Pixar, and its ever loyal animation partner Disney, have been kicking lately with the critically acclaimed Toy Story 4 and the announcement of its upcoming suburban fantasy Onward inciting mass anticipation. Most recently, they gave fans a taste of what else there is to come with the official announcement of Soul.
So far, there is very little known about Soul other than the very delicately designed title, and the film has been a mystery since IMDb had it listed only as an “Untitled Pixar Animation Project.” The plot synopsis that Disney and Pixar released with the announcement of the title barely answers any questions, either. More accurately, it just creates more questions.
As of right now, Soul is described by Disney and Pixar, via social media, as “a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms, discovering the answers to life's most important questions.” Even for a Pixar film, that is a highly ambitious, yet incredibly vague concept.
Regardless, as the case usually is with any movie from Disney and Pixar, I am very much anticipating Soul, mostly because I am curious to discover more about it. On that note, what do we know about Soul so far? Read on to find out.
When Was Soul First Announced?
Technically, Soul was first announced in early 2016 whilst Inside Out was up for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. There was no mention of a title, plot details, characters, or anything of the like. All that was known was that an idea had been pitched at Pixar.
That was, until June 19, 2019, shortly before the release of Toy Story 4, when Pixar tweeted out this special message:
As you can see, we got the title (in an eye-catching art style, to boot), but still no hints at any notable characters and a very, very vaguely stated plot description. Mysteriously dense concept aside, the reveal of Soul had fans excited to see Pixar putting out more original content in the next year, having released two sequels in two years with Incredibles 2 in 2018 and Toy Story 4 the following year.
When Is The Release Date For Soul?
As you can see from the aforementioned tweet, Soul will be arriving in theaters on June 19, 2020. This will come exactly a year after the release date’s official announcement and a little more than three months after the Disney and Pixar release of Onward, featuring the voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt.
There is actually a fun fact associated with Soul’s release date. It will be coming out exactly five years after the release of 2015’s Inside Out, which also came out on June 19 that year.
Believe it or not, this is not the first time a Pixar movie has encountered such a coincidence. In fact, Soul will be the fourth Pixar film to be released the same day as a previous Pixar film.
The first instance of this curious phenomena occurred when The Good Dinosaur was released on November 25, exactly 17 after 1998’s A Bug’s Life. The other examples of this include Coco and the original Toy Story, both released on November 22 just 22 years apart, and, most recently, Toy Story 4 was released on June 21, 2019, the same day as 2013’s Monsters University.
Who Is Director Of Soul?
Pete Docter has served co-director on three previous Disney/Pixar classics: Monsters Inc., Up, and Inside Out. This time, Soul will be his first solo directorial effort on a full-length animated feature.
Pete Docter, born in Minnesota in 1968, has been an animator since even before joining Pixar. He released his first short film Winter in 1988, which he followed with Palm Springs and Next Door, all of which were hand drawn.
Pete Docter joined Pixar at 21 years old in 1990 (upon late Pixar veteran Joe Ranft’s recommendation to John Lasseter) with limited abilities and having little to no experience with computer animation. However, Docter was quickly assigned larger and larger roles in the company and even became one of the key creators behind the development of Toy Story, basing the character of Buzz Lightyear mostly on himself.
Soul comes from a story conceived by Pete Docter, but there is no confirmation of who is writing the script. However, when considering the premise as Disney and Pixar have presented it and that Docter was one of the minds behind Inside Out, I imagine we are in for a philosophical, emotionally resonant treat with this one.
There is still much more to know about Disney and Pixar’s Soul before it comes out June 19, 2020. Until then, be sure to check back with CinemaBlend for more updates.
