CULTURE

Disney’s Next Pixar Movie Soul Sounds Out of This World

It's called Soul, but what exactly is it about?

by Marissa G. Muller

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Disney

Between The Lion King and Toy Story 4, Disney has been on a roll lately. (Okay, putting the live-action Aladdin and Dumbo remakes, aside.) Next year, as in 2020, the entertainment powerhouse plans on continuing that momentum with a new original Pixar movie called Soul. Disney officially announced the new movie today and the details around it couldn’t be more nebulous — which is perhaps fitting for a film that is partly rooted in the Cosmos.

The description for Soul is comically vague. “One year from today, @Pixar Animation Studios will take you on a journey from the streets of New York City to the cosmic realms to discover the answers to life’s most important questions,” it reads, which Disney sent out in a tweet that also contained the June 19, 2020 release date. If Inside Out was all about emotions, is Soul all about motivation? What are “life’s most important questions” if not ones centered around the meaning of life? Honestly, there’s no point in guessing going off this little info, but the other clue Disney released about Soul does hint at both questions.

“Ever wonder where your passion, your dreams and your interests come from? What is it that makes you… YOU?,” another description for the film states in the press release.

What we do know is that the movie is being directed by Inside Out and Up veteran Peter Docter, who is also currently serving as the chief creative officer for Pixar Animation Studios. It has also been announced that Dana Murray of Lou will be producing the film. As for the cast, that is still up in the air.

Disney’s roster of upcoming films is impressively robust, but it doesn’t contain a lot of originals at the moment. Recently, the studio has been focusing on catering to millennial nostalgia with a buffet of live-action remakes that include the Beyoncé-led Lion King remake that comes out July 19. Plus, the live-action Mulan remake has been in the works for what feels like an eternity, thanks in part to the exhaustive world search for its star, Liu Yifei, who officially signed on in 2017. There is also the Emma Stone-starring “punk” Cruella, which hits theaters December 23, 2020 and the Tom Hanks-led Pinocchio. Between all of these, and, now Soul, Disney’s box office reign is poised to continue.