opportunity to audition for a jazz band. He aces the audition but on his way home he falls down a manhole to his untimely end.
But it doesn’t end there. The story is elevated to a new plane, which we understand is the Afterlife, where all souls end up. The Great Beyond is wonderfully depicted and not at all scary as children’s films go. It asks young audiences to acknowledge the issue of mortality in a way few productions do. During Joe’s spiritual journey he encounters various entities. Emerging souls manifest, guided along by mentors who have already lived and are tasked with passing their
knowledge and passion onto the next generation. Once new souls discover their “spark” they are provided with an entry pass to Earth where they enter an infant body to live out their lives.
Joe is hooked up with No 22 (Tina Fey), a recalcitrant soul who has been around for ages and is unable to find her spark. She’s a negative force and there is some revealing interplay between the two characters with hilarious results, reminiscent of Freaky Friday. Messages and metaphors abound in this ground-breaking enterprise with a toe-tapping musical score that enhances the experience.
Soul is a superb, uplifting production to kick off the new year.