Soul is a great combination of music, animation and storytelling. It provides lots of entertainment, is a good movie for all ages and explores different types of visual styles and worlds.
As a person who adores music, I love that Soul explores that topic for kids. It centers on Joe Gardner, a New York City middle school band teacher who’s obsessed with jazz and would rather be a professional musician than an educator.
Joe is voiced by Jamie Foxx, who does a phenomenal job playing a determined character. Joe is separated from his body right as he gets his big chance for a life-changing performance. While he’s apart from his body, he travels to a place called The Great Before and meets a character called 22 (voiced by a fantastic Tina Fey) — a soul who doesn’t think the trip to Earth is worthwhile. To get to Earth, you have to find your main inspiration, aka “spark.” Joe is supposed to help 22 find her spark, but instead, 22 says Joe can have her ticket to Earth.
Joe and 22 accidentally end up going together and face a round of strange, funny and life-changing adventures to get 22 back home. In doing so, the movie uses a variety of animation and creates a diverse universe. Altogether, Soul is movie with a great cast and a moving story.
Available to stream via Disney+
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