After Watching Pixar’s Soul, I Wrote This…
By: Dreaming Chatterbox
Tags: Disney Plus, Film, 2020, Pixar, Soul

This Christmas Day is the least Christmas-y holiday for a long time when everyone around the world is encouraged to stay indoors and avoid gatherings. That is the circumstance when Pixar’s Soul releases on Disney Plus on 25th December 2020, allowing all of us to do some soul-searching on this quiet Christmas Day.

Given what a masterful storyteller the Pixar team led by Pete Docter is, they are confident to make a film where the message of Soul is unclear 15 minutes into the film. Previous Pixar films are great, but usually, the audience knows what the main focus of the film is. But of course, Pixar being Pixar, its films belong to the Hall of Fame because they go deep into the main motif. For example, Inside Out, one of my favourite films of all time, is clear on the outset that it is Riley’s coming of age story. The emotional punch comes when presenting the complexity of emotions of growing up, with joy and sadness intermixed.

Within 15 minutes of Soul, our protagonist Joe gets a full-time teaching job that he does not covet, but it comes with benefits. He does not want to settle into the teaching job, and he then lands his dream gig, impressing his idol with his jazz performance. He is so passionate about jazz that he seems to inspire kids where he teaches in his ‘boring’ job. So when he needs to go on the adventure to get back to his gig, it is puzzling to think what his great revelation is going to be. He is a good person with a good personality and has a great passion in life, so what is wrong?

We are all familiar with the mantra of born to do something. Everyone has their purpose in life to achieve some kind of goal. I believe these beliefs help push people to get up every morning, to face the hurdles, to do mundane chores in hopes of reaching goals. We are taught as children and encourage children that hard work and perseverance ensure future success. However, this seldom rings true in real life, and Soul acknowledges that. Our dream and reality might not align, but that does not mean we are doomed to be unhappy. Our path is not set from the beginning, we forge our way forward while living on earth, finding happiness and joy of being alive in our everyday mundane life, instead of the actual achievement. My overly simplistic (and probably not well-thought-out) analogy that I can think of is the emptiness you feel when you reach the deadline or finish the exam. Before the deadline or the exam, you long for the completion of the goal while immersing yourself into work. However, the sense of fulfilment and fullness does not come afterwards, and you continue with your life.

This is especially relevant during the pandemic. We are forced to face our weaknesses head-on when most of our activities and work are restricted due to lockdown. We start to feel insecure, which is an emotion shared by all, children and adults. Soul assures us, our life is not built on purposes, and being alive is not driven by chasing dreams and attaining certain accomplishments. We spark when we live our life to the fullest, and the sense of fullness can be anything that makes us feel alive or come to be alive, and simply enjoy life itself, mundane routine or a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

With these revelations, it is almost certain that the direction of Pixar is not to make cartoon aimed for children, but adult, only in the form that even children can watch together. Of course, the ending of Joe might not be how reality works and comes straight from the children’s book. However, we can all use some hopefulness right now, when death is prevalent, as shown from the rising number in the news.

This film is almost too quiet when compared to those epic adventures embarked on by other heroes and heroines in the Pixar repertoire. The message is still poignant and relevant. It touches upon depression in a film for children, and this acknowledgement is important for mental health education for all. As for its viewing on this unusual Christmas Day, Soul sparks the dwindling fire within all of us who have endured this grim ongoing pandemic.

Happy holidays everyone, even when all things do not go in our way, let’s celebrate the fact that we are well, alive to live another day and appreciate the wonders, small or big, pepperoni pizza or music, mother’s love or our friends, around us.