The Oscar for “Best Animated Feature” was given to the movie Soul by PIXAR in 2021, streaming currently (2023) on Disney+. The movie starts off with a man named Joe Gardner, a music teacher at a middle school. Joe’s life changes once he gets an offer to perform with a famous Jazz musician. With his excitement, he falls into a manhole and goes into what should be the Great Beyond (afterlife), but instead, he accidentally falls into the Great Before, which is where souls become a person.
Each Soul in this Great Before prior to going into the world, must find their passion, which in the film is referred to as a “spark”, being what each soul is born to do. Throughout Joe’s time in the Great Before, he meets a soul who is lost, unable to find their spark, named 22. His connection with 22 allows him to progress and understand the meaning of a soul, and find joy in the little things of life.
Not only is the movie well made, but it also speaks of an important view of life without going into bias or religious opinions. The storyline is extremely well done, with its main characters being complete opposites, one “understanding” their purpose, and the other not. This directs the importance of the plot (the meaning of life) towards everyone, and not just the believed perspective of watchers, children. The movie demonstrates through Joe that even someone who understands their passion may not understand the true meaning of life.
The plot of the film highlights the use of the “spark” which is what gives a soul its personality and passion. The spark is shown in the Great Beyond as someone’s way of life, and without a soul’s understanding of their spark they are unable to be born, as they would not have a purpose. As the movie progresses, the idea of the spark changes. The spark keeps its meaning of one’s passion and also emphasizes the importance of the little moments in life. The new distinction of the spark represents how life is not just about finding one’s passion, but also to enjoy living as a whole.
The movie emphasizes the importance of living life to the fullest, while maintaining one’s passion. Although the topic of humanity’s way of life is an overall difficult topic to speak of, especially for a children’s movie, it was surprising to see how on point and unbiased the movie’s depiction of the importance of life was. Without the use of religion or ideologies, the movie had a perfect way of demonstrating the joy in life, which is both extremely deep and well done.
