Pixar Finds Its Soul With Jamie Foxx And Tina Fey [D23]

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ANAHEIM – D23 has become an event where all the divisions of the Walt Disney Studios make one announcement after another. For instance, we now know the “Black Panther” sequel’s release date, Kit Harrington is now a cast member of the MCU (although not the new Wolverine) and that Awkwafina is in Disney Animation’s “Raya The Last Dragon.”. Pixar, on the other hand, is just venturing into major star casting for its films after avoiding the big names since Owen Wilson took the wheel of “Cars” in 2006 (hey, he was big then).  They’ve already brought Chris Pratt and Tom Holland into the mix for “Onward” and today, the Disney division revealed its leading voices for “Soul” were none other than Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey.

Both stars earned one of the louder ovations of the day with Fey deadpanning, “I’m so glad to be here, guys! This was the only way I could get passes!”  Foxx found himself recording the 7,000+ on hand with his camera, but the cast, which also includes Questlove, Phylicia Rashad, and Daveed Diggs, was perhaps the second most intriguing part of the project. Set for release next June, the Pete Doctor film goes into partially uncharted territory for a Pixar film.

Pixar, Soul, Joe-Gardner

Our hero is Joe Gradner (Foxx), a middle school teacher who yearns for his dream job as a jazz pianist (yes, this movie has jazz in it, composed by none other than Jon Batiste) at the Blue Note Cafe in New York City (is this the first Pixar movie partially set in New York?).  On his way home something, um, unfortunate happens and his soul is returned to the “You Seminar.”  First, you know the soul is gonna look like cute animation and, no surprise, it does (“Inside Out” style). Second, the You Seminar is somewhat hard to explain. It’s “the fantastical place where we all discover our unique personalities” according to the studio.  Basically, your soul finds out what it likes, how it feels what it years for before finding a body on earth (although it’s worth noting we saw no footage of this portion of the film, just the concept art included in this story).  The character 22 (Fey) is a soul Joe meets who hasn’t graduated from the program after being enrolled for thousands of years.  Can you guess that the two will pair up to get Joe back to earth so he can take his dream job?

Soul, Pixar, Concept-art

Like other Pixar films, the cartoon-ish elements of “Soul” seem somewhat familiar.  We’ve seen this aesthetic before in their animated shorts, the aforementioned “Inside Out” and the “Nemo” films.  What makes it more intriguing is that a good portion of the film does take place on earth and Joe is a rare African-American character who interacts with other African-American characters in a Pixar film.  Rashad plays Joe’s mother Libba and Diggs and Questlove are prominent friends in his life as Paul and Curly respectively.  Docter has brought on a co-director, Kemp Powers (“Star Trek: Discovery”), to assist.  Whether it becomes another Pixar classic remains to be seen, but with Foxx and Fey in the mix you know, at a minimum, it’s going to be funny when it needs to be.

22, Soul, Pixar

On the flip side is “Onward,” which has massive hit written all over it.  Writer and director Dan Scanlon revealed that the film means so much to him because the storyline was inspired by his own childhood.  In the movie, Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Holland and Pratt, respectively) are two brothers who have been almost raised by their single mother (revealed as Julia Louis-Dreyfuss).  The trio lives in a world where goblins, fairies, unicorns, mermaids and dragons continue to exist in the “modern” world. The brother’s father died early in their childhoods, but when Ian turns 16 his mother gives him a gift that may allow him to meet his dad for just one day.

Onward, Pixar

It turns out Ian has inherited the gift of magic, but what with no formal training his attempt to bring his father back goes slightly sideways.  His father does manifest himself, but only from his feet to his waist.  The rest of him is missing meaning he can’t hear anyone or communicate besides using his legs and feet.  This sort of physical comedy and human interaction on a basic level is what often separates Pixar from its competitors.  You see where this potentially tearjerker storyline is going, but in the context of just eight minutes of the film, you still get completely sucked in. It doesn’t hurt that the animation of Ian in particular, is superb.  His facial expressions and reactions to the events around him are wonderfully composed.  You forget he’s a teenage goblin and immediately connect with his heartfelt desire to meet his dad just once.

After a five-year period filled where just one of the company’s five releases was original, it’s refreshing to see the studio take some chances.  Especially when their sister studio, Walt Disney Animation, is releasing just their second sequel in 28 years, “Frozen II,” and pushing their aesthetic boundaries with the upcoming “Raya and the Last Dragon.”  Based on this presentation Pixar might not be back to their peak form of the ’00s, but they’re slowly getting there.

“Outward” opens nationwide on May 6, 2020.  “Soul” opens nationwide on June 19, 2020.