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Soul is a 2020 American animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Kemp Powers, both of whom co-wrote it with Mike Jones, and produced by Dana Murray. It stars the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Phylicia Rashad, Donnell Rawlings, Questlove, and Angela Bassett. It follows Joe Gardner (Foxx), a middle school teacher and aspiring pianist who falls into a coma following an accident and seeks to reunite his separated soul and body in time for his big break as a jazz musician. Docter conceived Soul in January 2016, examining the origins of human personalities and the concept of determinism. During his first meeting with Jones, he pitched the idea about spacetime involving souls with personalities. The film's producers consulted various jazz musicians, including Herbie Hancock and Terri Lyne Carrington, and animated its musical sequences using the sessions of musician Jon Batiste as a reference. Apart from Batiste's original jazz compositions, musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the film's score. Production on Soul lasted for four years on an approximate $150 million budget. It was the first Pixar film to feature a black lead. Soul premiered at the London Film Festival on October 11, 2020, and was scheduled for theatrical release on June 19 and November 20; however, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released direct-to-streaming on Disney+ on December 25, 2020, accompanied by the short film Burrow, and in theaters in countries without the streaming service. It was theatrically released in the United States on January 12, 2024, and grossed over $122 million at the box office. The film received critical acclaim from critics, who praised the story, craftsmanship, themes, characters, ideas, creativity, sound design, musical score and emotional weight. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Soul one of the top ten films of 2020. It was nominated for three Academy Awards at the 93rd Academy Awards, winning two, and received numerous other accolades. Plot In New York City, pianist Joe Gardner teaches music part-time at a middle school while dreaming of playing jazz professionally. When he receives an offer to teach full-time, his mother Libba urges him to accept, although Joe is resistant. Joe learns famous jazz musician Dorothea Williams has an opening in her quartet and auditions at a jazz club. Impressed with his piano playing, Dorothea hires him for that night's show. As Joe heads off, his excitement distracts him, and he falls down an open manhole. Joe finds himself a disembodied soul heading into an afterlife called the "Great Beyond". Unwilling to die, he tries to escape but ends up in the "Great Before", a realm where new souls are prepared for life on Earth with guidance from otherworldly counselors — all named Jerry — and experienced souls who act as mentors. Each new soul has a badge that grants passage to Earth once it has been completely filled in with interests and personality traits. Mistaken for a mentor, Joe is assigned to 22, a stubborn soul who has been in the Great Before for thousands of years and hopes to avoid Earth. Intrigued by Joe's desperation to return to a mundane life, 22 agrees to let Joe help find her "spark", which will complete her badge and enable Joe to use it to return home. After Joe's fails several attempts to find 22 a passion, they visit "the Zone", a place that souls enter when their passions create a euphoric trance but becomes a trap for obsessed, lost souls. They meet Moonwind, a sign twirler who regularly enters the Zone to rescue lost souls, who helps the duo locate Joe's soulless body in a hospital. Joe returns to Earth but accidentally brings 22 with him, and they awaken in Joe's hospital room in the wrong bodies, with 22 inhabiting Joe's body and Joe inhabiting the body of a therapy cat. They locate Moonwind, who agrees to meet at the jazz club that night to restore Joe to his body. In the meantime, 22 settles into Joe's body and starts to find enjoyment in trivial things like food, wind, and music. She holds poignant conversations with Libba, Joe's student Connie, and Joe's barber Dez as well as convincing Joe's mother to let him play in the band, deepening her understanding of life. Meanwhile, Terry, the being in charge of counting souls, discovers the count is off and arrives on Earth to find Joe. As the day ends, Joe and 22 visit Moonwind to return Joe to his body, but 22, having finally discovered the joy of living, refuses to leave Joe's body and flees. As Joe chases her through a subway station, Terry disconnects them from life and returns them to the Great Before. 22 discovers her badge is complete, but an enraged Joe insists it was the result of experiencing life in his body with his preferences and she has no purpose. Distraught, 22 throws the badge at him and gives herself up to the Zone. A Jerry informs Joe that a spark is not a soul's purpose in life, but Joe refuses to believe this and discreetly uses 22's badge to return to Earth. The show at the jazz club is successful, but a tearful Joe thinks about 22's misfortune and looking at small objects that 22 collected while occupying his body, he remembers the moments they had enjoyed together and realizes these experiences gave 22 her spark. Joe plays piano and enters the Zone with the intent of returning 22's badge, but is too late when he discovers she has become a lost soul, obsessed with the idea that she has no purpose. Joe chases her down and shows her a sycamore seed she collected to remind her of her time on Earth. They realize that a spark is not a soul's purpose, but simply a desire to live. Joe's actions restore 22 to normal; he returns her badge and accompanies her for as long as he can on her journey down to Earth, then Joe finds himself in the Great Beyond. As Joe prepares to die, a Jerry stops him and offers him another chance at life in thanks for finally inspiring 22 to live (while another Jerry distracts Terry to manipulate the count). The next morning, Joe returns to his body on Earth, committed to fully living life. Voice cast Jamie Foxx as Joe Gardner, a jazz pianist and music teacher Tina Fey as 22, a cynical soul with a dim view of life on Earth Graham Norton as Moonwind, a spiritual sign twirler Rachel House as Terry, an obsessive soul counter Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Wes Studi, Fortune Feimster, and Zenobia Shroff as the five soul counselors in the Great Before who are all named Jerry Phylicia Rashad as Libba Gardner, Joe's mother, who works as a seamstress Donnell Rawlings as Dez, Joe's barber Questlove as Lamont "Curley" Baker, a drummer in Dorothea Williams' band and a former student of Joe's Angela Bassett as Dorothea Williams, a jazz saxophonist Additionally, Daveed Diggs plays Paul, Joe's neighborhood frenemy.... Discover the Linda Mooney Carolyn Gregg popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Linda Mooney Carolyn Gregg books.